KEY POINTS:
An opportunistic thief is suspected of nabbing a valuable Ralph Hotere oil painting from a central Queenstown art gallery.
Hotere's 1965 Ulysses, a 55cm x 43cm oil on board painting with an asking price of $19,500, disappeared from the Central Art Gallery in Queenstown about 2pm on Tuesday, gallery owner Julia Milley said yesterday.
A $5000 reward was being offered for information leading to the painting's recovery, she said.
The painting was left near the gallery's front door, where Ms Milley planned to photograph it in better light for her gallery's website. She went to the back of the store to answer the phone, and returned to discover the Hotere was gone. "I couldn't believe it," she said. "You just don't think someone is going to turn around and do something like that."
Constable Steve Watt, of Queenstown police, said the crime appeared "pretty opportunistic" and there were no strong leads.
"It could have been any member of the public that walked past," he said.
The theft follows the loss of another Hotere painting, from the Aramoana series, and 35 others - including one from Colin McCahon's Northland series, valued at more than $250,000 - in a courier truck fire on July 10.
The store, which Ms Milley has owned for 15 years, had an alarm system but no security cameras, she said.
The painting was the last of "about 16" Hotere works sold at the gallery, Ms Milley said. It was covered by insurance, but only up to $10,000 and with a $2500 excess.
It was the first time a painting had been stolen from her gallery, and Ms Milley hoped whoever took it would return it.
- Otago Daily Times
