MAY 2010
Spring in Canada means many things to many people. Perhaps it's time to put away your boots and shovel, trusting that more snow isn’t on the way. Maybe spring means the end of the hockey season as the playoffs come to a close. For anyone interested in Canadian art, the appearance of spring means a round of fine art auctions at various venues across the country.
As Western Canada’s only comprehensive fine art service, Denbigh provides transportation, logistics and shipping services to the Canadian art auction industry.
On May 26, the Heffel Fine Art Auction House kicked off the season in Vancouver with two separate sales featuring contemporary and historic Canadian art. Among the lots featured was the Lawren Harris’s 1931 canvas Arctic, Bylot Island I.
Image courtesy of Heffel Fine Art Auction House
The canvas sold for $2.8 million. The anonymous consignor of this work (and several others) will be donating their proceeds from the auction to various Canadian charities. The sales total for all 217 lots in both auctions was an incredible $22.1 million. This is the second highest sales total for an art auction held in Canada, with the record of $23 million being set by Heffel with their spring 2007 sale.
Based on records of art auctions in Canada going back to the 1960s, the following are the best-selling Canadian artists of all time, as of Heffel’s May 26 auction. These figures include the typical 15-20% buyer's premium charged by auction houses:
| 1. |
LAWREN HARRIS: TOTAL SALES OF $71,474,539 |
| 2. |
JEAN-PAUL RIOPELLE: TOTAL SALES OF $67,022,628 |
| 3. |
THOMAS JOHN (TOM) THOMSON: TOTAL SALES OF $34,338,795 |
| 4. |
ALEXANDER YOUNG (A. Y.) JACKSON: TOTAL SALES OF $33,891,237 |
| 5. |
EMILY CARR: TOTAL SALES OF $32,631,029 |
| 6. |
CORNELIUS DAVID KRIEGHOFF: TOTAL SALES OF $25,429,225 |
| 7. |
DAVID BROWN MILNE: TOTAL SALES OF $17,402,937 |
| 8. |
ALFRED JOSEPH (A. J.) CASSON: TOTAL SALES OF $17,129,142 |
| 9. |
JAMES EDWARD HERVEY MACDONALD: TOTAL SALES OF $12,615,439 |
| 10. |
JAMES WILSON MORRICE: TOTAL SALES OF $10,993,417 |
Source: Heffel Fine Art Auction House
On June 1, Joyner Waddington’s held its spring event in Toronto featuring 334 pieces for sale. Among the highlights of the evening was the record setting sale of the A.J. Casson painting
Street in Glen Williams.
Image courtesy of Joyner Waddingtons
Painted in 1938,
Street in Glen Williams sold for $542,800. At the time of his death in 1992, A.J. Casson, who joined the association in 1926, was the last surviving member of the Group of Seven.
The following day Sotheby’s held their biannual sale of Canadian art. They offered 139 lots. Interestingly, seven of the works were purchased by one buyer from Calgary for a total of approximately $1.6 million. Among his purchases were a rare Canadian Red Ensign dated to 1868 and the Arthur Lismer canvas
Bon Echo Rock.
Image courtesy of Sotheby's, Canada
The Red Ensign was Canada’s first flag and features the Coats of Arms of our country's first four provinces. In a brief interview afterwards, the buyer explained, “There was this other stuff going at what I thought was pretty reasonable value and, well, I just couldn’t help myself.” He plans to build a collection of Canadian artwork for either his children to inherit or for donation to a museum.
Arthur Lismer’s
Bon Echo Rock is a companion piece to another painting by the same artist featured in the May 26 Heffel auction. See the images below for a comparison of these works.
Bon Echo Rock. Sotheby's Spring 2010 Sale.
Image courtesy of Southeby's Canada.
The Sheeps Nose, Bon Echo. Heffel Fine Art Auction House, Spring 2010.
Image courtesy of Heffel Fine Art Auction House.
For more information on these works of art and the Spring fine art auctions in Canada, please visit the websites below:
www.heffel.com
www.joyner.waddingtons.ca
www.sothebys.com/app/live/office/OfficeNonAuction.jsp?office_id=16
