Art collector James Wallace at the Pah Homestead in Hillsborough that became the new home for his private art collection. Photo / Dean Purcell

A businessman and a lawyer with ties to Sir James Wallace are severing links with the disgraced rich-lister but will continue to oversee his renowned art collection.

Graham Shortland and Andrew Green were involved with the Wallace Corporation that funded Wallace’s passion for the arts, and act as trustees for his collection and his four-storey mansion in Epsom called Rannoch.

In a statement to the Herald, a new trust set up to manage the art collection said the two men condemn the criminal behaviour of the now-imprisoned Wallace, supported the lifting of name suppression and “do not have an amicable relationship” with their former associate.

Some of New Zealand’s leading artistic institutions have also distanced themselves from disgraced arts patron, who was reported to have a net worth of about $170 million in 2020.

Shortland and Green are trustees of the James Wallace Arts Trust and two of the three trustees of The Arts House Trust. The third trustee is Perpetual Guardian.

Once the pair is satisfied the transfer of assets from the James Wallace Arts Trust to The Arts House Trust has been successfully completed, which is due to happen shortly, they will resign as trustees of the James Wallace Arts Trust, the statement said.

They will remain as trustees of The Arts House Trust during what is a critical time in developing this new charitable entity. It is important to them, for the betterment of the arts sector in New Zealand, that this new entity firmly establishes its independence. In time, they intend to recruit additional trustees, said the statement.

Shortland worked for Wallace from 2006 and was chief executive of the Wallace Corporation and later the Wallace Group Ltd Partnership - a rendering and meat product business that made Wallace rich - for nearly 13 years. He is currently a director of a company in which Wallace Corporation is a shareholder.

Green is a lawyer and a former director of the Wallace Corporation.

The two men have more than 30 years of combined experience in governance roles and are passionate about the arts and building a platform for artists to showcase their works to a wide audience, the statement said.

The James Wallace Arts Trust remains in place for the purpose of Rannoch. Wallace is not a trustee of the James Wallace Arts Trust or The Arts House Trust.

John Banks, who, as mayor of the former Auckland City Council, refurbished the Pah Homestead for the Wallace collection at a cost of $7m, has also condemned the rich-lister, describing his downfall as sad and very disappointing.

“We arrive here in 2023 somewhat bewildered, but having said that, the artwork speaks for itself, and if an arrangement can be made that is sound and sensible, I don’t think we should be churlish about displaying it and keeping the Pah Homestead dream alive.

“It can never be named after James Wallace again,” he said.

Banks said he was approached by Wallace during his mayoral campaign in 2017 to see if he could find a home for his art collection and, after initially looking at premises at Britomart in the tourist centre of the CBD, he settled for the Pah Homestead.

Much of Wallace’s art is housed in the Pah Homestead in Auckland’s Monte Cecilia Park and is open to the public.

The trust receives about $420,000 a year from the council for running costs at the Pah Homestead.

“The trust has resettled the collection and severed its connections with James Wallace,” the council’s director of customer and community services Dr Claudia Wyss said.

A council spokeswoman said the council was not involved in the proceedings but did provide evidence in support of the changes, including that future funding of the Pah Homestead lease would likely depend on setting up a new trust to rebuild confidence with the community.

The Arts House Trust is a charitable trust with the objective to support and promote contemporary art and artists in Aotearoa New Zealand, and to care for and provide access to its collection. The trustees’ objective is to ensure the trust operates effectively in perpetuity for the benefit of the arts sector and all New Zealanders.

The Government has begun the process of stripping Wallace, who was convicted of indecently assaulting three men and attempting to pervert the course of justice twice, of his knighthood.

Bernard Orsman is an Auckland-based reporter who has been covering local government and transport since 1998. He joined the Herald in 1990 and worked in the Parliamentary press gallery for six years.