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Central Otago

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Central Otago 1940
oil on board, 350 x 548 mm
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, gift of Mrs Joyce Milligan in the memory of Dr R R D Milligan, 1984
See this work on the Auckland Art Gallery's website

This painting is a composite image – an imaginary landscape derived from Rita Angus’s many watercolours of Central Otago. Angus carefully considered every colour, line, and shape, linking each detail in a design of graceful curves and interlocking forms.

Angus painted Central Otago at the start of World War II. The work, with its dead trees, tilled soil, and small church standing guardian over the landscape, offers symbols of regeneration and hope.

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Central Otago 1940	Marjorie Marshall 1938-39/1943	Self-portrait (Wanaka) 1939

Central Otago landscape 1940	Landscape (Wanaka) 1939	Landscape 1939

Winter, Wanaka 1939	Lake Wanaka 1938	Untitled landscape 1939

Mountains and Foothills 1939	Mount Maud 1938	Waipara Gorge, North Canterbury 1939

Hop kilns, Motueka 1941	Wainui, Mid-Summer, Banks Peninsula 1943	Haycocks, Wainui 1943

The artist’s cottage, Clifton circa 1945	Willow tree 1940	Tree 1943

Tree in blossom 1946	Storm 1945	Passionflower 1943

Irises 1942	Nasturtiums 1939	Crocusses 1944

Aquilegia 1953	Carnations 1945	Karaka berries 1945

Irises 1945