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
On display

To find out which artworks are available for print requests and reproduction please enquire here. This service only applies to select artworks in the Gallery's collection.