John Barr Clarke Hoyte fetches a new auction record Thu, 25 Nov 2004

A panoramic view of Auckland from Remuera's Mt Hobson by John Barr Clarke Hoyte fetched a record $100,000 at our 24 November art auction.

The rare watercolour painted in 1872, was possibly the finest example to be offered for sale.

The previous record for a Hoyte was $60,000 at our July 2000 auction. That work featured a panoramic view of Milford Sound.

John Barr Clarke Hoyte was prominent amongst landscapists of the 1860s and 1870s and is perhaps our best known watercolourist of that era. Hoyte spent his early years in Auckland, a founding member of the Auckland Society of Artists, establishing his studio in Scarborough Terrace, just off Parnell Road.

The well attended sale saw $25,000 bid for Dick Frizzell's 'Big Guy' and $56,000 for a Sydney Lough Thompson. Whilst much of the action featured around the auction highlights good bidding was seen for works by Charles Blomfield, Michael Illingworth & Pat Hanly. A record was also set at auction for a Nigel Brown painting. The oil on canvas triptych titled 'I Am Never Certain' fetched $16,000. A work on paper by the same artist doubled its reserve selling for $2,600.