Mount Maud 1938

Rita Angus made this watercolour called Mount Maud, and what I love about it is how she brings the outside in, mapping the landscape into these angular shapes. I imagine Rita hiking, sketching, feeling that mountain air. Those deep blue and white peaks—they're not just seen, they're felt. The land is articulated in such a way that brings to mind early modernist painters but there’s also something uniquely Kiwi about it. It's not hyper-realistic, but it gives us the essence of a place, the feeling of the wind. It’s interesting to consider how artists like Angus were in conversation with the world around them, and other artists too. It’s all a big exchange, isn’t it? We build on each other, interpreting, reacting, and making something new. The ongoing dialogue is what keeps art alive.