Breaking Ground: New Zealand’s Top-Selling Female Artists
The top 10 auction sales of New Zealand female artists, spanning Frances Hodgkins to Robin White.
This week I’m looking at the top lots by New Zealand female artists sold at auction in New Zealand. From Frances Hodgkins, born more than 150 years ago, to Robin White, still actively working today, these artists represent a century of groundbreaking practice.
#10 Lois White Collapse
Sold for about $290,000 at International Art Centre in 2023. One of her most political works, Collapse combines White’s stylised Art Deco figures with pointed social commentary, condemning war, greed, and social decay.
#9 Evelyn Page Girl at a Coffee Bar
Sold for $292,775 at Webbs as part of the BNZ Art Collection sale in 2022. A defining late portrait, this work captures the vibrancy of 1970s café life, blending Impressionist technique with contemporary subject matter.
#8 Frances Hodgkins Portrait of Arthur Lett Haines
Sold for $301,750 at Art & Object as part of the Collection of Adrian Burr and Peter Tatham sale in 2021. Painted in Brittany in 1927, this is a key work linking Hodgkins to Britain’s avant-garde circle and her late-1920s modernist turn.
#7 Rita Angus Tree Cutting, Hawke’s Bay
Sold for $306,318 at Art & Object as part of the Tim and Sherrah Francis Collection sale in 2016. A major late work, it exemplifies Angus’ mature style, where structure and colour turn a timber-milling scene into a commentary on industry’s domination of the landscape.
#6 Frances Hodgkins Rialto Steps
Sold for about $315,000, well above it’s $70k - $100k estimate, at International Art Centre in 2021. This early Venetian watercolour was one of Hodgkins’ first works exhibited internationally, and shows her moving toward the imaginative modernist style that would define her career.
#5 Robin White Paremata Landscape
Sold for $334,600 at Webbs in 2024. This two-panel work shows the Paremata hills being carved up for housing, painted in White’s crisp, clean style that made her an icon of place in 1970s New Zealand art.
#4 Frances Hodgkins Monastery Steps
Sold for about $375,000 at International Art Centre in 2015. Painted after her stay in Ibiza, this work captures the old town in a modernist composition where colour, form, and structure transform reality into her distinctive imaginative style.
#3 Robin White Glenda at Tahakopa
Sold for $406,300 against an estimate of $250k - $350k at Webbs as part of the BNZ Art Collection sale in 2022. A standout portrait, it reflects White’s iconic depictions of ordinary New Zealanders in front of everyday settings, elevating them into enduring cultural images.
#2 Rosalie Gascoigne Roadside
Sold for $505,678 at Art & Object in 2024, Roadside holds a distinguished exhibition history helping it achieve a high price. Gascoigne transforms splintered soft drink crates into a dynamic surface alive with the colour and rhythm of the open road. Though often claimed as Australian, she was born in New Zealand and that connection earns her a place on this list.
#1 Rita Angus Storm, Hawke’s Bay
Sold for $696,725 at Art & Object in 2018. Painted in her sixties and exemplifying her late style, Angus depicts looming storm clouds and patchwork farmland with geometric clarity and intensity, confirming her status as one of New Zealand’s greatest artists.
Honourable mentions for Seraphine Pick and Adele Younghusband. They have works that came #12 and #16 respectively in the ranking.
Rosalie Gascoigne would easily dominate the list if I included her works that sold in Australia. Her record in Australia was for Beaten Track that sold in 2022 for $1,043,182 AUD (~$1,114,000 NZD) at Deutscher and Hackett. And she’s had other works selling in high 6 figures.
Rita Angus also achieved major results in Australia including, Hawke’s Bay Landscape that sold for $828,409 AUD (about $1,017,000 NZD) in 2022 at Deutscher and Hackett. Just missing out on the top 10 would also be her Portrait of O’Donnell Moffett that sold for $220,090 AUD (about $244,000 NZD) in 2024, also at Deutscher and Hackett.
One final artwork to mention is Emma McIntyre’s Up bubbles her amorous breath that sold for $201,600 USD (~$340,00 NZD) at Christie’s in New York earlier in 2025. A remarkable result for a young New Zealand artist who has been picked up by David Zwirner.
In a future newsletter I’ll look at how these artists have tracked over the last decade, including which have remained top sellers, which have dropped out, and which have climbed in price.