Snowing at Cass 1947

Rita Angus painted "Snowing at Cass" with oil on canvas, and what strikes me is how she's not afraid to let the process show. The painting is built from these confident, almost geometric blocks of colour. Look at how the peaks of the mountains are defined, not with fussy details, but with broad, simplified shapes. The paint isn't trying to hide, it sits on the surface, declaring itself. There's a muted palette here, mostly greys and whites, but then there's this warmth in the foreground, this band of earth that reflects in the water, a touch of pink and yellow that stops the whole thing from becoming too austere. It reminds me a little of Cezanne, the way he builds form with colour, that same sense of structure beneath the surface of things. Ultimately, it's about the push and pull of shapes and tones, a conversation on canvas.