ART+OBJECT posts results of record-breaking auction

With record sales of just over $4.65 million, the Les and Milly Paris Collection set a new auction benchmark in New Zealand's art market. The highest price paid at the ART+OBJECT auction was for Gordon Walters' Painting No.7 (1965), which sold for $433,000, and a raft of record prices were set for artists including Philip Clairmont,  Michael Illingworth, Peter Robinson, Michael Smither, Charles Tole and Robin White. You can see a complete list of the results here.
Image: Gordon Walters' Painting No. 7 (1965), purchased by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Paris collection goes under the hammer

Works from the Les and Milly Paris collection went under the hammer at Art+Object last night. A total of $3.5 million changed hands, which is understood to be a record for the sale of a private collection in New Zealand. Another 150 lots from the collection will be auctioned tonight.

Peter Peryer's 1989 photograph of Les and Milly Paris

Les and Milly Paris Collection goes under the hammer at Art+Object

One of New Zealand's finest private art collections goes under the hammer this week in a two-part auction at Art+Object on Wednesday and Thursday. Formed by Les and Milly Paris over four and a half decades, the collection covered just about every square inch of their walls, prompting a later decision to lift their home and build a gallery space underneath it. Collecting was an all-consuming passion for Les and Milly, but it wasn't ever just about the art. They built longstanding, personal relationships with artists fortunate enough to be in their collecting sights, becoming much-loved figures in the New Zealand art world.
Image: Peter Peryer's 1989 portrait of Les and Milly Paris

Paris Family Collection to be auctioned

One of New Zealand's finest private art collections goes under the hammer in a two-part auction at Art and Object in September. Formed by Les and Milly Paris over four and a half decades, the collection covered just about every square inch of their walls, prompting a later decision to build another floor on their otherwise modestly-scaled home. Collecting was an all-consuming passion for Les and Milly, but it wasn't ever just about the art. They built longstanding, personal relationships with artists fortunate enough to be in their collecting sights, becoming much-loved figures in the New Zealand art world.
Image: Les and Milly Paris talking to Dowse Art Gallery director Jim Barr in the 70s