Art collection fetches tens of thousands at auction

Don Binney's work - Pipiwharauroa. Photo / Supplied

The art collection of two leading lights of the North Shore literati and arts scene has fetched tens of thousands of dollars at auction this week.

Sydney and Marjorie Musgrove lined the walls of their stylish Art Deco apartment in Devonport with rare artworks from some of New Zealand's greatest artists of the 20th century.

Their daughter Judith, an esteemed Maori history scholar, was married to celebrated artist Don Binney.

In the mid-1960s, Binney gave his mother-in-law two oil paintings, including one depicting a Pipiwharauroa, or shining cuckoo.

Last night, the piece was sold to a private Auckland collector for $90,000 at Auckland house Cordy's. It had an estimate of $40,000 to $60,000.

Another Binney landscape painting, inscribed, 'For Marj From Bin, Birthday 1965', sold for $13,000, auctioneer Andrew Grigg said today.

A North Otago landscape by Colin McCahon, often hailed New Zealand's greatest ever artist, went for $17,000.

Colin McCahon, North Otago landscape. Photo / Supplied

When Mr Grigg entered the Musgrove's home, he knew he wasn't dealing with any ordinary collection.

"The living room was graciously filled with treasure, a McCahon to my left, two Binneys in front, an early Len Castle on the window sill and books galore ... it was exciting," he said earlier.

Oxford-educated Professor Sydney Musgrove was a distinguished Shakespearean scholar and head of Auckland University's English department from 1947 until his retirement in 1980. He died in 1987.

His wife, who died in July aged 100, sewed much of the tapestry and costumes for his plays.

Dame Judith Binney, whose Tuhoe history was the 2010 New Zealand Post Book of the Year, died in 2011, aged 70.