A major auction featuring works from the private collection of the late Sir Miles Warren is set to go under the hammer.
A major auction featuring works from the private collection of the late Sir Miles Warren is set to go under the hammer.
A collection of artworks owned by one of New Zealand’s most influential architects is set to go under the hammer, with proceeds helping preserve a nationally significant heritage property.
Webb’s has announced a major auction featuring works from the private collection of the late Sir Miles Warren, co-founder of Warrenand Mahoney and a key figure in New Zealand architecture.
Lot 26, Pat Hanly, Protective Helmet, and Lot 29, Greer Twiss, Big Red. Photo / Jane Ussher
The “Works of Art” sale, to be held in Auckland on Monday, includes a selection of paintings, objects and works on paper collected over decades, offering what the auction house describes as “a rare and intimate window into the mind of a man who believed profoundly in the integration of art and architecture”.
Selected proceeds will go towards the ongoing preservation of Warren’s former home, Ōhinetahi House and Garden in Governors Bay, Christchurch, which he gifted to the people of Aotearoa.
Ōhinetahi Charitable Trust chair Sarah Smith said the sale would help ensure the site’s future.
Sir Miles Warren at Ōhinetahi. Photo / Ōhinetahi Charitable Trust
“Preserving and enhancing a property of this calibre is a continual undertaking. To help fund this ongoing work, the trust is offering a selection of artworks from the substantial Ōhinetahi collection,” she said.
“The proceeds will support essential maintenance, future improvements, and the continued sharing of this remarkable place with the public. Making space within the on-site gallery will also allow for refreshed, curated displays, including a focused presentation of Sir Miles Warren’s watercolours.”
Among the works is Protective Helmet (1962) by Pat Hanly, a rare surviving piece from the artist’s Massacre of the Innocents series.
The gardens at Ōhinetahi are considered to be internationally significant. Photo / Jane Ussher
Of the 35 paintings produced in a seven-week period, most were later destroyed.
The collection also includes Bill Hammond’s Wishbone Ash Stash 2, Cornwall Road (2011), described as part of one of the artist’s final major series.
Warren had close relationships with many leading New Zealand artists, particularly in post-war Christchurch, and his collection reflects “that network of shared ambition, intellectual exchange and mutual respect”.
Lot 58, Bill Hammond, Webb's Wishbone Ash Stash 2, Cornwall Road, has an estimated value of between $360,000 and $500,000. Photo / Jane Ussher
John Coop, managing director of Warren and Mahoney, said the works had been carefully chosen and would continue to shape new spaces.
“We hope the many pieces within the collection, chosen with such care, find wonderful new homes and go on to enhance new rooms, spaces and places in ways Miles would have appreciated.”
The wider catalogue includes works by major New Zealand and international artists, with highlights toured across Queenstown, Wellington and Christchurch ahead of the Auckland auction.
