Cass

Cass is an oil painting created by the New Zealand artist Rita Angus in 1936. Background In May 1936, Rita Angus took the three-hour train journey from Christchurch to the Canterbury College Mountain Biological Station at Cass to spend a few days working in the landscape. She was accompanied by painters Louise Henderson and Julia Scarvell. Angus chose as one of her subjects the small railway station at Cass which had been established in 1910 when the Midland Railway line had been built to cut a day from the journey across the Southern Alps. On her return to Christchurch, Angus painted Cass in her studio at 97 Cambridge Terrace from studies done on site during the trip. These included Mountains Cass. The finished painting was signed Rita Cook, her married name at the time, on the lower right of the canvas. Angus kept the painting although she occasionally lent it to friends including the composer Douglas Lilburn and also Bill Sutton. When it was purchased by the Robert McDougall Art Gallery, now the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, in 1955 it was hanging in Bill Sutton's house. History Since its purchase, the Gallery has shown Cass regularly and has taken a particular interest in collecting and exhibiting materials associated with it. These include Julian Dashper's painting, Cass 1986, Peter Peryer's 2004 photo Cass, and the 2012 exhibition Cass curated by Christchurch artist Andre Hemer. Cass was voted New Zealand's greatest painting in a 2006 poll on the Television New Zealand programme Frontseat. The runners-up were works by Colin McCahon, W D Hammond, Grahame Sydney, Robin White, and Petrus Van der Velden.