'The Canoe Tainui' goes under the hammer this week for the first time in nearly five decades.

A Colin McCahon painting has sold for $1.35 million, setting a new record as the most expensive piece of artwork sold at auction in New Zealand.

McCahon's piece Canoe Tainui was snapped up at Auckland's Art & Object auction house on Wednesday night.

The auction company was expecting it would sell for between $1.2 million and $2m.

SUPPLIED Selling at auction for $1.35m, The Canoe Tainui broke the record as the most expensive piece of art sold in New Zealand.

And they were on the money, with a hotly contested auction between several bidders, ultimately won by someone over the phone.

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Canoe Tainui was previously owned by Wellington couple Tim and Sherrah Francis, and was on the market for the first time in 50 years as part of a sale of their extensive private collection.

SUPPLIED Colin McCahon in his studio in 1982.

The Francises paid $500 in 1969 for the 4.8-metre eight-panelled work that tells the story of Tainui's whakapapa.

The couple were avid collectors of New Zealand art for 60 years before their deaths this year.

It was a historic night for their collection, which collected $6.6m - making it the most ever spent on one private collection of art or antiques in New Zealand.

RADIO NEW ZEALAND A painting by Colin McCahon has sold for a record 1.35 million dollars - the highest price ever paid for a painting at an auction in New Zealand. Our reporter Sally Murphy was there.

Bidding on Canoe Tainui started at $800,000, with the first bid on behalf of the vendor.

Art & Object director and auctioneer Ben Plumbly described the work as "perhaps the most important painting to come on the auction market, perhaps ever".

There was a round of applause once it sold and Plumbly declared it was "easily" the most expensive artwork sold in New Zealand. "And isn't it fantastic that Colin McCahon will hold that record."

Supplied McCahon's 1958 'Now Is The Hour We Must Say Goodbye' painting fetched $117,500 on Wednesday.

The previous most expensive painting sold in New Zealand was the last piece by Charles Frederick Goldie, A Noble Relic of a Noble Race. That broke the New Zealand record in April this year when it sold for $1,337,687.

An initial sale amount was $1.175 million, but didn't include the buyer's premium and fees.

SUPPLIED Tim and Sherrah Francis' art collection. Hallway: Here is the Milan Mrkusich "Seven Elements in Combination (Blue)" again, on the left, and Colin McCahon's "Now is the Hour" facing on the left of the doorway, with Mrkusich's "Golden Centre Emblem" 1963 on the right. There are three from Charles Tole along the top (l-r) "Industrial Pattern" 1974-5, "A Map of the Auckland Province" 1945, and "Water Tower" 1983-4.

There were six McCahon pieces, owned by the Francises, that sold on Wednesday night for a combined total of $2.14m.

As well as the record Canoe Tainui for $1.35m, Woman with Lamp sold for $270,000, Gate sold for $265,000, Now Is The Hour We Must Say Goodbye sold for $117,500, Colossians I sold for $85,000, and Kauri sold for $52,500.

Plumbly said he did not know who bought Canoe Tainui but said he hoped they would make it available for public viewing at some stage.

SUPPLIED Tim and Sherrah Francis in New York. In the background are paintings by Thomas Arthur McCormack and Colin McCahon.

"It's not someone who I'm aware of unfortunately, I believe they're just a private collector.

"I would have loved for it to go to a museum, but I'm sure the new owner has honourable intentions for it, making it available for exhibitions and things like that.

With added fees and GST the total cost of the Canoe Tainui was expected to be about $1.65m, Plumbly said.

"It's a phenomenal amount and a totally unprecedented amount, it's absolutely staggering."

Lots 123 - 481 of the Francises collection was due for auction on Thursday night, which Plumbly said could see the total value of the collection rise to $7m.