Iconic ANZAC painting could fetch $500k

(Photo: 3 News)
(Photo: 3 News)

An iconic ANZAC painting highlighting mateship in times of war is about to go up for auction in Auckland.

Simpson and his Donkey has been reproduced countless times.

Tonight one of several watercolours of the scene by artist Horace Moore-Jones is going under the hammer.

The famous painting is named after Aussie folk hero John Simpson Kirkpatrick, who served under the name John Simpson. They ferried many injured soldiers through the battlefields of Gallipoli before Mr Simpson died in action. In Australia, he's appeared on everything from postage stamps to picture books.

But the man in the painting is actually a Kiwi, Dick Henderson, who after Mr Simpson's death carried on his work with the injured.

The artist, Horace Moore-Jones, returned to New Zealand from the war and painted what he thought was Australian Mr Simpson, based on a photo.  Before learning about his mistake, Moore-Jones died in a Hamilton hotel fire.

Despite the confusion and controversy surrounding the players, the image has lived on as a symbol of the ANZAC spirit.

Richard Thompson is auctioning the work and says it's hard to put a price on it.

"I've called it priceless a few times," he says.

"It's one of those questions I can't answer. But it would have to be somewhere between $300,000 and $500,000 I would have thought. But something well beyond that would not surprise me."

Ross Henderson is sometimes emotional when he remembers his dad, but what would upset him most is to see the picture disappear.

"What I would be disappointed in is if the painting, this particular painting, were to go offshore."

Mr Thompson agrees.

"I'd like to think this painting will stay in New Zealand. I'd like to see it go into a public collection. It belongs to New Zealand. It should stay in the nation and it should be publicly displayed."

That is where Mr Henderson's family and his fellow Kiwis can remember the real man behind the iconic image.

3 News