Although Nan Kivell was unfailingly generous in honouring his commitment to allow the Library full use of his collection, he was cautious in defining any agreement concerning its ultimate disposition, or in stating terms of its donation or sale. In 1959, he sold his collection to the Australian government for £STG 70,000, a fraction of its true value. This modest price, combined with his later gifts to the NLA, established him as one of the country's greatest cultural benefactors. Despite a number of invitations, he never visited Australia and never returned to New Zealand. In 1953 he had donated hundreds of contemporary prints by British artists to New Zealand institutions for the fine arts.