NEW ZEALAND.- New Zealand art works continue to sell for record prices with a Ralph Hotere painting fetching $235,000 last night - the highest price ever paid for a work by a living New Zealand artist. The Hotere painting, Towards Aramoana, was bought by a private collector at an auction at Webb’s auctioneers. In June another of Hotere’s painting, Vive Aramoana, was bought by Auckland-based millionaire publisher Barry Colman for the then record hammer price of $210,000.

 

Towards Aromoana is an acrylic on board and measures 1200mm by 850mm. It is one of Hotere’s works based around the 1970s proposal to make Aramoana a site for an aluminum smelter. Hotere, who has been based in and around Dunedin since 1969, is one of New Zealand’s most respected contemporary artists and was the subject of a full-length biographical film released this year. The Hotere work was one of 161 lots at the auction, with sales totaling around $1.2 million. The next highest price was $170,000 for a Bill Hammond painting.

 

In May another of Hammond’s paintings, Containers, sold for $200,250. The highest price for a New Zealand painting is nearly $3 million, paid last year for a work by the late Colin McCahon.