Rita Angus Memorial No.5 | Print | by Michael Smither

Michael Smither was born in New Plymouth in 1939 and is one of New Zealand's most celebrated and enduring artists. Now in his eighties, he continues to paint and produce screen prints with no plans to stop. Working across oils, acrylics, and screen print, Michael explores a wide range of subjects, domestic life, the natural world, sport, and the everyday, with a warmth and wit that has made at least two of his paintings iconic in New Zealand art history.

This limited edition screen print reproduces one of Michael's characterful ink sketches, capturing his fluid draughtsmanship and dry humour in a format that is both highly collectible and accessible. An ideal entry point into owning work by a true New Zealand master.

"During my tenure in 1970, as Francis Hodgkins fellow at Otago University, Rita Angus died. I decided to take the central Otago landscape we both enjoyed and introduce it into the cruciform shape as a memorial to her.
I made many drawings and at an early stage decided to extend the idea into a series of 12, relating to the Catholic tradition of the Stations of the Cross.
Some of the earliest drawings were done on a newsprint pad, including in sequence the numbers 1 to 12.
Eventually I abandoned the inclusion of the numbers and completed a series of 12 oil paintings on hardboard cut as crosses.
Recently some of these earlier drawings returned to me for restoration in such bad shape I decided to photocopy them and turn the photocopies into screenprints on good paper."

Edition: Run of 18

Medium: Screen print

Dimensions: 280mm x 385mm