Rita Angus

AD 1968

AD 1968 by Rita Angus

Artwork Detail

Early in 1968, Rita Angus travelled by bus from Wellington to Napier. This city had been her child-hood home. Arriving at Napier, she saw the shapes A and D over the sea, formed by two adjacent clouds. Later, on Napier's seashore, she found a water-eroded wooden branch in the shape of the number 1. Then, while visiting Napier's aquarium, she saw two sea horses swimming back-to-back. Their coming together formed the numbers 9 and 6. Finally, at Petone while returning home to Wellington, she saw freestanding oil-tanks that that created a joined silhouette of the number 8. From a confluence of objects identifying 1968, Rita Angus created a lyrical monument to her recently deceased father that also serves as a symbolic self-portrait. Ron Brownson, Hei Konei Mai (2006)

Title
AD 1968
Artist/creator
Rita Angus
Production date
1968
Medium
oil on board
Dimensions
795 x 800 x 40 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of the Friends of the Auckland Art Gallery to celebrate their 50th anniversary, 2004
Accession no
2004/2
Copyright
Copying restrictions apply
Department
New Zealand Art
Display status
Not on display

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