Online art auction gives bidders across country equal opportunities to bid

Photo of Anawhata Stream, Waitakeres, Auckland 1880 by Charles Blomfield (1848-1926). Image / Supplied

Alert level restrictions are no problem for New Zealand's newest art auction house, Heritage Art Auctions, with an online only auction currently under way.

Heritage Art Auctions is based in Whanganui, but through the online auction is effectively serving the whole of New Zealand.

The 'timed' online only auction of affordable art features almost 400 paintings, prints, photos and art books, with most items expected to sit in a price range of $50-$250.

Items include watercolours and paintings from the 19th and 20th century, prints and engravings from the 16th century; photographs from the 19th and 20th century and high end art books from the late 20th century.

Some of the featured artists with paintings or prints include such well-known names as Barraud; Brees; Hoyte; Gully; Lindauer; Heaphy; Hall-Thorpe; Pickmere; Warr and hundreds of others. Early New Zealand photographers are also featured.

The catalogue is available online, and potential bidders who sign up to the mailing list to receive future catalogues will receive a free downloadable PDF copy of Heritage Art Auction director Henry Newrick's 184-page book of New Zealand Art Auction Records featuring the biographies of hundreds of New Zealand artists.

The current online auction ends on Sunday, September 19. This will be followed on October 9 by a 'live' sale where more expensive paintings will be offered, going back hundreds of years.

Included in the live sale is a major oil painting by Charles Blomfield, which has never been seen in public before, having been owned by the same family for 141 years from the time it was painted in 1880. This artwork is expected to fetch between $50,000-$75,000.

To view the auction catalogue, register as a bidder, or to sign up to receive future catalogues, visit www.HeritageArtNZ.com