NZ artists' works expected to bring up to $150,000

A painting by renowned New Zealand Artist Charles Frederick Goldie will go under the hammer next week after being in private hands for 55 years.

Portrait of a Burgomaster was expected to bring between $100,000 and $150,000 at the auction at the International Art Centre in Auckland next week.

Goldie earned his reputation for his many Maori portraits but his 1895 oil on canvas was a "spectacular painting," said centre director Richard Thomson.

Goldie painted the Burgomaster oil in Europe and travelled again to Europe about the turn of the century.

The Burgomaster paining had been in a private collection since 1950.

Another oil by Don Binney was also expected to bring up to $150,000.

Binney was one of the top five New Zealand artists of the 1960s.

Other pieces include several water colours by John Barr Clarke Hoyte, including a watercolour of the White Terraces which were destroyed in the Mt Tarawera eruption of 1886.

Mr Thomson said art was still considered a very good investment.

- NZPA