Valuer assesses damage to city's art

Toby Macalister says valuations are keeping his auction house busy. Photo / Greg Bowker

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Art valuers in the middle of Christchurch have been busy answering calls and emails from collectors who have had works destroyed.

Watson's auctioneers and valuers on Cashel St started assessing the damage to personal art collections on Thursday.

Director Toby Macalister said the gallery had sustained very little damage compared with its neighbours, of which some buildings will need to be demolished.

He said despite the widespread devastation in central Christchurch there was a strong feeling of "wanting to get on with it" and get the city up and running as soon as possible.

"I think the outlook is pretty good. In a sense there is a tremendous amount of work on. If you're in building you'll be very busy. We're doing a tremendous amount of valuations, so our phones are ringing non-stop.

"Surprisingly we have had very very little damage [to art work in the gallery]. We're very lucky."

The constant aftershocks were preventing businesses from opening shop because buildings were needing to be reassessed after major jolts.

Macalister said the gallery was open for business on Thursday and an auction took place yesterday.

The auction was always planned to take place yesterday but was placed on hold until the building was deemed safe.

The gallery is 50m from the central part of Christchurch that has been blocked off from the public.

"The majority of shops are closed. There are a lot of people around quite anxious to get things going again. There is a strange feeling in the city. But people are anxious to get back to it."

Watson's was established in 1978 and is one of the South Island's leading auction houses.