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For Immediate Release
June 5, 2009
The highly anticipated two-session Spring 2009 live auction of Canadian Post-War & Contemporary Art / Fine Canadian Art, upcoming on June 17th at the Vancouver Convention Centre West, is expected to be the largest Canadian fine art auction of this season. With numerous outstanding works of museum quality resulting in a combined sales estimate of $6 - 9 million dollars, Heffel's well-rounded selection includes some of the finest work by Canada's most important artists, and is acknowledged by many as the most anticipated auction in Canada's spring slate of sales.
Two very fine masterworks are expected to sell for more than $1 million dollars each. Emily Carr's vibrant 1930s canvas Wind in the Tree Tops and Jean-Paul Riopelle's delightful Jouet are highlights of the sale, but just two of a varied selection of the finest that Canadian Art has to offer.
As evidenced by record attendance at Heffel's coast-to-coast previews, interest in the sale is very strong and the appetite for masterpieces remains healthy. Record attendance numbers at Heffel's previews supports this, with the Toronto preview showing over 100 works and hosting over 550 collectors from May 21st through 24th. The Montreal preview exhibition highlighted over 80 works and hosted over 300 collectors from May 30th through June 1st. The Vancouver preview, beginning June 13th, will exhibit all 159 works from both sales. The preview will run from 11 am to 6 pm June 13th through 16th, and from 10 am to 12 noon on the day of the sale on June 17th, and is expected to see equally high numbers of interested collectors eager to own a remarkable work of Canadian art. Robert Heffel states: "We are pleased with the strong attendance levels in Toronto and Montreal and expect this to continue with our Vancouver preview. Strong preview attendance is always a positive sale indicator."
The recent shift in the art market towards more normalized values has resulted in buyers coming back to the market, both seasoned and new. New and old collectors find they are offered great value for their money, with an opportunity to acquire great works of art at great values with Heffel's conservative estimates. Consignors will also do well, as Canadian Art values are have remained solid and are at much higher levels then in the previous decade. Heffel's was cognizant that 2007 would be a skewed year due to the volume of exceptional works consigned that year. Nonetheless, Fall 2008 remained buoyant, as will Spring 2009 - in the end it is all about the great work of art, presented with respect both in the catalogues and across Canada, and estimated correctly by a team of qualified Heffel specialists! In this market it is imperative to consign to Heffel's, an auction house with an unprecedented track record and a strong national presence. As David Heffel states: "The market is waiting, records are out there and will continue to be set".
Many sources acknowledge that collectors appear to be waiting for this sale. The record-setting Heffel Fall Auction last November and other international fine art auctions in New York and London have proven the market's resiliency and, as Heffel's has always known, when quality, highly sought-after works come to the market, buyers also come to the market. With art currently being touted as one of the most reliable investment markets available, this sale will be an exciting event. An alluring breadth of paintings, sculpture and drawings from some of Canada's most pre-eminent artists make the sale a delight for collectors, who have a tantalizing array of work to choose from.
Last fall, Heffel broke ground in the Canadian Fine Art Auction industry by dividing its sale into two sessions, separating the Canadian Post-War & Contemporary Art from the Fine Canadian Art in two back-to-back sessions. This bold move allowed collectors to focus on their area of interest, and for Heffel to focus better on the needs of their clients, demonstrating Heffel's commitment to each of these integral areas of the market. Until this bold move, the vital importance of the post-1945 period in Canadian art had not been given sufficient attention. On June 17th, 79 lots will be available to collectors, featuring such distinguished artists as B.C. Binning, Paul-Émile Borduas, Jack Bush, Alexander Colville, Jean-Philippe Dallaire, Sorel Etrog, Marcelle Ferron, Yves Gaucher, E.J. Hughes, Gershon Iskowitz, Rita Letendre, Rodolphe (Jauran) de Repentigny, Jean-Paul Riopelle, William Ronald, Jack Shadbolt, Michael Snow, Joanne Tod, Harold Town and Walter Yarwood, to name a few.
Robert Heffel states: "We are very cognizant of how critical the period of the 1950s and 1960s are to Contemporary Art History - with the Post-War sale we focus on consignments from this period. This is the golden age of contemporary art after the Second World War. Canadian artists of this period are inherently linked to the international art scene, whether it be that of New York or Paris."
Record setting prices have proven that this was an excellent move for contemporary art in Canada. Following Heffel's Fall 2008 William Ronald record result, Ronald's early work Jazz Town, painted in 1953, was consigned to the Spring 2009 sale. Jazz Town, estimated at $12,000 - $15,000, is a strong example of the influence of the 1950s New York art scene on Canadian artists, particularly members of the Painters Eleven. Jazz Town was Ronald's first painting completed in 1953, shortly after he returned to Toronto from New York. A rich and exuberant work, it displays the quintessential qualities of the Abstract Expressionist movement. Also on offer are exquisite works by other members of the Painters Eleven group, including Jack Bush's large-scale 1958 oil Downsweep, estimated at $70,000 - $90,000, Walter Yarwood's dynamic abstract Island, also painted in 1958, estimated at $15,000 - $20,000 and Harold Town's vibrant mastery of colour, line, and texture in his work entitled Toast, expected to fetch between $10,000 and $15,000. This seminal work was painted in 1953, the same year Painters Eleven was formed. Also in the sale is Alex Colville's profound image Coastal Figure, a large and extraordinary oil from 1951. It was paintings such as this that brought Colville to national and international prominence in the 1950s.
