Rita Angus
Aotearoa New Zealand, b.1908, d.1970
Untitled (Hop Kilns, Motueka)
- 1941
- Watercolour
- Harry Courtney Archer estate, 2002
- 580 x 580 x 35mm
- 2003/06
- View on google maps
Tags: barns, buildings (structures), hops, kilns, landscapes (representations), mountains, skylines, trees, utility poles
At the start of 1941, Rita Angus, then a leading figure in Christchurch art circles, left the city for good. It was wartime. With many being directed into prescribed war effort work, she chose to take up employment for several months on a tobacco farm at Pangatotara, near Motueka in the Nelson district. There she worked alongside fellow pacifists, including artist Chrystabel Aitken and Courtney Archer, who owned this painting. Long days filled with demanding physical labour saw Angus harvesting and grading tobacco leaves and sometimes tending the drying kilns on the night shift. Travelling into Nelson on occasional weekends meant walking more than twelve kilometres to the nearest bus stop. Despite the demands of such a life, and shortages of art materials, Angus managed to find time to paint the local landscape, including this view of a hop kiln near Motueka. By April, she was able to report: “The harvest is over, and I am glad, as I am very, very weary of physical labour.”
(Beneath the ranges, 18 February – 23 October 2017)
Exhibition History
In early 1941 Rita Angus worked for several months as a seasonal tobacco picker on a farm at Pangatotara, near Motueka. She was joined by fellow pacifists Chrystabel Aitken and Courtney Archer, who bequeathed this work to the Gallery.
Painted in a graphic, decorative style, strongly influenced by Japanese woodblock engraving, this work also shows Angus’ dedication to identifying an unmistakeably local scene. She inspired many other artists in their quest to celebrate distinctively New Zealand imagery.
Angus was born in Hastings. She studied at the Canterbury College School of Art from 1927-1933. In 1930 she married Canterbury artist Alfred Cook and, although they separated in 1934, she signed her work ‘Rita Cook’ until 1941. She lived and worked in Christchurch until 1955 when she moved to Wellington. In 1958 Angus was awarded an Association of New Zealand Art Societies Fellowship which allowed her to visit England and Europe.
Related
Notes
Harvest
One of my favourite drives in the South Island is along the Motueka Valley Highway past Pangatotara and on to Motueka and Riwaka - not only for the stunning landscape and beautiful Tasman Bay beyond but also for the amazing hop gardens that predominate in the area.
Notes
International Beer Day!
I couldn't resist a selection of beer related art works from the Gallery's collection. My favourite is Hogarth's Bear drinking beer or is that beer drinking bear.
Notes
Hopping up North
Malt is the soul of beer and yeast gives it life but the kiss of the hop is the vitality of that life. Tom Inglis
Notes
Untitled (Hop Kilns, Motueka) by Rita Angus
This article first appeared in The Press on 28 December 2005
"Malt is the soul of beer and yeast gives it life but the kiss of the hop is the vitality of that life." Tom Inglis
Nelson has long held a strong reputation for growing excellent hops with a substantial industry based on the crop being developed in the region in the late 19th century. Motueka in particular has an extremely suitable climate for growing hops and the majority of New Zealand's hop production occurs within close proximity of the town. By the 1940s commercial production of hops had fully developed into a successful horticultural enterprise which Rita Angus has in part captured in her 1941 watercolour Untitled (Hop Kilns, Motueka).