Dagley's work to go under hammer

Arthur Dagley. Photo / Bay of Plenty Times

A huge collection of one of Tauranga's most prolific artists, the late Arthur Dagley, is going under the hammer.

An auction of 101 pieces of Dagley's work will be held at Baycourt on June 10, with proceeds going towards the artist's estate.

The one-off auction is being organised by Fine Art Society New Zealand. Price estimates range from $300 to $14,000, with the majority of the works predicted to sell for under $2000.

Dagley lived in Tauranga all his life, one reason his work has been referred to as "underrated" by art critics. He worked as a full-time artist for several decades until he died in 1998, aged 79.

Creative Tauranga chief executive Tracey Rudduck-Gudsell said Dagley was a prolific Tauranga artist, who was ahead of his time in many ways.

"I used to work at the Port of Tauranga and they used to have a major piece of his art. I own a piece myself," she said.

"His work was very well known in the community, I think a lot of homes would have a piece of his work. He did a lot of work around scenes of the port. Personally, I like his style."

Fine Art Society director Grant Bezett said Dagley was a significant artist in the 1970s and 1980s, and he had a unique style for that period.

"He had an abstract realism style, most artists in that period were doing one or the other. There's nobody else who was really painting like that. Anybody who knows about New Zealand art knows Arthur Dagley."

Mr Bezett said the number of paintings was a unique aspect of the auction. The collection included a good selection of Dagley's work, from smaller paintings to the larger scale and some well-known important works.

The public can view the pieces at Baycourt on June 8 from 10am to 5pm, and June 9 from 10am to 4pm. A third viewing session will be held on auction day from 9am until 1pm, with bidding starting at 6.30pm.