Melting Moments 1, by Christchurch artist Bill Hammond, is expected to fetch around $1.5-2 million dollars at auction tonight. Photo: Webbs Auction House
A “masterpiece” by late Christchurch artist Bill Hammond could become one of the most expensive paintings ever sold in New Zealand when it goes to auction tonight.
Melting Moments 1, an acrylic on canvas work measuring roughly 1.6 x 2.1 metres, is expected to fetch around $1.5-2 million.
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Charles Ninow, director of art at Webb’s auction house, told Morning Report that the painting was from Hammond’s most sought-after period in the late 1990s.
“1999, the year when this work was made, was when he made his most iconic work, those beautiful green and gold images full of those bird people that people associate with him. This really is a masterpiece,” Ninow said.
Bill Hammond, pictured in his studio. Photo: Auckland Museum
Hammond started painting ‘bird people’ in the 1990s, “almost like hieroglyphics” following a visit to some remote sub-Antarctic islands.
“It was there that he first thought about what would the world be like without us humans? And then he imagined this bird race that ruled the world.”
The most expensive artwork ever sold in New Zealand to date is a 1982 work by Colin McCahon, 'Is there anything of which one can say look this is new?', which fetched $2.45m at auction in September 2022.
Ninow said he thought Hammond, who died in 2021, was one of New Zealand’s best artists. His other works are held in museums and art galleries around Aotearoa and in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
“This is the kind of work that will be appropriate for really anyone who's trying to assemble a collection of the very, very best New Zealand artworks," Ninow said.
"You would be surprised, we’ve a very, very strong market in this country. And we're expecting strong reception tonight.”