Artwork Information

This mysterious evocation of rural New Zealand is presided over by Mount Taranaki. The two central figures greet each other, while behind them is a stone taumata atua - a votive figure sacred to Rongomatane, god of the sacred kumara. This painting presaged the figurative group paintings of Māori by such artists as Russell Clark, Eric Lee Johnson and Peter McIntyre. It also showed artists like Rita Angus, a way to blend symbolism and place.