Ammon News - An oil painting of a Māori elder by New Zealand painter Charles Frederick Goldie was sold at an auction for a record £1.7m, becoming the most valuable work in New Zealand’s art history.

Thoughts of a Tohunga is a portrait of Wharekauri Tahuna, a priest believed to be one of the last tattooed men of his generation. It was painted by Goldie in 1938, and has been called his best work by several art critics and experts.

“In 2016 we sold a Goldie for $1,175,000 which was the first Goldie to sell for more than $1m. Since then we have sold 15 Goldies for more than $1m,” said Richard Thomson, International Art Centre director.

“Goldie is probably the most sought-after painter of Māori elders because of his artistic skill and ability, particularly with Māori subjects. His works are quite simply unmatched. He regularly brings record prices and this painting is now one of his most sought-after works. It is the finest portrait of a Māori elder we have seen in the many years we have been handling Goldie paintings.

“We had an incredibly wide interest in the painting before it was even included in our catalogue,” Thomson said.

The painting, sold for NZ$3.75m (£1.7m), was first shown in Paris, France, in 1939 and shows a kaumātua (tribe elder) with an elaborate moko, which is the traditional Maori system of tattooing, and wearing a large pounamu tiki (a carved human figure made usually from New Zealand greenstone) pendant around his neck, according to The New Zealand Herald.

The Independent