Te Papa is currently running an exhibition documenting the art and life of one of New Zealand’s most significant and loved artists, Rita Angus. The exhibition hosts 200 works, including sketches, studies, photographs, letters and of course her well-known paintings such as Cass (1936), Boats, Island Bay (1962-63) and her own self portraits. In viewing her works it is apparent that she was inspired to work with portraits and landscapes. Many well-known New Zealand iconic landscapes feature in the exhibition including scenes we can all identify with including landscapes in Wanaka, Wellington, Central Otago and Hawkes Bay. This is one of the most extensive collections of Angus’s art and the collection highlights the personal and social experiences Angus was subjected to during her lifespan. Born in 1908, Angus’s paintings reflect her spiritual journey shown with the symbolism and mysticism of the natural world evident in her work. She touches on pacifism and reflects this in her goddesses that “she regarded as her symbolic children – messengers of peace to a future generation”.Angus passed away in 1970. Her sketches of Wellington's Bolton Street cemetery are unveiled in the collection and you can only linger on what they may have been should she have finished them. The collection assists the viewer to discover the real Rita Angus, what was her driving force and the eras she lived through.Te Papa has divided her works into three distinct eras: Early Years (1929-39), A Pacifist Vision (1939 –58) and Later Journeys (1958-70). A book entitled Rita Angus: An Artist’s Life by Jill Trevelyan a co-curator of the exhibition has also been published by Te Papa.The exhibition runs from 5 July through until 5 October and with free entry how could you not give a gold coin koha to be inspired by such an artist. Cynthia Greep, September 2008
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