Peter McIntyre's work 'Ready for the Drive'. Photo / Supplied
Peter McIntyre's work 'Ready for the Drive'. Photo / Supplied
A rare collection of paintings by one of New Zealand's foremost landscape artists, amassed over a lifetime by a private collector, is expected to fetch more than $200,000 when it goes under the hammer next week.
Dunedin-born Peter McIntyre won acclaim as New Zealand's official war artist in the Second World War.
But after the war, his landscapes earned him recognition as one of the country's most important landscape artists.
A Bay of Plenty collector who knew McIntyre, and who bought some of the paintings from him before he died in 1995 aged 85, put together a remarkable collection over half a century.
Now, the ten paintings, all landscapes or farming scenes, will be offered for sale at the International Art Centre auction in Parnell, Auckland next week.
It has already attracted wide interest, said director Richard Thomson.
One of the paintings King Country Musterer is estimated to bring $40,000 and the entire collection is likely to sell for well over $200,000, he said.
Peter McIntyre's work 'King Country Musterer'. Photo / Supplied
"He was one of the pioneers of the movement after the war to paint New Zealand landscapes and get away from the more traditional historic paintings and into the more modern themes," Mr Thomson said.
"McIntyre's work resonated with many people and in a way reflected what New Zealand was built on, very real landscapes and farming scenes that people could readily identify with and that still applies today."
"The paintings we have for sale are the top paintings from the private collection. The owners are downsizing and have kept some but the best of the collection is for sale and that is quite unusual. They are very fine paintings."
Several of the paintings being offered are of King Country scenes where McIntyre had a holiday house at Kakahi which became both his studio and his retreat. The King Country inspired McIntyre to paint what many consider to be some of his finest work.
Peter McIntyre's work 'King Country Farmer'. Photo / Supplied
McIntyre was born in 1910 in Dunedin where his Scottish father was one of the founders of the Caxton Printing Company. He was educated at Otago Boys' High School and briefly at the University of Otago before he headed to England, where he studied for a bachelor of fine arts at the Slade School of Fine Art, London.
He was appointed as the official war artist in 1941 by Major General Bernard Freyberg and painted New Zealand soldiers fighting in Crete and North Africa, at Cassino in Italy, and other theatres of war. His work was exhibited in Europe and New Zealand, and published in magazines such as the Illustrated London News, Studio, Parade, and the New Zealand Listener, making him a household name in New Zealand.
After the war, he worked from a studio in Princes St in Dunedin before he moved to Wellington. He published eight books, several of them best sellers.
He was made an OBE in 1970.
The sale also includes work by Don Binney which is expected to bring up to $140,000; several by Gretchen Albrecht, one of which is estimated to bring $60,000; two by Ralph Hotere; a Bill Hammond acrylic, paint, pencil and ink on paper with an estimated value of $120,000; and two by Evelyn Page, including a nude estimated to bring $120,000.
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* King Country Musterer - Oil on board 59 x 74. Signed. Estimate $30,000 - $40,000.
