A work of art by the man considered New Zealand’s best artist of Maori elders and culture, Charles Frederick Goldie, has
sold for slightly over $1.1 million.
The painting sold during at an auction of Important and Rare Art at the International Art Centre in Auckland tonight.
(Tuesday Nov 29).
The signed oil painting, completed in 1918, and entitled The Calm Close of Valour’s Various Day, is a portrait of Chief
Wharekauri Tahuna, and was expected to bring up to $900,000. After 17 bids it sold for a hammer price of $925,000. The
addition of a buyer’s premium and GST took the price to slightly over $1.1 million.
Another Goldie painting Maori Chief with Hei Tiki, sold for $918,918, said International Art Centre director Richard
Thomson who conducted the auction.
The third Goldie piece of art was a drawing of guide Sophia who took tourists to see the Pink and White Terraces which
were destroyed when the Mt Tarawera volcano, near Rotorua, erupted in 1886. It sold for a record price of $156,000
including the buyer’s premium and GST.
The eruption destroyed several villages, and killed about 120 people, nearly all Maori.
“Charles Goldie produces intricate art of mostly Maori elders. Art lovers cannot get enough of his work. He is quite
simply New Zealand’s best artist of Maori people and culture. No other artist has his artistic ability and his insight
and deep appreciation of Maori culture,” Mr Thomson said.
“Goldie is unsurpassed in his ability to depict the emotional intensity of his subjects. In artistic terms Goldie has no
equal in his portrayal of Maori and Maori culture.”
“He is one of this country’s greatest artistic and visual historians,” Mr Thomson said.
A print by British graffiti artist, Banksy, No Ball Games, sold for $180,000.
Two other Banksy prints, Have a Nice Day, which features 27 Military police in a single line, and Golf sale, a print
taken from a photograph of a protestor standing in front of tanks in China, were both under negotiations with the top
bidders.
Other artists in the sale included Ralph Hotere, Karl Maughan, Peter Siddell, Colin McCahon, Michael Smither, Peter
McIntyre, Rita Angus and numerous others who have made a significant contribution to New Zealand art history and
culture.