Lockdown Rainbow No.1 (eclipse), 1 June 2020

Norman Ackroyd RA (1938 - 2024)

RA Collection: Art

Ackroyd evokes the myriad rainbows that symbolised the UK’s appreciation for key NHS workers at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, drawing on a long tradition associating rainbows with hope, that goes back to the Biblical story of Noah and the flood. Here, the rainbow is ‘eclipsed’ by a black square resembling the night sky, but even within the darkness, the subtly drifting variations in tone suggest that clouds might part, and stars shine through. The square etching plate has been printed turned at an angle of 45 degrees on the paper, suggesting a prism, and perhaps Sir Isaac Newton’s discovery of the spectrum of light.