KEY POINTS:
Colin McCahon's mixed media painting Waterfall sold for $80,000 at auction but a Ralph Hotere oil failed to attract a bid.
The McCahon, painted in 1964, was expected to sell for as much as $120,000 at the International Art Centre fine art auction in Parnell, Auckland, on Monday but was knocked down for $80,000.
However, the sale attracted a good range of buyers in the middle range of prices.
A Ralph Hotere work, Black Series - Red Cruciform, painted in 1969, was expected to sell for as much as $110,000 but did not attract one bid.
"It is hard to pick them," centre director Richard Thomson said.
"Some of that top-end contemporary stuff is quite fickle."
An oil painting by Horace Moore-Jones, of Auckland, sold for $5000, well under its anticipated price of $12,000 to $16,000.
Moore-Jones became famous for his painting of Simpson and his Donkey, Simpson was an Australian hero who brought wounded soldiers down to first-aid posts in 1915 at Gallipoli, until he fell to a Turkish sniper's bullet.
A John Barr Clarke Hoyte watercolour of the White Terraces was expected to fetch between $8000 and $12,000 but sold for $21,250.
The world-famous Pink and White Terraces, often referred to as the eighth wonder of the world, were destroyed in the 1886 eruption of Mt Tarawera which also killed 153 people and swept away villages.
Mr Thompson said the auction was strong in regional paintings in a swing towards more traditional art.
He said the sale was strong and buoyant in the $5000 to $20,000 range and that was probably because of support from buyers who were looking for art investments.
- NZPA
