A painting considered to be one of the finest by revered New Zealand artist Charles Goldie fetched $1.8 million at an art auction in Auckland last night.
Rita Angus, An Artist s
Life
Along with the
works of Colin McCahon and Toss Wollaston, Angus oil and
water colours are considered among the most important in
the development of twentieth-century New Zealand art. She
was a pioneer of modern painting during the 1930s and 1940s
and during the century since her birth works such as
Central Otago (1940) and
Portrait of Betty
Curnow (1941-42) have become national icons. Although
Angus is now one of Aotearoa’s best-loved painters,
the story of her life remained little known and poorly
understood before Jill Trevelyan s acclaimed and revelatory
biography, which won the Non Fiction Award at the Montana
Article – Howard Davis
Rita Angus, An Artist’s Life
Along with the works of Colin McCahon and Toss Wollaston, Angus’ oil and water colours are now considered among the most important in the development of twentieth-century New Zealand art.She was a pioneer of modern painting during the 1930s and 1940s and over one hundred years since her birth, works such as
Central Otago (1940) and
Portrait of Betty Curnow (1941-42) have become national icons. Although Angus has become one of Aotearoa’s best-loved painters, the story of her life remained little known and poorly understood before Jill Trevelyan’s acclaimed and revelatory biography, which won the Non Fiction Award at the Montana New Zealand Book Awards in 2009. This revised edition updates the original with new assessments of Angus in light of the upcoming exhibition to be held at Te Papa late in 2021.
Atkins Gallery reopened at Founders in October 2020, after a two-year break. The specialist gallery deals exclusively with Toss Wollaston watercolours and drawings of the Nelson/Tasman region, alongside artwork by a small selection of local artists including quality jewellery and ceramics. Woollaston’s works currently on display include watercolours of Tasman Bay, Mt Campbell , Mt Arthur, Lyttleton Harbour and Horoirangi. Also included are drawings, with an early sketch from Māpua and an early portrait of the famous local identity Eelco Boswijk. Gallery owner Linda Atkins said she was fortunate to have the chance to exhibit Woollaston’s artworks – one of a select few around the country to do so.