Throughout his life, Douglas MacDiarmid has been fascinated by the human form, attitudes and actions, and how they interplay. Woman carrying pot (1955) is a watercolour of a proud peasant woman painted during his early travels in Europe, after he left New Zealand to settle in France and dedicate his life to art.
He had ample opportunity to observe rural life at close quarters while working au pair on a farm in the Alpes Maritimes behind Nice on the French Riviera, labouring in the fields in the mornings and painting during the afternoons.
This statuesque woman with her water jug and almost defiant attitude was probably seen in the Provence region of southeastern France, bordering Italy and the Mediterranean Sea – a favourite painting haunt of Douglas’ in the 1950s.
(Private collection, Australia)
