PROVENANCE Leonard Joel, Australian Paintings, 16/11/1972, Lot 506 Webb's, Fine New Zealand & Foreign Paintings and Prints, 18/12/1996, Lot No. 60 Private Collection, New Zealand

Tumai Tawhiti (Ngāti Raukawa, Te Arawa) was born in 1812 in the Bay of Plenty. As a warrior he was fully tattooed by the time he was 24-years-old.

Goldie first painted Tumai Tawhiti in 1911, and again in 1913, titling this work Last of the Cannibals. He repeated the subject again in 1932, 1935 and 1938 (all of these works are currently in private collections).

The present work, completed in 1932, is a sensitive and reverent rendering of Tumai Tawhiti, comprising careful yet spirited, visible brushstrokes. The subject is portrayed in profile, set against a soft gold, harmonising background. Goldie's portraits of Māori are celebrated for their ability to realistically capture the mana and likeness of his sitters. Writing on the 1918 exhibition of the Auckland Society of Arts, the reviewer for the New Zealand Herald (31 May 1918) observed: Mr. Goldie's work consists of small portraits, finished with his characteristic perfection of detail, and splendidly typical of the Māori, in whom he finds such constant inspiration.