Sale Of Rare Oil Painting Of New Zealand Landscape By Charles Goldie May Be Negotiated

The sale of a rare landscape oil painting by Charles Goldie, the New Zealand artist who became one of New Zealand’s best known and eminent artists for his paintings of Maori elders (kaumatua) may be negotiated after it failed to reach the reserve price at an art auction in Auckland tonight.

The unidentified landscape, When Evening Shadows Fall, featured a person at an unidentified landscape, and was one of four Goldie art works offered at the last major art sale of the year at the International Art Centre in Parnell, Auckland, tonight when about $2 million worth of high quality art changed hands.

Goldie, who died in 1947, is considered one of New Zealand finest artists and was known throughout the world for his portraits of Maori elders, both during his lifetime and after his death.

At the sale of Important and Rare Art, the landscape painting was offered at a starting price of $70,000 but failed to attract any bids. It was projected to sell for between $100,000 and $150,000.

Goldie had intended to paint another version but when his art work of Maori elders proved so immensely popular, they became his main concern.

Goldie’s landscape was completed and signed by Goldie in 1900, the year it was first exhibited at the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts in Wellington.

“Goldie’s paintings, particularly those of Maori elders, are known and highly sought after and regularly sell for record prices,” said Richard Thomson, director of the International Art Centre and auctioneer for the sale.

One of two Goldie drawings of Guide Sophia, the Maori guide Sophia Hinerangi who regularly took tourists to the Pink and White Terraces at Lake Rotomahana, the New Zealand landscape feature described by author Mark Twain as the eighth wonder of the world, sold for $152,500 (including buyer’s premium and GST) but the second of the same subject was passed in at $90,000.

The Terraces were destroyed in the eruption of Mt Tarawera in 1886.

Other works in the sale include Motukorea, Torea-Pango II by Don Binney, an oil painting of a variable oystercatcher, sold for $588,500, including GST and a buyer’s premium.

A print by Banksy, Morons was passed in at $60,000 but may be sold by negotiation.

Still Life by Dora Maar, known for her romantic relationship with Spanish artist Pablo Picasso from late 1935 to the early 1940s, sold for $14,400, including GST and commission. Still Life was expected to bring up to $15,000.

Other works in the sale exceeded their estimated upper limit but others failed to sell and were passed in without reaching the reserve.

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