Several decades separate Rita Angus and Jane Zusters, but both artists were interested in the theme of the domestic garden. Rita was a fiercely independent artist who worked hard to maintain her career and was a role model for later generations. In 1944 she wrote, “I hope that men of culture in NZ will come to understand the woman artist better. […] Some women do not, nor wish to paint as men do.” Rita and Jane’s works show the garden as a place of contemplation and retreat from the world. Rita’s parents’ garden at Waikanae, the subject in this watercolour, provided a much needed refuge for the artist on several occasions. The domestic garden was not only a place of healing and recuperation for Rita, but also an important source of material for her celebrated flower paintings and still-life subjects.

(Perilous: Unheard Stories from the Collection, 6 August 2022- )