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For Immediate Release
VANCOUVER - April 14, 2010
Continuing a charitable precedent set in the fall of 2009, Heffel Fine Art Auction House will once again offer a group of magnificent works of art from the collection of an anonymous Canadian philanthropist, who will donate the proceeds from their sale to Canadian charities. Last fall, fifteen works from this same philanthropist's collection were sold raising a total of $3,350,880. The largest portion of the funds was donated to the Nature Conservancy of Canada, as well as several other Canadian charities.
On May 26 at Vancouver's Convention Centre West, Heffel Fine Art Auction House will sell seven works of art for the benefit of charitable causes in Canada. "We are so pleased to be a part of this process of supporting Canadian charities through the sale of Canadian masterpieces," says Robert Heffel, Vice-President. "Everyone benefits in this case, as our collectors have an opportunity to acquire outstanding works, and the funds raised help to support a number of excellent causes."
The owner of the works, who wishes to remain anonymous, supports a number of Canadian charities through this innovative and generous method of giving.
Among the selection of paintings offered this spring season are two remarkable works by Lawren Harris, including Bylot Island I, a stunning masterwork canvas painted after Harris's trip to the Arctic with A.Y. Jackson in 1930. The Arctic was Harris's last foray in landscape painting, and this rare canvas, one of only a handful to result from this trip, depicts a place symbolic of the vast Canadian wilderness that few people will ever visit.
"This work is a collecting chance of a lifetime, as Arctic canvases are so very rare. A canvas becoming available at this time is quite remarkable," says David Heffel, President of Heffel Fine Art Auction House. "Our outstanding results for two Harris Arctic sketches last fall have proven that the appetite for these paintings is extremely strong.
At Heffel's Fall 2009 sale of Fine Canadian Art in November Icebergs, Baffin's Bay North sold for $1,521,000 and In Buchanan Bay, Ellesmere Island sold for $1,111,500.
The other Harris in this spring's sale, Mount Temple, Mountain Sketch LII, dates from about 1928 and depicts one of the best-known peaks in the Canadian Rockies. This mountain sketch is estimated at $200,000 - $250,000, while the rare Arctic canvas is estimated at $1,500,000 - $2,500,000.
Two superb David Milnes are also included in the sale - the figurative canvas Reader and Cat, Boston Corners NY, a complex and striking Milne from his important early 1916 period, and Village from 1929, depicting the village of Temagami where Milne moved in the spring of 1929. This subtle canvas is thought to be one of the last that Milne executed depicting this village, which Milne loved due to its isolation. The Milne paintings are estimated at $150,000 - $250,000 and $70,000 - $90,000 respectively.
An iconic Jean Paul Lemieux, the well-known painting Ti-Gus, 1962, is also available in this group of works. Ti-Gus - or petit Gustave - was shown in the traveling Lemieux retrospective in 1967 at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Musée du Québec and the National Gallery of Canada. This archetypal painting of a young boy is an exemplary Lemieux, and is estimated at between $150,000 - $250,000.
Paul-Émile Borduas's La danseuse jaune et la bête, a prized Automatist period work, also has a rich exhibition history, having been part of three shows at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts alone. It is estimated at $80,000 - $120,000.
The final work in the grouping consigned by the anonymous philanthropist is In White Fish Hills, a fine watercolour on paper by Franklin Carmichael, estimated at $50,000 - $70,000. Carmichael was an important proponent of watercolour, having been a founding member of the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour, and this work is a pristine example of his talent in this medium.
Heffel Fine Art Auction House will hold its 2010 Live Sale of Fine Canadian Art on May 26, 2010 at the Vancouver Convention Centre West. The auction sale of Canadian Post-War and Contemporary Art starts at 4:00 p.m. PST, followed by the Fine Canadian Art auction at 7:00 p.m.
A complete listing of the works consigned by the anonymous Canadian philanthropist follows.
