Art
Our Art Auctions
Our art department offers three auction categories:
Works of Art — Select — Art Online
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Works of Art is our premiere live art auction. This catalogue showcases a curated selection of museum quality artworks by New Zealand’s most celebrated artists as well as works by notable international practitioners. -
Select: This online art auction presents strong examples of collectible work by significant artists that have been hand-picked by our team of specialists. -
Art Online: This online auction offers a wide range of artworks spanning all mediums, from historic to very contemporary. A great way to build upon or start a collection with works available at a variety of affordable price-points.
Recent Live Auction
Works of Art
24.11.25
—Accepting Post Auction Offers
We are delighted to share the outstanding results of our recent Works of Art auction, which delivered exceptional returns for our vendors and artists across several key works.
We were particularly thrilled to have achieved a new auction record for an artwork by Louise Henderson. Her lyrical seascape Setting Sun Indian Ocean realised $146,910, its shifting segments, fluid washes and emotional depth exemplifying the artist’s late, free-form approach to translating nature and memory into colour and movement.
Don Binney’s commanding Two Aspects of Tokatoka led the evening at $400,000, its sequential diptych capturing the striking geological presence of Tokatoka Peak with the clarity and rhythmic structure that define Binney’s most accomplished landscape works.
Michael Smither’s much-loved Back Beach followed with a superb result of $220,365. Painted during his celebrated 'Wonder Years,' the work embodies the hard-edged regional realism Smither honed on the Taranaki coast—its crisp light, reflective rock pools, and sculptural forms resonating strongly with collectors.
Further strong results across the catalogue included Michael Parekōwhai’s The Moment of Cubism ($104,061, the highest price ever achieved at auction for this sculpture) and Karl Maughan’s immersive Richmond Road ($101,000).
A number of exceptional artworks from this auction are still seeking new guardians, and our specialists are gladly accepting post-auction offers.
All prices inclusive of buyers premium + GST
Auckland
Emily Gardener
Director of Art
emily@webbs.co.nz
+64 22 595 5610
Christchurch
Sean Duxfield
Specialist, Art
sean@webbs.co.nz
+64 21 053 6504
Wellington
Mark Hutchins-Pond
Senior Specialist, Art
mark@webbs.co.nz
+64 22 095 5610
Upcoming Online Auction
Select
9—23 February
Georgina Brett
Specialist, Art
georgina@webbs.co.nz
+64 27 929 5609
Colin McCahon, Clouds 3, 1975 (2024), screenprint on 640gsm Hahnemühle cold pressed paper, edition of 100, 1035 × 700mm.
PRICE $12,000+GST (unframed)
A limited edition opportunity—
The Colin McCahon Legacy Project
Introducing a limited-edition reproduction of one of McCahon's artworks, crafted to support the Colin McCahon Legacy Project, an interactive digital platform that will showcase the artist’s remarkable life and works. In partnership with Webb’s, the Project has made these prints available for purchase—giving supporters a chance to own a piece of McCahon’s legacy, while contributing to the preservation of his work.
Read more about the Colin McCahon legacy project and Webb’s long and illustrious history with Colin McCahon on our website article here.
For expressions of interest please contact our specialist team. The work can be viewed in our Auckland and Wellington Galleries.
Georgina Brett
Specialist, Art
georgina@webbs.co.nz
+64 27 929 5609
The Art Department
Webb’s Art Department offers excellence in expertise and service. We are always interested in discussing your artworks or wider collection and what we can do for you.
Our specialist team are able to provide market-based information for those wishing to consign or seeking acquisition advice, no-obligation appraisals, and valuations for market and insurance purposes. The department offer a number of live and online Art auctions throughout the year. Our auctions feature a range of artworks from museum-quality investment paintings to more affordable works tailored to new collectors.
Please contact our Art department to discuss any works in our upcoming Art auctions or to learn more about the benefits of selling at auction.
Emily Gardener
Director of Art
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A highly skilled contemporary arts specialist, Emily arrives at Webb’s with twenty years experience working in world-class Development and Sales departments within leading public and commercial arts institutions.
Emily spent over a decade living and working in London, where she gained a Master's in Contemporary Art at Sotheby's Institute and held roles at prestigious galleries such as the Serpentine Galleries, The Photographers’ Gallery and White Cube. She later moved to Sydney and took up the role of Head of Development at the Biennale of Sydney, followed by a position as Head of Philanthropy at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. More recently Emily has worked as the Director of Development at Objectspace in Aotearoa.
Emily has experience working with a broad range of artists, curators, patrons, and international delegates, and will bring to this role a confident and well-informed understanding of the local and international arts sectors, as well as a creative and entrepreneurial flare and keen eye for detail.
Mark Hutchins-Pond
Senior Specialist, Art
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Mark Hutchins-Pond is our Senior Art Specialist based in Wellington. He has extensive art sector expertise from over three decades of working with and writing about art in Aotearoa.
Mark’s previous appointments include leading the Pātaka Art+Museum curatorial team and successfully running his own dealer gallery for nine years. He has written for and edited various art publications and is a respected speaker of our country’s most exceptional art.
Sean Duxfield
Specialist, Art
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Sean has over three decades’ experience within the arts sector in a wide range of roles.He has honed his technical and leadership skills at organisations such as the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, the Dowse Art Museum and the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and developed significant experience in his own private capacity.
Sean’s long association with the Venice Biennale — providing exhibition support services to participants in both art and architecture disciplines — resulted in him receiving a President’s Award from the New Zealand Institute of Architects in 2018. Sean is also co-chair of the Canterbury Society of the Arts/CoCA board in Christchurch and a Trustee of the Bill and Pip Culbert Trust.
Through these roles, he has developed an invaluable understanding of the arts ecosystem of the South Island as well as its wider importance and significant investment potential nationally.
Georgina Brett
Specialist, Art
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Georgina Brett brings a broad wealth of experience and knowledge from working in a range of positions within the arts sector. Prior to working for Webb’s, Georgina Brett was the Exhibitions Production Manager for Artspace Aotearoa for four years.Georgina is a sound and visual artist and holds an MFA from the Elam School of Fine Arts, Tāmaki Makaurau. Since graduating she has exhibited both locally and internationally.
She credits her father, Graeme Brett, for much of her knowledge of New Zealand art. Many of the artists whose work passes through Webb’s either studied alongside or were tutored by her father during his time at Elam.
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