An intriguing development is that the descendants and family of Taiaho Hori Ngatai are now saying that the man featured in the stolen painting is not him.
An interesting detail in the two paintings, apart from their size and date of creation is the two gold wedding rings painted on their fingers. the work was painted in the mid 1880's, about 45 years after the treaty of Waitangi [1840] and the missionary influence was quite strong. Many Maori were converted to Christianity as clearly were the husband and wife in this brace of paintings. This type of detail is not a common feature in Maori portraiture.
Business continues for the International Art Centre which held its Modern & Contemporary Art auction on 16 May.
The top price on the night of $40,000 was shared by two very different paintings.
First up was Don Binney's small finely crafted work of a Kea, entitled Fox Glacier Bird (Kea) (Lot 18 ) from 2006. This price was equalled later in the sale by the large (244.5 by 233.5) painting by Dick Frizzell, based on Pablo Picasso's seminal work Les Demoiselles d'Avignon [The Young Ladies of Avignon] painted in 1907. This work was created in the same dimensions as the original Picasso painting and reconceptualised by Frizzell 100 years later, this time with the sailor and entitled The Sailor Returns (Lot 47 ).
Robert Ellis's large format oil, entitled City of Childhood (Lot 16 ) sold for $14,000 on the night midway between the published estimate range of $12,000 - $16,000.
Richard Killeen's early Pacific inspired work entitled A Bit of Backbone (Lot 51 ) sold well at $11,000 while a Ralph Hotere lithograph from 1990 entitled Nineteen Ninety (Lot 33 ) sold for $700 above the upper estimate at $5,900. However a number of his early works produced while the artist was living in London failed to ignite the interest of collectors and they went unsold.
An early Doris Lusk watercolour Para Para Estuary, Nelson (Lot 63 ) attracted spirited bidding, selling for $8,600, which was above the upper estimate of $6,000. As it was the first time on the secondary market for this work, the price was not unexpected as works of this age and quality by Doris Lusk are not often seen on the market
Towards the end of the 166 lot sale, a selection of a dozen Michael Smither silkscreen prints, some quite rare, sold well with prices for the more popular around the $1,400 mark
The sale was well attended but in review there was little real auction action that set the room on fire. But the smashed glass windows from six weeks previous certainly has the art world talking and wondering if the two stolen paintings are ever going to be seen again. We are all keeping our fingers crossed
All prices are in $NZ and are hammer unless otherwise indicated.
