The idea that New Zealand art could be characterised by a harsh light,

By Xanthe Naylor

Rata Lovell-Smith

Hawkins

Oil on canvas

1933

81 x 33 mm

Rita Angus

Central Otago

Oil on canvas

523 x 635 mm

Te Papa

Rita Angus

Cass, 1936

Oil on canvas board 370 x 460mm

Christchurch art gallery,

Te Puna o Waiwhetu

William Sutton

Dry September

Oil on canvas

1949

73x247 mm

Louise Henderson

Plains and Hills

1936

Oil on canvas

2003x95 mm

Colin Lovell-Smith

Sunset, Craigburn

1932

Oil on Hardboard

69x129 mm

“Any observant person returning to New Zealand after a long sojourn abroad will have noticed with

surprise how sharp our horizons are without the fig-leaf of haze” i

The idea that New Zealand art could be characterized by the harsh light of the New Zealand

atmosphere is apparent in several artists their styles show certain clarity of detail and a hard line.

This is most obvious in a collection of artists who graduated from the Christchurch art school. Rita

Angus being the most well known, however many of her fellow students also follow a similar style.

Outside influences can be noted from Christopher Perkins, a particular English artist who came to

teach in New Zealand. The hardness of line that becomes apparent in this style opposes the softer

paintings of Europe. In the clarity of the harsh light our art has moved away from the renaissance

love of misty landscapes that fade into the distance.

Firstly I looked at the artist Rita Angus. Her style shows the harsh light of the New Zealand

atmosphere brilliantly as her work is clear and hard edged. As a well known artist her paintings are

typical when characterising New Zealand art especially ‘Cass’. In her painting ‘Cass’ the qualities of

the harsh light become apparent. We can see the detail of the mountains in the background just as

clearly as the details in the foreground, her use of sharp lines on the edges and cold colours

extenuate the shadows and ridges of the mountain range creating the hard edged look which brings

out the contrasting planes of the background. This becomes even more apparent in her painting

‘Central Otago’. Her use of a bright colourful pallet brings out the landscape with a particular clarity.

The use of these contrasting warm and cold colours clearly shows the edges and shadows of the hills

in the distance something that would usually be lost in other countries’ due to the haze that

obscures objects at a distance, this painting gives us the visibility of the landscape in its entirety. As a

well known artist Angus’ work is often used to represent New Zealand art, which makes the

characterisation of New Zealand’s hash light in art well known in the public eye.

Many of Angus’s fellow students also follow this style; Rata and Colin Lovell-Smith both show the

harsh light characteristic of the New Zealand atmosphere in their work, with the use of “hard edged

and high contrasted clarity”ii. Rata Lovell-Smith shows this high contrast more clearly in her painting

‘Hawkins’ with the bright red of the building and bright ochre and oranges of the Canterbury planes,

Christopher Perkins

Taranaki

Oil painting 36 x 20

inches

1931

contrasting with clear blues and greens. This painting on close comparison with Angus’s ‘Cass’ is

actually in the same location but from a different angle as you can see the same red building beside

the train tracks. Rata’s style is flatter in comparison to Angus’ as she hasn’t used line as much

instead keeping to the softer flatter bush look. These artists would often go on trips out into the

country side together including the artist Louise Henderson who originally studied in Paris. In her

painting ‘Plains and Hills’ the hard edges of the trees and mountains can be seen clearly by use of

thin lines of shadow around the shape of the mountain and also the thicker shadows of the trees in

the foreground. William Sutton was another graduate from the Christchurch art school. In the

painting ‘Dry September’ the details of the rocks are just as clear as the mountain ranges in the

background. This shows how the harsh light has characterized New Zealand art, particularly because

of these few students from the Christchurch art school.

Christopher Perkins was originally from England but came to New Zealand to teach. In his painting of

Mt Taranaki he has shown the clarity of the New Zealand atmosphere, by the consistence of detail in

the foreground and background. Although his style is not similar to the high contrast seen in Rita

Angus’s and Rata Lovell-Smith’s work, but the detail is consistent from the foreground all the way to

the peak of Mt Taranaki. The hardness of line in this type of New Zealand art opposes the softer

European paintings, a ‘phallic opposition to a feminised England’. iii This has been described as to

“Draw rather than paint, as the paint bush is a soft line while the pencil is hard edged”iv. A good

example of how different the light is in New Zealand compared to Europe is in the originally New

Zealand artist Sydney Thompson who spent 30 years in France studying art. After so many years

painting in the “atmospheric conditions of France the crisp clear light found in New Zealand appears

to be too much for his Neo Impressionistic style”v as he left 4 years later without much artistic

success back here. Even from my own experience from being overseas I notice the difference in the

harshness and clarity of our light.

In conclusion the New Zealand light has affected and characterized our art because of its nature to

make landscapes clearer, and harsher. The colour becomes contrasted and details are just as

detailed in the distance as to the foreground. This is noticeable in a handful of art students from the

Christchurch art school, Rita Angus being the best example. Her works are bright, hard edged and

contrasting: as a well known and well received artist her art is often used to characterize New

Zealand art. Many of her fellow students also follow a similar style, especially Rata Lovell-Smith. Her

work is softer however, compared to the hard edges of Angus’s work, and Henderson’s painting

‘Plains and Hills’. The English artist Christopher Perkins also picked up on the clarity of our light as we

can see in his painting ‘Taranaki’ due to the clarity of the detail. This not only shows how our light

actually has a harsh clarity but also how overseas artists recognise this, and not only our own.

i Hamish Keith ‘Images of early New Zealand’ Art in New Zealand 29 Summer 1989, p. 61 ii Francis Pound ‘The invention of New Zealand art and national identity’ published 2009 Auckland, p. 88

iii Francis Pound ‘The invention of New Zealand art and national identity’ published 2009 Auckland, p. 89

iv Francis Pound ‘The invention of New Zealand art and national identity’ published 2009 Auckland, p. 90

vGordon Brown/Hamish Keith ‘An Introduction to New Zealand new and revised edition’ published 1982

Auckland, p. 108

Bibliography Francis Pound, The invention of New Zealand Art and National Identity Auckland, 2009 Gordon H Brown and Hamish Keith eds., An Introduction to New Zealand Art, Auckland, 1982 Ogle, Rebecca “The Canterbury School Style” http://christchurchartgallery.org.nz/mygallery/ki8pu/ (accessed 24

th April 2012)

P.W Robertson “The Art of Christopher Perkins”, Art in New Zealand, Sept 1931, p. 9-23 Rona Fleming, “The work of Juliet Peter”, Art New Zealand, volume 17 number 6 sept/oct, p. 20-21 T.P Garrity ‘An Opening Upon Silence: Images of Early New Zealand by Hamish Keith’ Art New Zealand 29, Summer 1983, p. 61