RITA ANGUS - SELECTED WORKS

self portrait, 1966 by Rita Angus (1908 - 1970), oil on canvas on hardboard, Te Papa

15 October 2011 - 20 November 2011

Rita Angus was one of New Zealand’s pioneer artists, and the success of Te Papa’s 2008 retrospective exhibition Rita Angus: Life & Vision showed how popular her work continues to be. Building upon that success and the subsequent national tour to metropolitan art galleries, Te Papa is proud to now present Rita Angus: Selected Works, which it has developed to tour smaller regional galleries.

‘We were delighted at the success of Rita Angus: Life & Vision and are pleased to be able to show a selection of this remarkable artist’s work to many more people through this tour of New Zealand’s regional galleries,’ says Michael Houlihan, Te Papa’s Chief Executive.

The exhibition features 40 works by Rita Angus covering the span of her career, from 1929 to 1969. It includes paintings, watercolours and drawings, unfinished studies and seldom-seen items. The exhibition has been selected from Te Papa’s collection, and works cared for by the Museum on behalf of the Rita Angus Estate.

The exhibition draws on similar themes to Rita Angus: Life & Vision. It shows Angus’s commitment to pacifism, her strong feminist views, her spiritual beliefs, her love of nature and her affinity for the New Zealand landscape.

The exhibition includes portraits and self-portraits, landscapes, and her late depictions of Wellington and Hawke’s Bay. Several key works from the retrospective are featured, including Self-portrait (1929), Lawrence Baigent (1938–39/43), Central Otago (1953–56/69), and Flight (1968–69).

Developed and Toured by Te Papa Tongarewa