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A painting by the late Christchurch artist Bill Hammond has sold at auction for $1.35 million.
Webb’s Auction House art department manager Megan Shaw said Zoomorphic Lounge III has become the second most expensive Hammond work sold.
Auction house fees took the final purchase price to $1.65m, said Shaw.
“It misses out on the top spot by about $20,000.”
Hammond’s painting Melting Moments sold for $1.7m in 2023.
Webb’s estimated the work could fetch up to $1.8m at Tuesday night’s auction.
While it did not reach that mark, the work is now in the top 10 most expensive artworks sold in the New Zealand secondary art sales market, Shaw said.
The Christchurch-born artist was noted for the environmental and socially-aware themes of his work. One of his best known works, Fall of Icarus, has been displayed at the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū.
Born in August, 1947, Hammond attended the Ilam School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury from 1966-1968.
He died in February 2021, aged 73.
Hammond’s work was one of 100 pieces by 39 artists that Webb’s auctioned for a private collector.
They were selling part of their collection in order to support a new generation of artists, Shaw said.
While she could not disclose who the buyer is, Shaw said the work will be staying in New Zealand.
“The work has found a happy home where it will be a centrepiece of their collection for years to come.”
Shaw said the work had already been on loan to major galleries, including Auckland Art Gallery, for a decade.
“It would be up to the purchaser if they wanted to make the work public.”
Shaw said five percent of the sale price goes to the artist, or their estate if they’ve past away in the last 50 years.
