Two Free Art Books
And more when you join our mailing list
We like to reward those who receive our quarterly art auction catalogues. Catalogues are completely free of charge. By remaining on our list you will also receive further subscriber only benefits including PDF copies of various out of print art books and also the progressive release of the rare and valuable Art in New Zealand which ran from 1928-1946.
Enter your details and receive an immediate download of New Zealand Art Auction Records and also The Concise Dictionary of New Zealand Artists. Future links will include 64 issues of Art in New Zealand, various Arts in N.Z. Year Books and Una Platts’s Nineteenth Century New Zealand Artists.
Please Add Me to Your Mailing List
* Where it says ‘Source’, please indicate how you found out about us, using one of the following as your guide :
– Name of publication
– Name of radio station
– Advertising leaflet
– Social Media (Please specify – Facebook / LinkedIn, etc)
– Referral from friend or colleague
– Other (just describe)
You are free to unsubscribe from our list at any time but in doing so please be aware that you will not receive any of our further art book releases.
Find Out More About Your FREE New Zealand Art Books
Newrick's New Zealand Art Auction Records
Authored and published by Henry Newrick back in 1973, New Zealand Art Auction Records was the first attempt in this country to bring into one central source a compendium of art auction prices from major NZ auction houses over the previous 5 years (1968-1973). At the same time, Newrick also provided biographies of many of the artists referred to in the book. This was well before the personal computer & internet and much research was involved, going through records at the Auckland & Wellington public libraries as well as the Alexander Turnbull Library.
At the time of publication (1973) there were no specialist art auction houses in New Zealand and most auctioneers were general auctioneers selling washing machines one day, books the next, followed by art and antiques which were generally mixed together. Art sold at auction was invariably ‘traditional’ art and it was up to art dealers such as Peter McLeavey to promote contemporary art through their private galleries. It would have been a brave ‘modern’ artist who allowed his/her works to go to auction during this period. It was not until much later that modern art began to be sold at auction.
It is interesting to look back at auction prices during the five year period that the book encompasses. For example, a reasonably large Colin McCahon oil, Kauri (54cm x 48cm) sold at Cody’s in 1971 for $100. Today, that work is likely to be upwards of $250,000. In 1971 a Raymond Ching watercolour, Tawny Owl, sold at the same sale for $800. Today a bird study watercolour of similar size is likely to fetch $5,000-$8,000. Many of the lesser colonial artists have shown virtually no advance at all.
New Zealand Art Auction Records makes fascinating reading for those who are interested in the art market and comes free of charge when you join our mailing list.
The Concise Dictionary of New Zealand Artists
Authored and published by Kate McGahey in 2000, The Concise Dictionary of New Zealand Artists (Painters, Printmakers and Sculptors) is a more comprehensive volume than Henry Newrick’s earlier work, in that there are many more biographies in this volume than in the earlier. Kate’s book also includes potted biographies of many contemporary artists who were simply not around at the time of Newrick’s work which had been published 27 years earlier.
In all, there are around 1,300 short biographies in this excellent book which is now available as a PDF file, free of charge, to all those who join our mailing list.
For those who remain on the list, Heritage Art will be making available PDF copies of ‘heritage’ art reference books & magazines which were originally published (with few exceptions) prior to 1970. These include the magazine Art in New Zealand which was published between 1928 and 1946.