Goldie's First Masterpiece up for Auction
A unique still life painting by the iconic painter Charles F. Goldie is up for auction in Webb’s March Works of Art live auction.
Charles F. Goldie, Souvenirs from the Field of Battle, c1890, oil on canvas, 590 x 790mm. Estimate: $75,000 - $100,000
Before Charles Frederick Goldie began painting his immediately recognisable Māori portraits, the young artist gained recognition for this still life, titled Souvenirs from the Field of Battle - said to be his first masterpiece.
SOUVENIRS FROM THE FIELD OF BATTLE
essay by MARK HUTCHINS-POND
Charles Frederick Goldie was born in Auckland, New Zealand, on 20 October 1870. The second of eight children born to David Goldie and his wife, Maria Partington, he was second-generation colonial on both sides. The boy was named after his maternal grandfather, Charles Frederick Partington, builder of the windmill near Karangahape Road, which was a well-known early Auckland landmark.
Goldie entered Auckland College and Grammar School in 1883, where he soon displayed a precocious talent for drawing. Roger Blackley notes that "'Master Goldie’ first came to the attention of the Auckland art world in 1885, when the Auckland Society of Arts awarded the schoolboy [at the age of 15] second prize and a certificate of merit for a drawing in the category ‘Shaded Study from the Round’. Later that same year, he won another prize, also a letter of commendation, for an unidentified drawing exhibited with student works at the rival New Zealand Art Students Association … Established Auckland artist Kennett Watkins was president of the New Zealand Art Students Association, having founded the Association in 1883 as an alternative to the Society of Arts.” 1
After leaving school, Goldie worked in his father’s business while continuing part-time art studies under Louis John Steele (1842–1918). An established and respected English artist specializing in history painting, who had exhibited at the Royal Academy in London and the Salon in Paris, Steele was in his mid-40s when he arrived in Auckland in 1886 in search of a healthier environment. Steele had trained at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris before traveling and painting extensively throughout Europe. He would regale his students with stories of his cosmopolitan experiences, inspiring many, Goldie among them, to pursue an art education in Europe.
While studying under Steele, Goldie became involved in a second organization that rivaled the Auckland Society of Arts. The Auckland Academy of Art was founded in 1889, with Steele as president. 2 Membership of the Academy stood at around 100, mostly comprising Steele’s students and other aspiring young artists desperate to be taught by the master, but also included leading citizens of the day, such as former Governor-General Sir George Grey and Sir Maurice O’Rorke.
The Auckland Academy opened their inaugural exhibition in April 1890, a month before the long-established opening date of the Auckland Society of Arts' annual display. The venue was the large studio Steele shared with Kennett Watkins on the fourth floor of the Victoria Arcade on Shortland Street.
“Perhaps there was a touch of Bohemia in the air which affected people,” remarked one commentator who attended the lively opening party, so unlike the staid conversations of the older society. 3
While pride of place was accorded to Steele and Watkins’ large history painting, The Blowing up of the Boyd, two still-life paintings by Goldie, the larger and more impressive titled Souvenirs from the Field of Battle, attracted the critics’ attention.
"It represents a military helmet, old flintlock holster pistol, spurs, scimitars in a brass case, and a water bottle. A piece of old tapestry and crimson curtain form the background, while the weapons of war and the fold of the curtain are excellently managed and painted." 4
Sir George Grey was among those attending the inaugural exhibition of the Auckland Academy of Art who were impressed by the young Goldie’s two still-life paintings – so much so that he decided to convince David Goldie to allow his son to undertake further art training in Europe.
Goldie re-exhibited his much-admired still-life paintings the following month at the Auckland Society of Arts, where Souvenirs from the Field of Battle was acknowledged as “without doubt the best piece of still-life work in the exhibition.” 5
Understandably, Goldie hoped his already publicly acclaimed still-life painting might win him yet another prize, but the fact that it had already been exhibited a month earlier automatically disqualified it from the Auckland Society of Arts competition.
These historical records and contemporary accounts clearly affirm Souvenirs from the Field of Battle as Charles Frederick Goldie’s first officially recognized masterpiece, the triumphant culmination of all he had so eagerly learned and applied from his studies under Watkins and Steele in Auckland.
As in all youthful works of great artists, the influences of his best teachers are evident, but even at this early stage of his career, while he was still a student, the experienced eyes of connoisseurs such as Sir George Grey could see Charles Frederick Goldie had an exceptionally rare ability and was destined for greatness.
Footnotes:
1 Roger Blackley, Goldie (Auckland Art Gallery and David Bateman, 1997), 4.
2 Ibid, 5.
3 A contemporary source quoted by Roger Blackley, ibid, 5.
4 A contemporary description of Souvenirs from the Field of Battle when first exhibited, quoted by Roger Blackley, ibid, 5.
5 Ibid.
This and other masterpieces from seminal New Zealand and international artists form part of Webb's March 2025 Works of Art catalogue.