Te Papa
With Te Papa Curator Modern Art Lizzie Bisley
Rita Angus painted the Central Otago landscape many times
She described this region as 'the essence of New Zealand'.
Sketch for Central Otago (Naseby) (1953) by Rita AngusTe Papa
In the summer of 1953 Angus travelled through Central Otago.
On the trip, she made watercolour and pencil studies of the region.
Central Otago (1953/1969) by Rita AngusTe Papa
This oil painting brings together the many different places that Angus travelled through.
From the small wooden church in the town of Naseby
And cliffs left by 19th-century gold diggers.
To buildings in Arrowtown, glimpsed through a row of trees.
At the top of the work are the peaks of Kā Tiriti o te Moana, the Southern Alps.
And a tree at the edge of Lake Wakatipu.
Angus played boldly with perspective – the tree is huge.
Sketch for Central Otago (Lake Wakatipu & the Remarkables) (1953) by Rita AngusTe Papa
We see it as Angus would have sketched it, sitting on the lake shore near its branches.
Central Otago (1953/1969) by Rita AngusTe Papa
In the painting, multiple landscape views are layered on top of each other.
We would expect to see sky above this range of purple hills.
But instead another layer of landscape stretches out behind.
This is repeated several times through the painting.
‘Central Otago’ took years to complete.
Angus described the process of painting it in 1954: “… square inch covering tons of earth and space, sometimes taking several hours.”
Text by Te Papa curators Lizzie Bisley and Hanahiva Rose, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, 2022.
All images reproduced courtesy of the Estate of Rita Angus.
