Fortune board of trustees chairwoman Haley van Leeuwen refused to be drawn on why the work was no longer up for auction.
The Fortune Theatre Trust announced the theatre’s immediate closure in early May, saying it was no longer financially viable.
Last week it announced it planned to sell the theatre’s assets.
Haywards Auction House will hold an auction at the theatre today starting at 10am.
The artwork was drawn by Hotere for the premiere of the John Broughton play 1981, which explored the 1981 Springbok rugby tour and protests from the perspective of a Maori family.
Art+Object director Ben Plumbly, who had sold numerous Hotere works, said the drawing’s withdrawal from sale could be due to questions over who owns it.
"More often than not it’s based around questions of title and ownership."
John Broughton, who wrote 1981, is a Dunedin-based playwright and Maori health authority who is a University of Otago professor and associate dean (Maori) at the faculty of dentistry.
Mr Plumbly said the fact the drawing was for the "world premiere" of Prof Broughton’s play gave it an interesting back story that could add to its value.
"Increasingly the market places a growing value on provenance and that’s a nice provenance."
