"An Aristocrat" Atama Paparangi. A Chieftain of the Rarawa Tribe of Maoris, New Zealand

'Although local newspapers continued to trumpet news of his successes, Goldie's later career evolved independently of Auckland's art world. Just as Sir George Grey and Lady Ranfurly had provided vice-regal boosts to Goldie's earlier career, it was the high-powered patronage of a later Governor-General which gave Goldie the confidence to embark on the final chapter of his career. Opening the annual exhibition of Wellington's Academy of Fine Arts in 1933, Lord Bledisloe paid homage to Goldie, who he said 'was only just in time to catch those grand old tattooed faces that are seen no more. ...' ... Now in his mid-sixties, Goldie embarked on a distinctive body of work marked by a warmer palette and considerably thinner application of paint. ... At Lord Bledisloe's prompting, Goldie sent three paintings to London for the 1934 exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts. Memories: Te Arani, Thoughts of a Tohunga: Wharekauri Tahuna ... and An Aristocrat: Atama Paparangi. All three were selected, 'very well hung and much commented on' among the 1600 paintings on display. ... Goldie exhibited with Royal Academy again in 1935 and with the Paris Salon on a further three occasions (1936, 1938 and 1939) ... Goldie used high prices to maintain the prestige of his works. Two of his 1934 oils for the Royal Academy were particularly steep: Thoughts of a Tohunga was £420 and An Aristocrat £393 12s 6d. In the event he sold An Aristocrat to Lady Bledisloe for the nominal sum of 100 guineas before it left New Zealand.' (R. Blackley, Goldie, Auckland, 1997, p.34)

Goldie painted the same sitter, Atama Paparangi, in 1938, In doubt (59 x 51cm., DPAG), one of his two last submissions to the Paris Salon in 1939.