Bid to take treasured Goldie overseas

THE Government is considering a bid by a mystery buyer to take one of New Zealand’s most celebrated artist’s paintings offshore.

The Ministry of Culture and Heritage has confirmed it has received an application to take a Charles F Goldie painting out of the country and is considering whether the work should be protected under laws allowing authorities to block culturally significant artefacts from being taken out of New Zealand.

But mystery shrouds the identity of the painting, and which country its owner hopes to take it to.

China’s increasingly affluent private collectors are buying up many important artworks: just last week, an iconic portrait of Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong by American pop artist Andy Warhol sold for $15.7 million at an auction in Hong Kong.

Goldie is one of New Zealand’s best known and sought-after artists. But his portraits of Maori tribal figures are also polarising: while some Maori view Goldie’s paintings as faithful likenesses of their ancestors, others say Goldie presented his subjects as part of a dying race.

The Ministry of Culture and Heritage would confirm only that the Goldie work under consideration is not A Noble Relic of a Noble Race, which sold for a record $1.3 million last April in an auction at the International Art Centre.

Wellington auction house Dunbar Sloane also confirmed an early Goldie work, Tamehana, that sold for $322,000 on Thursday, was sold to a New Zealander.

Auckland auction house Mossgreen-Webb’s has two Goldie works set to go under the hammer next week.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Culture and Heritage confirmed it was ‘‘currently considering an export application relating to a painting by C F Goldie’’. The permission process is covered by the Protected Objects Act.

‘‘The Act requires the Chief Executive to consider the specialist advice of at least two expert examiners in the field relevant to the particular application, and to apply the Act’s tests on the cultural heritage significance of the object,’’ the spokesman said. ‘‘At this stage a final decision has not been made on this application.’’

Ngati Manawa elder Pem Bird said if he was a descendant of a Goldie portrait’s subject he would not wish it to leave the country.

‘‘This is a classic example of two cultures clashing. I would venture to suggest that if my people knew that was going to be the outcome they would not have agreed for themselves to be painted.’’

Art critic and writer Hamish Keith said the work should remain in the country. ‘‘[Goldie]