Record Goldie Sale

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa has sold one of the finest paintings by renowned New Zealand artist Charles Goldie for the record price of $573, at Auckland’s International Art Centre. The oil on canvas, Forty Winks, painted in 1939, was the keynote piece in a sale of important, early and rare works. Centre director Richard Thomson said it was the finest Goldie painting to go on the market for years and had an impeccable provenance. The successful bidder was a New Zealand private buyer, he said. The sale also took a record amount of time for a painting to sell, with bidding by numerous people lasting for about 2 minutes. “Most auctions for paintings last about 3 seconds,” Thomson said. Goldie died in the Auckland suburb of Remuera in 1947.