Record price for Dame Kiri-owned painting

30 July 2012, 10:38 | Updated: 30 July 2012, 17:39

A painting from Dame Kiri Te Kanawa's private collection has sold for a record price at auction in Auckland.

The painting, by New Zealand artist Sir Peter Siddell (who died last year), has managed to fetch a price of $218,000 from a private buyer. The amount is more than double the previous most expensive Siddell painting sold at auction.

The work itself is oil on canvas and was painted in 1988. Entitled 'Opening', it has been in Te Kanawa's collection for more than ten years, and was being sold so that she could freshen up her extensive collection.

In November 2010, another painting from Dame Kiri's collection by Frederick Goldie managed to fetch $573,000, the highest price paid for a Goldie painting at auction.