Heffel's First Session Sale of Canadian Post-War & Contemporary Art will begin at 4 pm Pacific Time on June 17.
Heffel's well-established leadership in the early twentieth century moderns of the Fine Canadian Art Market continues, with many masterworks from the Group of Seven, The Canadian Impressionists, Tom Thomson and Emily Carr included in the second session of the June 17th sale. This sale includes 80 lots of the finest quality work by such distinguished artists as: Sybil Andrews, A.J. Casson, Lawren Harris, A.Y. Jackson, Cornelius Krieghoff, Arthur Lismer, J.E.H. MacDonald, David Milne, Kathleen Morris, W.J. Phillips, Marc-Aurčle de Foy Suzor-Coté, Tom Thomson and Frederick Horsman Varley, to name but a few. Varley's rare portrait The Artist's Son, John, is a compelling view into the painter's family life, and his Glacial Pool is Varley at his British Columbia mountains finest. Lawren Harris's Warehouse - No. II, is a hauntingly beautiful canvas, and is related to a number of canvases, all now held in public museum collections, such as Harris's Ontario Hill Town, 1926, in the collection of the University of Toronto. The coming of this work to the auction market represents a rare opportunity to acquire a major group canvas, as so few are held in private collections.
No less than eleven stunning works by Emily Carr have been consigned to the second session sale. Five of these are BC forest works, two are from her Impressionist days in Brittany, France, and four are Klee Wyck works in ceramic and wood. Of these works, Wind in the Tree Tops is a mature period Carr canvas - perhaps one of the rarest treasures in the Canadian art market. Conservatively estimated at $900,000 - $1,200,000, Wind in the Tree Tops depicts the primary theme in the mature period of Carr's work and that for which she is best known, the British Columbia forest. A powerful and spiritual work, Wind in the Tree Tops captures the rhythms and movement of the ancient coastal forests and the expansive radiating skies overhead that captured Carr's attention in the later years of her painting life. The provenance of this masterpiece is as illustrious as the work itself, having been acquired directly from Emily Carr by her good friend Nan Cheney in 1939 for $75, and later sold to famed collector John A. MacAulay of Winnipeg in 1950, for the grand sum of $1,200. Tom Thomson's Birches and Cedars, Fall, is a delightfully riotous essay in the colour of autumn woods, and a classic Tom Thomson.
Heffel's Second Session Sale of Fine Canadian Art will begin at 7 pm Pacific Time on June 17.
Auction: Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Vancouver Convention Centre West
Burrard Entrance, Room 211
1055 Canada Place, Vancouver
4:00 PM, Canadian Post~War & Contemporary Art
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Lot # 031
JEAN-PAUL RIOPELLE
Jouet
oil on canvas, signed and dated 1953 and on verso titled on the stretcher
44 7/8 x 57 1/2 in, 114 x 146 cm
Estimate: $1,000,000 ~ $1,500,000 CAD
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Lot # 040
ALEXANDER COLVILLE
Coastal Figure
glazed tempera on board, signed and dated 1951 and on verso signed, titled and dated
25 1/4 x 55 in, 64.1 x 139.7 cm
Estimate: $250,000 ~ $300,000 CAD
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7:00 PM, Fine Canadian Art
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Lot # 156
EMILY CARR
Wind in the Tree Tops
oil on canvas, circa 1936 ~ 1939, signed and on verso inscribed "Property of Mrs. Hill Cheney, Capilano, BC, 1115 Haywood, W. Vancouver" and "Property J.A. MacAulay"
36 1/2 x 21 1/4 in, 92.7 x 54 cm
Estimate: $900,000 ~ $1,200,000 CAD
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Lot # 137
THOMAS JOHN (TOM) THOMSON
Birches and Cedar, Fall
oil on panel, fall 1915, embossed with the estate stamp and on verso titled, inscribed "H, Property of Harkness, TT 74, 1st. Class, 87 M. Thomson, J & H" and stamped with the estate stamp
8 1/2 x 10 1/2 in, 21.6 x 26.7 cm
Estimate: $600,000 ~ $800,000 CAD
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Preview at
Heffel Gallery, Vancouver
Saturday, June 13 through
Tuesday, June 16,
11:00 am to 6:00 pm
Wednesday, June 17,
10:00 am to 12:00 pm
2247 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC, Canada
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Heffel's has the most experienced team of fine art specialists in the business, providing customers with the best opportunity for maximizing the value of their works. Heffel's has national presence with offices and galleries in Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, and representatives in Calgary and Victoria.
Media Contact:
For further information please contact:
Robert Heffel 604 732 6505
robert@heffel.com
David Heffel 604 732 6505
david@heffel.com
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