New Zealand has lost a major art collection:

An “irreplaceable” private collection of work by some of New Zealand’s finest contemporary artists has been destroyed in a fire at a house near New Plymouth.

Work by Colin McCahon and Ralph Hotere was among pieces worth many millions of dollars destroyed at a rural property owned by John and Lynda Matthew.

Mr Matthews, chairman of the Len Lye Foundation, said he had been building the extensive collection for 50 years.

“They’re all there, from [Ralph] Hotere, [Philip] Clairmont, [Jeff] Thomson, [Allen] Maddox and [Colin] McCahon and so on.”

Work by Hotere that was destroyed included part of his Aramoana series and pieces from his Black Union Jack series protesting against the 1981 Springbok tour.

Many of the items lost were bought directly from the artists.

Private art collection goes up in flames (NZ Herald News)