By BEN TORNQUIST
A unique New Zealand painting kept in one family for four generations has been bought by the national museum, Te Papa.
The oil, Maori Women and Children on a Riverbank, by Gottfried Lindauer, fetched just over $200,000 at a crowded Auckland auction room.
The work belonged to the descendants of
Lindauer's most significant patron, Auckland businessman Henry Partridge.
Partridge commissioned 70 paintings in the early 1900s which he donated to the Auckland Art Gallery in 1915.
But Riverbank remained with the family, as it was a gift from the artist to Partridge's daughter, Myra, whose middle name was also Lindauer.
Te Papa art curator Jillian Lloyd said the auction was a rare chance to see a unique painting that had popular appeal.
The painting was important for Te Papa because it showed a crossover of Maori and Pakeha cultures at the beginning of last century, she said.
The Maori depicted in the painting used traditional cooking methods, yet wore European clothes and used modern utensils.
"It's a very warm, affectionate image," she said. "Lindauer held Maori in great esteem and affection."
The painting had been passed down three generations to Alan Graham, grandson of Myra Partridge. He said too many family members shared ownership of the painting and were not passionate enough to keep it.
"It will be sad to see it go ... but it's hard to keep a painting in private care," he said. "It's quite an effort and no one is prepared to look after it."
The Auckland Art Gallery, which still possesses the 70 Lindauer works in the Partridge collection, did not want to buy Riverbank.
Gallery director Chris Saines said the curators had thought about buying the work but decided it would not add to their already large Lindauer holding.
A grandson of the artist, Lynton Lindauer, who owns two of his grandfather's paintings, is unfamiliar with Riverbank.
But he liked to think of his grandfather's paintings as "the best" and said the Auckland gallery should display the Partridge collection more often.
"My grandfather painted exactly as they were ... as if he was a photographer," he said.
"He was more meticulous than anybody else."
