Charles Goldie painting sells for a record $1.8 million, will return to New Zealand

Charles F. Goldie's painting, 'Reverie, Ena te Papatahi, a Ngapuhi Chieftainess (Ina Te Papatahi, Ngā Puhi)', was sold for $1.8 million.

One of Charles Frederick Goldie’s most historically significant paintings will be repatriated to New Zealand after selling for a record $1.8 million this week.

Reverie, Ena te Papatahi, a Ngapuhi Chieftainess (Ina Te Papatahi, Ngāpuhi), was painted in 1916 and earned the title of the most significant painting by the famed New Zealand artist to appear at auction in Australia.

The original owner, Henry Bruce Morton, acquired the painting on June 17, 1916 for just £26.50.

Just over a century later, the painting was purchased by private collectors Chris and Virginia Anderson for a new world auction record for the artist, at A$1,718,182 (NZ$1.83m).

The painting depicts Te Papatahi seated upon a paepae [carved threshold] at the front of a wharenui [meeting house]. Te Papatahi was an expert on tukutuku panels and weaving, and was the niece of Tāmati Wāka Nene, one of Aotearoa’s most influential rangatira [a Māori chief or noble].

Charles F. Goldie's painting 'Reverie, Ena te Papatahi, a Ngapuhi Chieftainess (Ina Te Papatahi, Ngā Puhi)', valued at up to A$1.5 million, will be sold at auction in Sydney in May.

Co-owner Chris Anderson says he has always wanted to get his hands on some of Goldie’s work.

“I grew up in a motel in Whakatāne and my father brought a whole lot of Goldie prints to put on the walls. I always looked at them as a kid and loved them, so I’ve always wanted one,” said Anderson.

Anderson is from the same iwi as the painting’s subject, Ngāpuhi in the Northland region.

Anderson told the Herald that he first heard that the painting was up for sale after purchasing a Weekend Herald on a flight back to his Queenstown home and seeing the previous article.

“I started doing some research about the painting and I saw there was a bit of controversy about the way it’s been held out of the country to enhance its wealth to overseas collectors, so I thought it’d be a good one to bring back home,” he said.

Consigned from the renowned private collection of Denis Savill, who for more than 40 years was Australia’s pre-eminent dealer of fine Australian and New Zealand art, Anderson says the painting will now make its way home following a lengthy period in English and Australian collections.

Chris and Virginia Anderson purchased the Goldie painting at an auction in Sydney for NZ$1.8 million. Photo / Supplied

Anderson says the initial steps after the painting has returned involve consulting with the sitter’s family and Ngāpuhi about the most appropriate and culturally sensitive way to display the painting,

“If the family is willing to show it, then we’ll put it on display in a place where it’s accessible to them and relevant as well... Whether it’s a gallery up North, or Auckland, or wherever everyone can enjoy it,” he said.

Anderson was told that it would be “economic suicide” to ship the painting back to Aotearoa as it would eliminate premiums for overseas buyers in the future.

“I’m not worried about whether it goes up or down in value, it will never be sold,” he said.

The painting was auctioned by Smith & Singer in Sydney on the evening of May 2.

Charles F. Goldie was one of New Zealand's most distinguished artists.

Smith & Singer chairman Geoffrey Smith said: “Smith & Singer are honoured and proud to have facilitated the transition of this exceptional and historically significant work of art by one of New Zealand’s greatest artists, Charles Frederick Goldie, from one custodian to another”.

“Goldie has long had an international reputation for his unique depiction of Māori people and their cultural traditions that has attracted the attention of collectors throughout the world,” he said.

Goldie was considered the finest painter of kaumātua and people of importance. He died in 1947 at the age of 76.

“I know a lot of people depict Goldie in different ways, some positive and some negative, but for us, we think purchasing it was a really smart thing to do, and it will be a legacy piece for our sons,” Anderson said.

Anderson expects to see the painting in person for the first time and get his hands on it in two weeks.

He says that the painting is roughly 45x40cm, and chuckled that it was a “pretty small piece for the amount of money it is”.

“Reverie: Ena te Papatahi, a Ngapuhi Chieftainess (Ina Te Papatahi, Ngāpuhi) is a composition of extraordinary power and gravitas,” said Smith & Singer.

It was previously exhibited in June 1916 at the Auckland Society of Arts’ 35th annual exhibition, and then again from March to August 2019 at the National Gallery of Australia’s Māori Markings: Tā Moko exhibition in Canberra.