{"product_id":"lost-in-thought-ngaheke-an-arawa-chieftain","title":"Lost in Thought, Ngāheke, An Arawa Chieftain","description":"\u003cp\u003eView \u003cem\u003eLost in Thought, Ngāheke, An Arawa Chieftain \u003c\/em\u003ein NZ artbroker, Thursday 23rd July, 5-7.30pm\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCharles Frederick Goldie (1870-1947)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCharles Frederick Goldie was born in Auckland. His talent for drawing and painting was recognised at an early age, and on encouragement his parents sought extra tuition for him with artist Louis Steele. In 1892 Goldie went on to study in France at the Academic Julian in Paris, returning 4 ½ years later in 1898 when he established the \"French Academy of Art\" with Steele.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe two shared a studio and collaborated on the large painting \u003ci\u003eThe Arrival of the Maori’s in New Zealand\u003c\/i\u003e, based on \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Th%C3%A9odore_G%C3%A9ricault\"\u003eThéodore Géricault\u003c\/a\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Raft_of_the_Medusa\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Raft of the Medusa\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e. This work, held in the Auckland Art Gallery collection, depicts exhausted Polynesian mariners sighting land after a long journey by catamaran.  Its artistic merits were praised at the time and it is regarded  to have launched Goldie's career. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGoldie and Steele parted ways not long afterwards and Goldie established his own studio. From 1901 he made field trips to meet, sketch and photograph Māori people in their own locations, and he also paid Māori visitors to Auckland to sit for him. Most of these were chiefs visiting the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Native_Land_Court\"\u003eNative Land Court\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy far the majority of Goldie's subjects were elderly, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tattooed_M%C4%81ori\"\u003etattooed Māori\u003c\/a\u003e of considerable standing. The practice of tattooing (\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/T%C4%81_moko\"\u003eTā moko\u003c\/a\u003e) was no longer current at the time, and the remaining examples were mostly elderly; it was also a practice largely confined to high-status individuals.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGoldie dedicated his life to painting the Māori chiefs, Māori leaders and their communities, who also became his friends. He lived with them on their various marae and spoke fluent \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/M%C4%81ori_language\"\u003eMāori\u003c\/a\u003e. His wish was to preserve the heritage of the Maori people, whom he admired.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGoldie's health eventually deteriorated through lead poisoning (from the lead white used to prepare his canvases). In order to create the finest of detail in his paintings, he would lick the end of his paint brush to ensure an even finer tip. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1934 and 1935 he exhibited at the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Royal_Academy_of_Arts\"\u003eRoyal Academy of Arts\u003c\/a\u003e in London, and in 1935, 1938 and 1939; the Salon of the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Soci%C3%A9t%C3%A9_des_artistes_fran%C3%A7ais\"\u003eSociété des artistes français\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGoldie stopped painting in 1941 and died on 11 July 1947, aged 76.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLost in Thought, Ngāheke, An Arawa Chieftain\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eResearch has identified a previously unrecognised 1917 painting by Goldie. NZ artbroker are thrilled to bring this treasured taonga to market. Exhibited originally in Christchurch in the Annual Exhibition of the Canterbury Society of Arts in 1917, \u003ci\u003eLost in Thought, Ngāheke, An Arawa Chieftain\u003c\/i\u003e returns to Ōtautahi, 109 years later.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p5\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eA significant portrait, \u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eLost in Thought, Ngāheke, An Arawa Chieftain\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e by renowned New Zealand artist Charles Frederick Goldie has been comprehensively authenticated and recontextualised following five years of detailed research, conservation, and \u003cbr\u003eexpert analysis. Previously unrecorded Goldie paintings seldom emerge, making discoveries of this nature exceptionally rare.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003eOriginally exhibited at the Canterbury Society of Arts in 1917, \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eLost in Thought, Ngāheke, An Arawa Chieftain\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e (1917) disappeared from records until its purchase from an Estate in Australia in 2020. This set off a journey of research, multiple authentications and valuations confirming both its historical and artistic significance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eLost in Though\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/span\u003et is now confirmed as an original Goldie work, supported by extensive technical examination, historical documentation, and multiple independent expert reports. The research consolidates conservation findings, exhibition history, stylistic comparisons, and new evidence identifying the sitter as Patara Te Ngūngūkai, a high-ranking chieftain and tohunga of the Tuhourangi Ngāheke hapū of Te Arawa.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003eThe portrait was originally exhibited in 1917 at the Canterbury Society of Arts annual exhibition in Christchurch, with surviving labels and frame details providing rare and direct material links to its first public showing. The original frame, attributed to McGregor Wright, and the exhibition numbering further strengthen its provenance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003eThe identification of the sitter as Patara Te Ngūngūkai marks a major development in the painting’s history. Goldie is known to have worked from photographs, and the portrait closely aligns with archival images held in national collections, while also reflecting the artist’s characteristic interpretive approach.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003eThe late art historian, Roger Blackley’s scholarship, alongside additional expert opinion, situates the work firmly within Goldie’s broader oeuvre and exhibition record.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003eThis is an important newly discovered work within Goldie’s body of work and within the cultural heritage of Aotearoa New Zealand. For descendants of Patara Te Ngūngūkai and the Tuhourangi Ngāheke hapū, the painting represents both a taonga and a lasting testament to whakapapa.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRemarks: \u003c\/strong\u003eOil on canvas, on original stretcher. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eSignature: \u003c\/b\u003eUpper left corner, brush point, typical C F Goldie signature for the period\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWork Dimensions:  \u003c\/strong\u003e240mm W x 290mm H\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFraming:\u003c\/strong\u003e Original black stained oak frame with the frame makers label on reverse, McGregor Wright’s Picture Frame Makers, and bearing the exhibition label “15” from the Canterbury Society of Arts Annual Exhibition, 1917.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFramed Dimensions:  \u003c\/strong\u003e430mm W x 480mm H\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFreight:\u003c\/strong\u003e Shipping to be negotiated at point of sale \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Charles Frederick Goldie","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48969836691611,"sku":null,"price":420000.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0459\/7183\/2987\/files\/C-F-Goldie-Lost-in-Thought-01.jpg?v=1783907789","url":"https:\/\/nzartbroker.com\/products\/lost-in-thought-ngaheke-an-arawa-chieftain","provider":"NZ artbroker","version":"1.0","type":"link"}