Three works from the estate of Sydney Kelly

Art+Object
Essays
Posted on 6 November 2024

From the estate of Sydney (Syd) Kelly are the following three works.


Kelly dedicated his life to teaching and was an arts education adviser (Northland) under the innovative arts and craft branch programme of Gordon Tovey. He was subsequently promoted to senior arts education adviser within the Department of Education’s Auckland Education Board (1970–1974). Kelly, an early advocate for te reo Māori and the preservation of Māori arts and craft, formed friendships over his lifetime with a number of artists who previously held art adviser roles in Northland including Ralph Hotere ONZ, Marilynn Webb NZOM and Dame Kāterina Mataira

Ralph Hotere

Kaitawa

oil on canvas

title inscribed, signed and dated

’66 verso

658 x 480mm

Provenance

From the collection of Sydney

Kelly, Arts and Craft Advisor in

the Department of Education in

the 1960s. Thence by descent to

the current owner, Auckland.

$50 000 – $75 000

View lot here

Ralph Hotere

Introibo ad Altare Dei

oil on board

title inscribed and inscribed yes

726 x 525mm


Provenance

From the collection of Sydney

Kelly, Northland Arts Advisor.

Thence by descent to the

current owner, Auckland.


Note

The title from Latin liturgy

translates as: ‘I will go unto the

altar of god’, and are the opening

words of the Holy Mass.

$20 000 – $30 000

View lot here

Ralph Hotere

Zero is Silence

oil on canvas

title inscribed verso

1010 x 1010mm


Provenance

From the collection of Sydney

Kelly, Northland Arts Advisor.

Thence by descent to the

current owner, Auckland.

$15 000 – $25 000

View lot here

The three paintings were purchased from Hotere during his visits to stay with Kelly in Auckland for training.