Goldie painting under hammer could fetch $1.2 million

Tāmaki Makaurau - A famous Goldie painting of a Maori chief could fetch $1.2 million under the hammer at Webb’s auction in Auckland on Monday.

Charles Frederick Goldie is renowned as one of Aotearoa’s finest artists in depicting the mood and esteem on many of the greatest leaders 100 years ago.

The remarkable painting is entitled The Whitening Snows of Venerable Eld. Kamaka. A Chief of the Ngatimahuta Tribe Te Kamaka, Ngāti Maniapoto. 

There is very little recorded about Te Kamaka and his influence, however, Goldie painted Te Kamaka several times, titling a 1918 work The Diplomatist, and another in 1921, An Aristocrat.

Te Kamaka translates as rock or boulder, inferring strength. His highly distinctive and detailed portraits have long been sought after by private and institutional collectors alike.

Prices for Goldie’s works have appreciated incredibly over the past four decades. His works captured the New Zealand public’s imagination like no other. In the early 1980s, works by Goldie would come up for auction with estimates in the range of $8000 to $14,000.

Over the past four decades, his works have risen in value tremendously. Collectors now see Goldie as the ultimate acquisition, and that is unlikely to change. Goldie, more than any other New Zealand artist, demonstrates that quality art appreciates in value over time.

He is one of the Aotearoa’s greatest ever artists, with a fascinating catalogue of work made between the 1890s and the 1940s. He was one of the nation’s greatest ever artists, with a unique artistic vision and an extraordinary level of technical skill.

Goldie is best known for his distinctive portraits of Māori elders, with their pronounced tā moko facial tattooing.

His work is instantly recognisable and was made with a level of technical finesse that is unmatched in contemporary painting.

 He was one of the nation’s greatest ever artists, with a unique artistic vision and an extraordinary level of technical skill.