Sketch for 'Central Otago' 1953

Rita Angus made this watercolour sketch of 'Central Otago' at an unknown date. The soft, almost transparent washes of colour are really lovely, aren't they? There's an interesting balance here between realism and something more abstract – it feels like she’s trying to capture not just the look but the feeling of this landscape. The way she's layered the watercolour gives the whole piece a kind of hazy, dreamlike quality. Look at the hills in the background, how they seem to fade into the sky, that's the work of thin washes of colour. Then there's that little cluster of buildings to the right; the simple blocky shapes, with the red accent, add a sense of human presence without disrupting the natural harmony. It reminds me of Cézanne's landscapes; both artists share this interest in reducing forms to their basic elements. What Angus does is really beautiful, using watercolour to capture a sense of place. You can feel how it celebrates process, a continuous exchange of ideas across time, revealing its beauty through ambiguity and multiple interpretations.