Naseby 1953

Rita Angus made this watercolour painting "Naseby" sometime during her career, and it's now here in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. What strikes me most is the way she sees this landscape, not as a picture postcard, but as something felt and lived. The paint is applied in transparent washes, one over the other, building up a sense of place through color and light. The greens and yellows of the foreground feel sun-drenched, while the buildings and trees in the background are rendered with a more muted palette. It's like she's capturing not just the look of the place, but the very air around it. Take a look at the road, how she's used these horizontal bands of color to create a sense of depth and movement. It reminds me a little of the watercolors of Charles Burchfield, in the way that it captures a sense of place with such directness and simplicity. For Angus, and for Burchfield, it's about embracing the ambiguity and the infinite possibilities of paint.