KEY POINTS:
An ink drawing of the Beehive signed in the name of Helen Clark has been sold at auction for more than double the amount that valuers expected.
The A4 picture of the Beehive which the Prime Minister has refused to confirm or deny was her work, was gifted to a charity auction at Ellerslie School in 2001 where it sold for $80.
This afternoon at an auction held by Dunbar Sloane in Auckland the drawing sold for $4000 -- prior to the auction art valuers had said it could sell for up to $2000.
Auctioneer Dunbar Sloane art valuer Helena Walker told NZPA a man had bought the drawing but would not reveal who the new owner was.
Interest in the auction had been strong, she said.
The cartoon-style doodle was drawn two years after Miss Clark first passed off a painting as her own, but before the "paintergate" scandal was revealed in the media in 2002.
Police later found a prima facie case of fraud in relation to two pictures, but decided against prosecuting the low level crime, which involved no financial gain on the part of Miss Clark, was not in the public interest.
- NZPA
