Since then I have purchased another seven of his paintings, mostly portraits of significant Maori of the Te Arawa Tribe for a philanthropic body fondly known as the Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust as part of their Heritage Collection.
These paintings are all held in Trust for future generations of the Rotorua Community.
But I digress.
At the recent Important and Rare auction held at their new auction rooms and gallery on 23 November, the International Art Centre once again featured Goldie, with two works occupying top spots in the sale.
Memories - An Arawa Chieftainess – Rakapa (Lot 40 ) sold for $265,000, less than the low estimate of $280,000, while Tamaiti Tukino, A Chieftainess of the Ngatituwharetoa Tribe (aged 95 years) (lot 47) sold after the sale at the low estimate of $250,000.
With their success in selling Goldie's paintings over the last few years, the track record for his oils on canvas seem never to fail in returning their owners pure gold, in return for passing them on to new owners, whether they be public institutions or private collectors.
Although most of his paintings were framed in what we now know as "Goldie frames", all his paintings are certainly ''gilt edged'' although some members of the Maori community would refer to the whole ''Goldie circus'' as being ''guilt edged''
Another painting of a Maori subject that sold very well on the night was a beautiful well-formed and original portrait of a Maori woman, entitled Life Study, Chieftainess of the Arawa Tribe by Vera Cummings (Lot 42 ) which went for $16,000. Vera Cummings is often referred to as the ''poor man's Goldie''.
Not only was she one of his pupils but she also copied a lot of his paintings. But this work stood head and shoulders above her copies of her teacher's paintings.
In the area of contemporary art the International Art Centre had some mixed results getting away key works, such as Pat Hanly's Golden Age 4 (Lot 35 ) for $80,000 (est. $90,000-130,000) and Ralph Hotere's E Morto II Papa (Lot 3 ) for $155,000 (est $190,000-250,000) , both just below the bottom pre-sale estimates.
A large sculpture, Standing Figure (Lot 50 ), by Alan Ingham, who once worked as an assistant to Henry Moore sold for $28,000, just $2,000 below the low estimate, and a very fine painting by Sir Frank Brangwyn of a Market Scene, Tangiers (Lot 83 ) from 1904 was the bargain of the sale in my book selling for $8,500 against a pre-sale estimate of $10,000-$15,000.
This year has been a landmark for the International Art Centre. They have moved a lot of New Zealand historical and contemporary fine art through their new bespoke rooms with art auction sales for the last year of approximately $7,000,000, clearly cementing their position in the relatively small but significant secondary market on this side of the Tasman Sea where the grass is just a little bit greener …but the land is slightly more unstable....
