Seascape in heatwave


Listen to the audio track now:
  Download as mp3 (0.66 MB)

Seascape, heatwave  1949
watercolour, 361 x 255 mm
Private collection


Rita Angus was delighted by a heatwave that hit Christchurch in February 1949.

‘I went swimming today in a heat wave, this side of the Cave Rock, and the sound of the breakers was terrific, while the sky was purple-blue overhead and green-blue. A beautiful Polynesian day … I was almost alone & collected a number of tiny shells for another painting.’

Angus depicts these shells in Seascape in heatwave, exaggerating their size to give her picture a dreamlike quality.


> Back to Working from nature 1949-58


All artworks are reproduced courtesy of the Estate of Rita Angus.