Rita Angus
Encyclopedia
Rita Angus was a New Zealand
painter born in Hastings
. Along with Colin McCahon
and Toss Woollaston
, she is credited as one of the leading figures in twentieth century New Zealand art
. She worked primarily in oil
and water colour
, and is well known for her portrait
s and landscape
s.
. Angus was the eldest of seven children of William McKenzie Angus and Ethel Violet Crabtree. In 1921, her family moved to Palmerston North
and she attended Palmerston North Girls' High School between 1922 and 1926. There her talent for art was recognised and she was encouraged to pursue it further. In 1927 she began studying at the Canterbury College School of Art
.
She married Alfred Cook, another artist, on 13 June 1930, but in 1934 they separated due to incompatibility, and divorced in 1939. Angus signed many of her paintings as Rita Cook between 1930 and 1946, but after she discovered in 1941 that Alfred Cook had remarried she changed her surname by deed poll
to McKenzie, her paternal grandmother's name. As a result, some of her paintings are also signed R. Mackenzie or R. McKenzie, but the majority are signed Rita Angus.
Angus lived mostly in Christchurch
during the 1930s and 1940s. In the late 1940s she suffered from mental illness
and entered Sunnyside Mental Hospital in 1949. In 1950 she moved to Waikanae
to convalesce, and after some more travels around New Zealand she settled in Wellington
in 1955.
From December 1969, Angus' condition rapidly deteriorated and she later died in Wellington Hospital of ovarian cancer
on 25 January 1970.
and cubism
. She was also influenced by the English painter Christopher Perkins
' 1931 painting of Mount Taranaki
, a response to New Zealand's distinctive clear lightning.
Her landscapes came in a time when many people were concerned to create a distinctly New Zealand art, and the American regionalism movement was growing. Angus herself was not interested in defining a national style so much as her own style. Her paintings are clear, hard-edged and sharply-defined. In the 1930s and 1940s she painted scenes of Canterbury
and Otago
. One of the most famous of these is Cass (1936) in which she portrayed the bare emptiness of the Canterbury landscape. In the 1960s, settled in Wellington, her landscapes focused on this area. Boats, Island Bay is one such iconic painting.
Although perhaps best known for her landscapes, Angus also painted a large number of portraits. These include Head of a Maori Boy (1938) and Portrait (Betty Curnow) (1942). She was able to capture the personality of her subjects, moving beyond a mere representation of their form. Her many portraits of women expressed her feminist ideas. She also painted 55 self-portraits at different stages of her life, showing her passing years and changing emotions. Angus devoted much of 1960 to the painting of a mural at Napier Girls' High School which can now be seen at the front of the school hall.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
painter born in Hastings
Hastings, New Zealand
The city of Hastings is a major urban settlement in the Hawke's Bay region of the North Island of New Zealand, and it is the largest settlement by population in Hawke's Bay. Hastings city is the administrative centre of the Hastings District...
. Along with Colin McCahon
Colin McCahon
Colin John McCahon was a prominent New Zealand artist. During his life he also worked in art galleries and as a university lecturer...
and Toss Woollaston
Toss Woollaston
Sir Mountford Tosswill "Toss" Woollaston was one of the most important New Zealand painters of the 20th century.Born in Toko, Taranaki on April 11, 1910, Woollaston studied art at the Canterbury School of Art in Christchurch...
, she is credited as one of the leading figures in twentieth century New Zealand art
Art of New Zealand
New Zealand art is visual art created in New Zealand or by New Zealanders. It includes traditional Māori art, which was developed in New Zealand from Polynesian art forms, and more recent forms which take their inspiration from Māori, European and other traditions.-Prehistoric art:Charcoal drawings...
. She worked primarily in oil
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
and water colour
Watercolor painting
Watercolor or watercolour , also aquarelle from French, is a painting method. A watercolor is the medium or the resulting artwork in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-soluble vehicle...
, and is well known for her portrait
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
s and landscape
Landscape
Landscape comprises the visible features of an area of land, including the physical elements of landforms such as mountains, hills, water bodies such as rivers, lakes, ponds and the sea, living elements of land cover including indigenous vegetation, human elements including different forms of...
s.
Biography
Henrietta Catherine Angus was born on 12 March 1908 in HastingsHastings, New Zealand
The city of Hastings is a major urban settlement in the Hawke's Bay region of the North Island of New Zealand, and it is the largest settlement by population in Hawke's Bay. Hastings city is the administrative centre of the Hastings District...
. Angus was the eldest of seven children of William McKenzie Angus and Ethel Violet Crabtree. In 1921, her family moved to Palmerston North
Palmerston North
Palmerston North is the main city of the Manawatu-Wanganui region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is an inland city with a population of and is the country's seventh largest city and eighth largest urban area. Palmerston North is located in the eastern Manawatu Plains near the north bank...
and she attended Palmerston North Girls' High School between 1922 and 1926. There her talent for art was recognised and she was encouraged to pursue it further. In 1927 she began studying at the Canterbury College School of Art
Ilam School of Fine Arts
The School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury was founded in 1882 as the Canterbury College School of Art. The school became a full department of the university in the 1950s, and was the first department to move to the suburban Ilam site in 1957, in the Okeover Homestead...
