Rita Angus

Rita Angus

Like a number of other well-known artists in the 1940s and 1950s, Rita Angus (1908-1970) supplemented her income from painting with freelance work for the School Journal. In the mid 1950s she was commissioned to produce more than 50 drawings for the publication.

In a letter to Douglas Lilburn in 1954 Angus wrote "In these drawings I’ve hoped to maintain an artistic standard, high as possible; drawing helps painting and vice versa."

The commissions Angus received from the Journal required close observation of native plants, and very fine drawing. Angus found this both an interesting challenge and a frustration, writing to her sister in 1954, "I'm getting through the last set of drawings only by painting as well. I cannot continue to draw without paint."

While working for the Journal Angus met Juliet Peter, another artist and illustrator. Their friendship grew over the time they were both involved with the publication, and in the 1960s the pair would go on sketching trips around Wellington’s suburbs. Juliet Peter and her husband Roy Cowan also gave Angus concrete support by purchasing her works.

Rita Angus biography – Dictionary of New Zealand Biography website

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