Record price for Robin White prints at auction

Harbour Cone & Oystercatcher 

Auckland auction house Art & Object reported recently that there had been "a string of [auction] results which we feel deserve special mention and which highlight the strength of an area of the market which is frequently overlooked and neglected: prints and multiples."

We had watched with interest the consignment of a superb private collection of 31 original New Zealand prints that included six prints by Robin White. Robin White has painted many of this country's most iconic images such as Sam Hunt at the Portobello Pub (1978), yet White was also a dedicated print maker.  The three stand out prints of the auction were White's works  Florence and Harbour Cone, Mangaweka and White Oystercatcher at Harbour Cone all of which were editions of 50.  These editions reached unprecedented prices of $13 500, $10 406 and $14 906 respectively.  According to Art & Object "As with the photography market, it seems at long last that collectors are now willing to pay five figure prices for iconic images irregardless of their multiple nature, if the condition is top notch." 

We wonder what the highest price paid for a New Zealand print is? These prices for the Robin White works are a great result but our money would be on Gordon Walters.  We'll have a dig through the auction records.