Colin McCahon painting sells for thousands

A painting valued at £80-100 and consigned to Surrey auction house John Nicholson’s recent Fine Paintings auction fetched £14,000 when identified as a work by leading New Zealand artist Colin McCahon on the day of the sale.

Catalogued as 20th-century School, possibly Australian, Truth from the King country Load bearing structure is a  23cm x 33cm acrylic on canvas board depicting a black T shape against a green and yellow landscape. The work, from 1978, was inscribed, signed with initials, and dated verso, but the signature was not initially recognisable.

Colin McCahon (Australian 1919-87) is credited as one of three artists to have introduced Modernism to New Zealand and is considered the country’s most important modern artist.

He also enjoyed an unusual career at the Auckland City Art Gallery, joining as a cleaner before rising to custodian of paintings and eventually the deputy director.