.
She married Alfred Cook, another artist, on 13 June 1930, but in 1934 they separated due to incompatibility, and divorced in 1939. Angus signed many of her paintings as Rita Cook between 1930 and 1946, but after she discovered in 1941 that Alfred Cook had remarried she changed her surname by deed poll
Deed poll
A deed poll is a legal document binding only to a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an active intention...
to McKenzie, her paternal grandmother's name. As a result, some of her paintings are also signed R. Mackenzie or R. McKenzie, but the majority are signed Rita Angus.
Angus lived mostly in Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
during the 1930s and 1940s. In the late 1940s she suffered from mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
and entered Sunnyside Mental Hospital in 1949. In 1950 she moved to Waikanae
Waikanae
Waikanae is a small town on New Zealand's Kapiti Coast. The name is a Māori word meaning "The waters of the yellow eyed mullet". Another settlement called Waikanae Beach exists near Gisborne on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand....
to convalesce, and after some more travels around New Zealand she settled in Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
in 1955.
From December 1969, Angus' condition rapidly deteriorated and she later died in Wellington Hospital of ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer is a cancerous growth arising from the ovary. Symptoms are frequently very subtle early on and may include: bloating, pelvic pain, difficulty eating and frequent urination, and are easily confused with other illnesses....
on 25 January 1970.
Art
Among Rita Angus' influences were Byzantine artByzantine art
Byzantine art is the term commonly used to describe the artistic products of the Byzantine Empire from about the 5th century until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453....
and cubism
Cubism
Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
. She was also influenced by the English painter Christopher Perkins
Christopher Perkins
Christopher Edward Perkins was an artist in England and New Zealand.-Background and education:...
' 1931 painting of Mount Taranaki
Mount Taranaki
Mount Taranaki, or Mount Egmont, is an active but quiescent stratovolcano in the Taranaki region on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island. Although the mountain is more commonly referred to as Taranaki, it has two official names under the alternative names policy of the New Zealand...
, a response to New Zealand's distinctive clear lightning.
Her landscapes came in a time when many people were concerned to create a distinctly New Zealand art, and the American regionalism movement was growing. Angus herself was not interested in defining a national style so much as her own style. Her paintings are clear, hard-edged and sharply-defined. In the 1930s and 1940s she painted scenes of Canterbury
Canterbury, New Zealand
The New Zealand region of Canterbury is mainly composed of the Canterbury Plains and the surrounding mountains. Its main city, Christchurch, hosts the main office of the Christchurch City Council, the Canterbury Regional Council - called Environment Canterbury - and the University of Canterbury.-...
and Otago
Otago
Otago is a region of New Zealand in the south of the South Island. The region covers an area of approximately making it the country's second largest region. The population of Otago is...
. One of the most famous of these is Cass (1936) in which she portrayed the bare emptiness of the Canterbury landscape. In the 1960s, settled in Wellington, her landscapes focused on this area. Boats, Island Bay is one such iconic painting.
Although perhaps best known for her landscapes, Angus also painted a large number of portraits. These include Head of a Maori Boy (1938) and Portrait (Betty Curnow) (1942). She was able to capture the personality of her subjects, moving beyond a mere representation of their form. Her many portraits of women expressed her feminist ideas. She also painted 55 self-portraits at different stages of her life, showing her passing years and changing emotions. Angus devoted much of 1960 to the painting of a mural at Napier Girls' High School which can now be seen at the front of the school hall.
Exhibitions
- 1930: exhibition with Canterbury Society of Arts
- 1932: exhibition with The Group
- 1940: Cass exhibited at the National Centennial Exhibition of New Zealand Art
- 1957: Angus' first solo exhibition, at the Wellington Art Centre gallery
- 1958: Association of New Zealand Art Society Fellowship allows Angus to travel to England and Europe for a year to study at the Chelsea School of ArtChelsea College of Art and DesignChelsea College of Art and Design, the erstwhile Chelsea School of Art, is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, and is a leading British art and design institution with an international reputation...
. - 5 July 2008: A major retrospective of the work of Rita Angus has opened at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa TongarewaMuseum of New Zealand Te Papa TongarewaThe Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is the national museum and art gallery of New Zealand, located in Wellington. It is branded and commonly known as Te Papa and Our Place; "Te Papa Tongarewa" is broadly translatable as "the place of treasures of this land".The museum's principles...
before travelling to other main centres around New Zealand. The exhibition Rita Angus: Life and Vision celebrates the centenary of the artist's birth and features iconic works as well as works never before seen in public. The website supporting the exhibition features images of all the artworks in the exhibition, audio guides, podcasts of floor talks and radio interviews.