The Last Painting of christopher Wood

The Last Painting of  Christopher Wood 

Zebra And Parachute

 Zebra And Parachute was one of two paintings that Christopher Wood produced in Paris in the summer of 1930, the other being Tiger And Arc De Triomphe. 

 Both paintings depict a surreal image of an exotic animal against the backdrop of a manmade structure, although Zebra And Parachute is unique in that it adds a parachuting figure in the sky. It may be darkly significant that the parachutist is limp and appears to be either dead or seriously injured.

After leaving Paris for England in August 1930, Wood met his mother in Salisbury to show her his newest works, including Zebra And Parachute. 
Tragically, Wood was suffering from the effects of opium withdrawal, which caused paranoia and the belief that he was being followed by a mysterious entity. In a desperate attempt to escape his imagined pursuer, Woods jumped in front of a train that very same day.

 To avoid upsetting his mother, the death often referred to as accidental by the contemporary press.

Antelope (Kaang)

Legends of Africa: Antelope (Kaang)

The Bushmen, also called the Khoi or San, are the nomads of Africa.

 In the last few decades, many have become farmers due to the dangers that our modern life poses to their traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle, but their territory once stretched from the Cape to Kenya. 

The Bushmen are experts at finding water, and their advice is often sought out due to their precognitive dreams and divining capabilities.

According to their beliefs, the supreme god Kaang created the world but sent death and destruction after experiencing too much disobedience and antagonism. 

Even though he lives in the sky, his invisible spirit still resides in all living things.

 In one story Kaang’s wife gave birth to an eland (African antelope). The god nurtured the calf but it was mistakenly killed by his two sons. Kaang demanded that the eland’s blood be boiled. 

The subsequent fatty residue was scattered across the landscape, in turn becoming other antelope and animals.

 In this manner, Kaang provided the meat that his people hunt, kill, and eat to this day.