Which Artists Defined the NZ Auction Market in 2025?
Data-driven insights into the year’s top selling artists
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be taking a look back at the 2025 New Zealand auction market. This week, we start with the top selling artists by total sales value. Most of the names on the list will be familiar, though Charles F Goldie missing from the top 10 is a rare and notable exception.
For collectors of New Zealand art, these are artists worth watching closely. They continue to attract the strongest demand at auction. Although the top results can make these artists appear unattainable, many of them have prints or works on paper that trade at much lower price points. Notably, the median price for a Michael Smither or a Louise Henderson work was just over $1,000, Robyn Kahukiwa and Seraphine Pick both had median prices under $5,000, and the median prices for Don Binney, Gordon Walters, and Robin White were under $10,000 while Bill Hammond was just over.
Below are some of the more interesting results and observations behind the top 10 rankings for both male and female artists.
Male Artists in 2025
The top selling artist of 2025 was Don Binney. His position was driven by the year’s highest-priced work, Fatbird II ($661k at International Art Centre), alongside several other major sales including Summer Fernbird III ($445k at Art & Object), Two Aspects of Tokatoa ($390k at Webb’s), and Pipiwharauroa – Shining Cuckoo ($364k at International Art Centre).
A new auction record was set for Ralph Hotere with I can hear you making small holes in the silence ($402k at Art & Object). That result also helped propel him to second place by total sales for the year.
Michael Smither was the most prolific seller by number of lots. This reflects his extensive body of screenprints, which trade at relatively accessible price points. At the same time, he ranked fifth overall by value, supported by strong results for works including Untitled, Rock Pools ($267k at International Art Centre) and Back Beach ($215k at Webb’s).
Karl Maughan is the youngest artist in this top 10. Demand for his garden landscapes remains strong, with a new auction record set by Landscape with Pool ($191k at Art & Object). Another work, Ashhurst, achieved his second-highest price ($163k also at Art & Object).
Bill Hammond is best known for his paintings, but before he fully embarked on his art career, he worked as a toy maker. These works have usually attracted limited bidding. That changed in 2025, when Untitled (Bird Man) sold for $10k at Webb’s, four times its $2,500 high estimate. It may mark the early stages of renewed interest in this lesser-known part of Hammond’s practice.
Amongst his paintings, Cornwall Road Cave achieved the top price ($358k at Webb’s) for Hammond’s work in 2025 placing it within the top 10 most expensive paintings in 2025.
One notable omission from the top 10 is Charles F Goldie. Despite recording the third-highest individual sale of the year, Ho Koora Te Cigaretti, Portrait of Kapi Kapi ($505k at International Art Centre), he finished in 11th place overall. This appears to be the first time in at least a decade that Goldie has not featured in the top 10. Given that his works achieved nearly $12m at auction in 2024, this may reflect a natural correction following an exceptional year, compounded by a softer first half in which fewer trophy works were sold.
Female Artists in 2025
No women featured in the overall top 10 by total sales in 2025. Fiona Pardington and Rita Angus came closest, finishing 12th and 13th respectively. For that reason, I’ve highlighted the top selling female artists separately below.
Fiona Pardington continues to attract strong demand for her huia photographs. Interest may strengthen further following her representation of New Zealand at the Venice Biennale this year. Her top result, Lovers, Timaru, South Canterbury Museum, sold for $65k at Webb’s, significantly exceeding its $35k high estimate.
The second-highest female sale of 2025 was Rita Angus’s Before the Demolition ($621k at Art & Object). Major oil works by Angus are rare at auction, and this single sale was sufficient to propel her to near the top of the annual rankings.
Louise Henderson set a new auction record with Setting Sun Indian Ocean ($143k at Webb’s). This was the second highest price achieved by female artists in 2025.
Robyn Kahukiwa, who passed away in April, recorded her most significant sale in March with Girl in a Bush Shirt ($53k at Webb’s), the second-highest price for her work. Several strong results later in the year consolidated her position among the top female artists of 2025.
A new record was also set for Jude Rae with SI 203 ($54k at Webb’s). Another work, SL 366, sold for $43k at Art & Object, well above its $26k high estimate.
Just outside the top 10 sits Raewyn Turner. Her work A Thousand Acres was the third-highest selling work by a woman in 2025, selling at Webb’s for $98k against a $22k high estimate. Turner rarely appears at auction and does not typically achieve such prices, but this work holds particular cultural significance as the cover art for Frenzy (1979) by Split Enz. It is easy to imagine multiple passionate music collectors competing for this unique piece of New Zealand cultural history.
Final observations and predictions
One striking pattern is the greater age diversity among female artists with multiple artists being represented across each generation. By contrast, almost all male artists in the top group were born within a narrow 30-year window (1918–1948).
I looked at the top 10 results by age segments and had expected stronger gender diversity among contemporary artists1, but the data suggests otherwise. Instead, the most pronounced diversity appears among artists born in 1910 or earlier, including Rita Angus, Louise Henderson, Frances Hodgkins, and Lois White featuring strongly.
Looking ahead to 2026, I expect many of the male names in the current top 10 are likely to reappear. Charles F Goldie also seems a strong candidate to return. By contrast, there is often greater fluctuation among the top female artists. Fiona Pardington, Gretchen Albrecht, and Robin White are perennial favourites and appear well placed to feature again. For others, outcomes will likely depend more on opportunity, specifically, whether major or exceptional works are offered at auction.
Methodology note: All prices include buyer’s premium. Where buyer’s premium was not published, it has been calculated using the auction house’s stated rate. One exception is Mrkusich’s Achromatic with Red, which is included at hammer price.
I’ve used Artnet’s categories to segment the artists: “Impressionist and Modern” for artists born between 1821 and 1910; “Postwar” for artists born between 1911 and 1944; and “Contemporary” for artists born from 1945.