item details
NameSpring in the foothills
ProductionRata Lovell-Smith; artist; circa 1935; Christchurch
Classificationpaintings
Materialsoil paint, canvas, cardboard
Materials Summaryoil on canvas on cardboard
DimensionsImage: 313mm (height), 446mm (length)
Registration Number2006-0007-3
Credit lineGift of the Friends of Te Papa, 2006
Overview
In the 1930s, Rata Lovell-Smith painted the Canterbury landscape with vivid, exaggerated blocks of colour, reducing the scene to simplified forms.
These distinctive landscapes were both celebrated and criticised for their ‘poster-like’ appearance. Some critics saw her approach as too ‘decorative’ or commercial, a travesty of modern art. Others welcomed it as a liberation from grandiose, romantic New Zealand landscape paintings.
Either way, the crisp lines and strong visual impact of Lovell-Smith’s controversial paintings helped push New Zealand art towards more modern uses of form and colour.