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Police have charged a man with stealing a Colin McCahon art work.
Detective Constable Aaron Bunker of Wanganui police said today a 60-year-old man would appear in Wanganui District Court next month accused of the theft of McCahon's 1966 sculpture Iron Cross.
Police recovered the art work from the home of Wellington businessman Lloyd Morrison earlier this year.
The Infratil chief executive bought the artwork legitimately at auction for $25,000 in 2006.
But it turned out that McCahon, one of New Zealand's most acclaimed artists, had given the sculpture to his friend and former student, Wanganui painter Joanna Paul, who died in 2003.
Her sister, Jane Paul, said Joanna had willed the McCahon to her son, and it had been put into a safe in her shared Wanganui art studio.
Ms Paul next saw the sculpture being auctioned on TV One's Auction House and called police.
Auctioneer Dunbar Sloane Sr told NZPA earlier this year that the vendor had returned the $22,000 he got for the cross and Mr Morrison had been reimbursed in full.
- NZPA
