The original 5m-long canvas painting had been commissioned by the university in 1979 and hung in the former Hocken Library, now known as the Richardson Building, for nearly 30 years.
The work was inspired by the poem Rain by late Kaka Point poet Hone Tuwhare, who was a close friend of Hotere's, and the painting includes some words from the much-loved poem. Hotere, who died in February, aged 81, had been the Frances Hodgkins Fellow at the University of Otago in 1969.
That was the same year Tuwhare was the Burns Fellow at the university. The painting, which had begun to deteriorate in the building's windy foyer, was removed in 2007 for restoration, and was subsequently installed in the Hocken Library foyer in September 2011.
Dr Elaine Webster, an Otago textile science PhD graduate and textiles artist, was closely involved with efforts to have a reproduction of the painting installed in the Richardson Building. She said yesterday was ''completely delighted'' with the outcome, although the reproduction lacked the ''surface texture'' of the original.
There had long been plans to create and install a reproduction of the triptych, and colour photographs of the original had been taken.
But some delays had crept in and one sticking point had become the need to provide $3000 to meet some of the costs.
The University of the Third Age had agreed to provide financial support for the project.
''It's been a tremendous sort of journey,'' Dr Webster said.
Dr Webster, who is also director of the university summer school and distance education, joked that she had been ''the midwife'' in efforts to complete the project.
The reproduction's arrival was marked at a function yesterday afternoon.
