Record price for Dame Kiri's painting

'Opening' by Sir Peter Siddell, 1988, sold for a record $218,000. Photo / Supplied

An oil painting from opera diva Dame Kiri Te Kanawa's collection has fetched a record price at auction.

The 1988 oil on canvas, Opening, by renowned New Zealand artist Sir Peter Siddell was bought by a private buyer for $218,000 at an auction of important, early and rare art work at the International Art Centre in Parnell, Auckland last night.

The price was more than double the previous record price of a painting by Siddell sold at Auckland. Siddell died in October last year.

It is the second painting owned by Dame Kiri to bring a record price at an International Art Centre sale recently.

In November, 2010, her painting, Forty Winks by Charles Frederick Goldie sold for $573,000, the highest price paid for a Goldie painting offered at auction.

International Art Centre director Richard Thomson said Dame Kiri had owned the Siddell painting for more than 10 years and her decision to sell it was in line with her philosophy of regularly updating her collection.

He said the price also reflected the mood of art lovers who were often not influenced by the state of the economy.

"Fine art has always been a good investment and we have found time and time again that even when the economy is under pressure, there will also be buyers for quality art simply because it is like having money in the bank.

"That is aside from the appeal of this work because of the fine artistic merit shown by Peter Siddell. It was one of his most significant paintings."

The painting was described as "a suburban mosaic of villas and bungalows," which included the Mt Eden shopping village where he lived.