A selection of artworks from the private collection of legendary New Zealand architect Sir Miles Warren will be offered at Webb’s upcoming Works of Art auction — with proceeds supporting the preservation of his celebrated Ōhinetahi House and Garden.
A remarkable collection of artworks once owned by one of Aotearoa’s most influential architects will soon go under the hammer, offering a rare glimpse into the creative world that surrounded the late Sir Miles Warren.
Auction house Webb’s has announced that a selection of works from Warren’s private collection will feature in its upcoming Works of Art live auction in Auckland on 30 March. The collection spans paintings, objects and works on paper gathered over decades, reflecting the architect’s deep belief in the relationship between art and architecture.
As co-founder of Warren and Mahoney and a defining figure in modern New Zealand architecture, Warren cultivated close friendships with many of the artists shaping the country’s post-war creative landscape. His personal collection reflects those connections — a network of shared ideas, experimentation and cultural ambition centred largely around Canterbury.
Among the highlights is a rare work by Pat Hanly, Protective Helmet (1962), part of the artist’s Massacre of the Innocents series produced during a scholarship period in Amsterdam. Hanly painted 35 works in just seven weeks, later destroying nearly all of them — making the few surviving pieces especially significant.
Also included is Bill Hammond’s Wishbone Ash Stash 2, Cornwall Road (2011), a major work from one of the artist’s final series. Characteristic of Hammond’s later paintings, the composition features his distinctive avian figures in a scene that meditates on ritual, mortality and transformation.
The wider auction catalogue spans significant works from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, with artists including Gretchen Albrecht, Tony Fomison, Charles Frederick Goldie, Frances Hodgkins, Ralph Hotere, Colin McCahon, Milan Mrkusich, Fiona Pardington, Lisa Reihana and Andy Warhol.
Selected proceeds will support the preservation of Ōhinetahi, Warren’s celebrated Governors Bay home and garden, which he gifted to the people of Aotearoa. The property — now held by the Ōhinetahi Charitable Trust — is both an architectural landmark and an internationally recognised garden.
Ahead of the Auckland auction, highlights from the collection will tour Queenstown, Wellington and Christchurch, offering audiences around the country a chance to experience works that once formed part of Warren’s daily surroundings.
See the full Works of Art catalogue.
