People around the world have been urged to look under their beds and poke through their attics in the search for at least 100 missing paintings by the celebrated 19th century portrait artist Gottfried Lindauer.

The global treasure hunt has been initiated by a New Zealand art gallery that wants to locate as many works as possible by the prolific artist, in preparation for the largest ever exhibition of his work in October.

Lindauer – a Czech who came to New Zealand in 1874 – is estimated to have painted as many as 400 works over his lifetime, and many are still unaccounted for. The figure of 100 missing works is thought to be a conservative one.

“We want people to look under their beds, in attics, and under the house,” said Nigel Borrell, curator of Māori art at Auckland art gallery.

“These are places we have found Lindauer’s before, and they are often in reasonable condition because they have not been exposed to sunlight or the general wear and tear of being displayed.”

Alongside C F Goldie, Lindauer was the most prolific and well-known painter of New Zealand’s indigenous tribes, at a time of huge upheaval and change for the Māori.



A prominent Lindauer can fetch up to NZ$280,000 (£150,000), and are housed around the world, including in the royal collection.

Lindauer painted portraits of both Māori and Pakeha (white inhabitants of New Zealand), as well as genre paintings, but his most famous and valuable works are of Māori chiefs and political leaders from the late 19th to early 20th century.

His best-known work is Ana Rupene and Child, of which there are believed to be 30 different, authentic copies.

According to Professor Ngahuia Te Awekotuku, a Māori historian and academic at Waikato University, many of Lindauer’s Maori subjects paid the artist to paint their portraits, because his works were a widely respected symbol of mana (prestige).

“They were an incredible status display, and Māori were really into status displays,” said Te Awekotuku. “The idea that Maori chiefs sat there passively being painted is not accurate at all. They commissioned many works themselves, and those portraits have been handed down through the generations.”

Gottfried Lindauer’s oil on canvas genre painting Women Weaving, circa 1906. Photograph: Supplied/Auckland Art Gallery

According to Borrell, Lindauer was unusual in that he often spent many weeks living with his Māori subjects and their families, and the friendships that developed contributed significantly to the intimacy of the portraits.

“Lindauer wasn’t just a voyeur, he had a real rapport with his subjects, and was intensely interested in their lives. “ said Borrell.

The process of authenticating Lindauer’s was quite straightforward, said Borrell, and his team could usually tell from a low-resolution photograph whether a portrait was genuine.

A number of people have already made contact with the gallery claiming to have Lindauer paintings, but these had turned out to be prints of his work.

Te Awekotuku has seen dozens of Lindauers held in Maori homes and meeting houses around New Zealand, but said many Maori families would be reluctant to bring them forward.

“These portraits continue to be revered as living descendents,” said Te Awekotuku. “They are taonga [treasures], and it would be seen as pretentious and arrogant to show them off. A lot of people will not be advertising that they have a Lindauer. To many Maori, Lindauers aren’t just historical works, they’re family.”