Author(s): Lizzie Bisley

NZ Art

The work of seminal, pioneering New Zealand modernist artist Rita Angus returns in triumph to the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in late 2021, in a major show of more than 100 works from throughout her career. This extensive catalogue includes all the works in the show and is anchored by a major essay by Anguss biographer, Jill Trevelyan, which gives deep insight into Anguss life and practice. Adrian Locke, the Royal Academy, London, curator who was helming the major Angus show there until pandemic intervened, contributes a significant text that puts her work into international context, assessing her alongside contemporary women artist peers such as Anita Malfatti, Amrita Sher-Gil, Irma Stern, Emily Carr, Frida Kahlo, Henrietta Shore and Georgia OKeeffe. Short pieces by well-known New Zealanders, including Gaylene Preston, Jennifer Ward-Lealand, Fay Weldon and Robin White, who each examine the force of Anguss work and its impact on them, complete this rich celebration of Anguss life.