The auction of a private collection of New Zealand artist Ralph Hotere's work has been put off indefinitely after questions over the work's ownership.
Wellington-based Maori art adviser Annette Ferguson said she was gifted the 58 works on paper and two on canvas by Hotere in 1968, the year he returned from Europe and the year before he became a Frances Hodgkins Fellow at Otago University.
Ms Ferguson, who was a close friend of Hotere, planned to sell the collection, all of which were painted between 1957 and 1968.
However, Hotere's representatives have questioned the ownership rights.
Auctioneer Ben Plumbly, from Auckland, told Radio New Zealand the ownership needed to be clarified before the sale could proceed.
