A rare art piece from renowned Kiwi artist Charles Frederick Goldie has fetched over $1.8million setting a new record for a New Zealand painting.
The painting is a portrait of Ngāpuhi chief Kamariera Te Hau Takiri Wharepapa and was sold through the International Art Centre's virtual auction on Tuesday evening.
It went for a hammer price of $1,570,000 but after a buyer's premium and GST the final selling price was $1,885,884.
"I'm just speechless, it was an incredible auction night overall, not only with this Goldie painting but across the board with buyers hungry for New Zealand art," International Art Centre director Richard Thomson said.
The painting has surpassed the previous record for a New Zealand painting held by Hori Pokai - A Sturdy Stubborn Chief - a 1919 painting of a rangatira from the Thames District, which sold at auction for $1.7million in November last year.
The painting was one of Goldie's favourites which hung in his studio. And it was the first time the painting had been seen by the public and been to auction since being in private ownership - with the Auckland's Jonas family whom Goldie's wife sold to a decade after his death in 1947.
Thomson couldn't share details of who purchased the painting but said it was purchased by a private buyer based in Auckland and therefore will remain in New Zealand.
The painting is one of only four known oil portraits of Wharepapa. Two are in the collection of the Auckland Museum, and the third is in a private collection. This Goldie version is rare, because of its larger size.
