Rita Angus: New Zealand Modernist | He Ringatoi Hou o Aotearoa

20 July - 17 September 2023

Open daily 10am to 5pm

Free entry

Te Papa touring exhibition Rita Angus: New Zealand Modernist | He Ringatoi Hou o Aotearoa brings together 20 works by one of New Zealand’s most iconic 20th-century artists, Rita Angus (1908–1970).

She was fundamental to the establishment of a distinctive, modern school of art in New Zealand. Over a period of 40 years, Angus produced a remarkable body of work.

The works on display span Angus’s life and career as an artist, drawing out the themes of pacifism, feminism and nature, which shaped much of her work. The exhibition includes many of Angus’s most important works, including Rutu (1951), Cleopatra (1938), and Central Otago (1953-56/1969).

Rita Angus: New Zealand Modernist features two significant recent acquisitions made by Te Papa for the national art collection: 'Marjorie Marshall' (1938-39/1943) is a remarkable portrait of Angus’s friend and fellow artist Marshall, set against the backdrop of Central Otago Mountains; 'The Aviatrix' (1933) is one of Angus’s most important early works – a striking portrait of her sister Edna, the first woman pilot in the East Coast Aero Club, wearing her flying costume.

Developed and presented by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Image credit: Rita Angus, Cleopatra, 1938, oil on canvas. Purchased 1998 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. © Reproduced courtesy of the Estate of Rita Angus. Te Papa (1998-0028-2)