KEY POINTS:
A rare Gallipoli painting by New Zealand war artist Horace Moore-Jones will be up for grabs for the first time when it goes under the hammer next week in Auckland.
The painting, titled Simpson and His Donkey, has been put up for auction by a family who were given the painting personally by Moore-Jones before he died in 1922.
It is expected to fetch up to $120,000 at the Webb's auction on Monday night.
Webb's Gallery managing director Sophie Coupland said the estimated value reflected a boom in prices for images depicting Anzac history.
"There is a real passion among people buying these works. They are big war buffs and amateur historians.
"As this is a real account of what went on in World War I, there is sure to be interest from collectors," Ms Coupland said.
"It's not all about money or investment, it's about people looking to buy back a piece of their history."
There are believed to be five Simpson and His Donkey paintings. All depict a man leading a donkey carrying a badly wounded soldier along a treacherous hillside track at Gallipoli in 1915 and were painted from a photograph when Moore-Jones returned to New Zealand after World War I.
John Simpson Kirkpatrick was with the Australian forces at Gallipoli and became a legend for his heroic effort in ignoring sniper and artillery fire as he brought the wounded on his donkey, Murphy, down a dangerous path to the beach.
However, some New Zealand historians have claimed the man leading the injured soldier was actually New Zealand Field Ambulance medic Dick Henderson, who replaced Kirkpatrick at Gallipoli after he was killed by enemy fire in 1915.
Last year another of Moore-Jones' Simpson and His Donkey paintings was bought from Australian auctioneers Lawson Menzies for $A120,000 ($NZ136,000)..
- NZPA
