PROVENANCE Private Collection, Auckland Sotheby's, Topographical Paintings, Drawings & Watercolours, London,

06/11/1985 EXHIBITED The Group Show 57, The Art Gallery, Durham Street, Christchurch, 12 - 27 October '57, Cat no. 48

Attending Christchurch's Canterbury School of Art in 1927, Rita Angus would go on to become highly influential in the development of modern and regionalist art, capturing the identity and presence of New Zealand with sensitive conviction. Angus exhibited frequently with the Canterbury Society of Arts and The Group. It would not be until thirty years into her artistic career that she would have her first solo exhibition in 1957 at the Centre Gallery in Wellington, exhibiting forty three works. Angus was represented in three exhibitions at the Auckland Art Gallery in the fifties, notably Five New Zealand Watercolourists, Nov - Dec 1958. A sister painting of the work in this catalogue, also titled Westshore, Napier was exhibited, dated six years prior to this entry but of similar size.

Born in Hastings, Angus spent a large amount of her childhood in Napier, frequently returning to the city throughout her adult life, often for extended periods of time. Westshore, Napier was exhibited the same year it was painted in The Group Show '57, alongside seven other of her works. Painted from a vantage point on Bluff Hill, the composition presents a sweeping view of the inlet flowing through industrial and residential buildings, with the vast expanse of the Kaweka Range in the distance. Typical of Angus' watercolours, the work retains a sense of stillness.

Simplified yet delineated buildings coloured in steely blue and terracotta hues showcase her particular interest in geometrical structure. This is contrasted by the fluidity of the mountains in the background. Notably in the lower centre of the composition is a pumpkin patch. A symbol of fertility and growth, the pumpkin is painted in similar warm tones to that of the buildings behind and is presented surrounded by an unfurling halo of deeply green coloured leaves, contrasting the dry and stark hills in the distance. These branch upwards towards the settlement, anchoring the scene depicted.

Angus paints with a feminine strength, precise yet delicate in application. Subtle in commentary, but a vision of cultural identity and presence, Westshore, Napier is an amalgamation of both the technique and allegory which Angus is well known for. Although receiving acknowledgment from fellow artists throughout her life, appreciation from the general public was slow. Following her death in 1970 this would begin to gradually change, aided by the continuation of retrospective exhibitions.