The sale comprises 118 works - largely 19th & 20th New Zealand pieces. A few contemporary items that fit the criteria of ‘Rare’ or Important’, will also be offered including.
Colin McCahon’s A Poem of Kaipara Flat, 1971 (Lot 28) ($110,000-140,000) appearing at auction for the first time, and Michael Smither’s The Baptism of Christ in a Taranaki Stream (Lot 22), a major rare work from 1967.
Also included are three works from the Eric Lee Johnson estate that have never before been on the market, but feature in his book No Road to Follow, Godwit Press, 1994. Lee Johnson was a unique New Zealand artist and often made painting trips with Smither.
The highlight of the sale is the Charles Frederick Goldie of Atama Paparangi, entitled titled A Noble Relic on a Noble Race (Lot 33). International Art Centre has captured attention in recent times for its consistency in the sale of works by Goldie - achieving the highest price for a New Zealand work at auction in the previous five years in March of last year. Seven works by the artist have been offered by this auction house in the last two years and all have sold in excess of $200,000. A Noble Relic ’is offered with a realistic pre-auction estimate of $240,000 - 290,000 and this together with another Goldie of an Arawa Chieftainess (Lot 37) ($210,000-260,000) will no doubt be keenly sought. Both Goldies come from private collections, with Atama Paparangi coming from a prominent New Zealand family.
The sale also includes many of the much loved favourites including J C Hoyte, Alfred Sharpe, L J Steele, Margaret Stoddart, Charles Blomfield, Laurence William Wilson, William George Baker, many of which have been sourced from extensive picture gathering trips as far afield as Australia and the United Kingdom. Two rare works by Robert Nettleton Field are on offer - a rare Self Portrait (Lot 17) and a Still Life, (Lot 18) both with impeccable provenance.