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Lot 19
Jean Paul Lemieux
CC QMG RCA 1904 ~ 1990
Ti-Gus
oil on canvas, signed and dated 1962 and on verso titled on the Roberts Gallery label
45 1/4 x 30 in, 114.9 x 76.2 cm
Provenance:
Roberts Gallery, Toronto
Acquired from the above by the present Private Collector, Toronto, 1981
Literature:
Luc d'Iberville-Moreau, Jean Paul Lemieux, 1967, Musée des beaux-arts de Montreal, reproduced page 50, listed page 78
Exhibited:
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Jean Paul Lemieux Retrospective Exhibition, September 15 - October 11, 1967, traveling to Musée du Québec, October 18 - November 22, 1967 and the National Gallery of Canada, December 6, 1967 - January 7, 1968, catalogue #60
Estimate: $150,000 - 250,000
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Lot 20
Paul-Émile Borduas
AUTO CAS QMG RCA 1905 ~ 1960
La danseuse jaune et la bête
oil on canvas, signed and dated 1943 and on verso titled on the Dominion Gallery label
18 ½ x 22 in, 45.7 x 55.9 cm
Provenance:
M. and Mme. Luc Choquette, Montreal
Dominion Gallery, Montreal
Acquired from the above by the present Private Collector, Toronto, 1970
Literature:
Robert Élie, Borduas, 1943, reproduced page 14
Claude Jasmin, "Du lyrisme incandescent à la tragédie classique," La Presse, Arts and Letters, January 20, 1962, page 5, titled as Danseuse jaune
Guy Robert, Borduas, 1972, mentioned and reproduced pages 107 and 325
Guy Robert, Borduas ou le dilemme culturel québécois, 1977, reproduced page 163
François-Marc Gagnon, Paul-Émile Borduas (1905 - 1960), Biographie critique et analyse de l'oeuvre, 1978, pages 148, 152, n. 49, 155, 203, 215, 475, 479 and 539 and reproduced figure 35
Exhibited:
Dominion Gallery, Exposition Borduas, October 2 - 13, 1943, catalogue #51
Cercle universitaire, Exposition de peinture canadienne, February 1947
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Some Modern Canadians, August 1 - August 30, 1953
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Paul-Émile Borduas, 1905 - 1960, January 11 - February 11, 1962, traveling in 1962 to the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, The Art Gallery of Toronto and Musée du Québec, catalogue #42
Estimate: $80,000 - 120,000
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Lot 163
David Brown Milne
CGP CSGA CSPWC 1882 ~ 1953
Reader and Cat, Boston Corners, NY
oil on canvas, on verso titled on the Mira Godard gallery label and inscribed by Duncan in graphite "1916 / 1917" and inscribed by the Duncan estate "711", 1916
19 7/8 x 23 7/8 in, 50.5 x 60.6 cm
Provenance:
Estate of the Artist
Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto
Acquired from the above by the present Private Collector, Toronto, 1977
Literature:
Heather Bruce, The David Milne Cameo Exhibition, 1982, London Regional Art Gallery, listed
David Milne Jr. and David P. Silcox, David B. Milne: Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings Volume 1: 1882 - 1928, 1998, reproduced page 170, catalogue #107.38
Exhibited:
London Regional Art Gallery, The David Milne Cameo Exhibition, July 16 - September 12, 1982
Estimate: $150,000 - 250,000
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Lot 164
David Brown Milne
CGP CSGA CSPWC 1882 ~ 1953
Village
oil on canvas, on verso titled, 1929
16 x 20 1/4 in, 40.6 x 51.4 cm
Provenance:
Milne sale to Massey, 1934
Elizabeth Smart (later Smart-Barker), through Lester B. Pearson, London, England, 1937
Galerie Sherbrooke, Montreal, 1970
Roberts Gallery, Toronto, 1970
Acquired from the above by the present Private Collector, Toronto, 1970
Literature:
David Milne Jr. and David P. Silcox, David B. Milne: Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings Volume 2: 1929 - 1953, 1998, page 456, reproduced page 460, catalogue #208.10
Estimate: $70,000 - 90,000
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Lot 165
Lawren Stewart Harris
ALC BCSFA CGP FCA G7 OSA RPS 1885 ~ 1970
Bylot Island I
oil on canvas, on verso signed, titled and inscribed in graphite "Artic [sic] painting 02", circa 1930 - 1931
32 x 45 in, 81.3 x 114.3 cm
Provenance:
Collection of the Artist
Estate of the Artist
Roberts Gallery, Toronto
Acquired from the above by the present Private Collector, Toronto, 1978
Literature:
A.Y. Jackson, "Artist-Explorer", The Canadian Bookman Volume IX, No. 6, July 1927, page 216
Letter from Lawren Harris to Emily Carr, dated December 6, 1931, Emily Carr Papers
Lawren Harris, Retrospective Exhibition of his Painting, 1910 - 1948, Vancouver Art Gallery, 1949, listed, unpaginated
Peter Mellen, The Group of Seven, 1970, a circa 1930 photograph of Lawren Harris with Bylot Island I, extracted from a film clip taken by C.A.G. Matthews, reproduced page 217
Jeremy Adamson, Lawren S. Harris, Urban Scenes and Wilderness Landscapes, 1906 - 1930, Art Gallery of Ontario, 1978, listed page 231, reproduced page 201
Joan Murray and Robert Fulford, The Beginning of Vision, The Drawings of Lawren S. Harris, 1982, a photograph of Lawren Harris, A.Y. Jackson and Captain Falke aboard the SS Beothic in 1930 reproduced page 24 and a photograph of Lawren Harris with a similar work entitled South Shore, Bylot Island in the background on an easel reproduced page 36
Exhibited:
Vancouver Art Gallery, Lawren Harris: Retrospective Exhibition of his Painting, 1910 - 1948, March 1 - 20, 1949, catalogue #57
Western Canada Art Circuit, Lawren Harris, 1949, catalogue # 16
Art Gallery of Ontario, Lawren S. Harris, Urban Scenes and Wilderness Landscapes, 1906 - 1930, January 14 - February 26, 1978, catalogue #175
Estimate: $1,500,000 - 2,500,000
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Lot 166
Lawren Stewart Harris
ALC BCSFA CGP FCA G7 OSA RPS 1885 ~ 1970
Mount Temple, Mountain Sketch LII
oil on board, signed and on verso signed twice, once on the artist's label and on the board as Lawren Harris, 4760 Belmont Ave. Vancouver, titled and titled on the artist's label and inscribed "BHC-111 Bess Harris collection, not for sale" and on the Laing label "painted circa 1928. Acquired from the artist about 1951", circa 1928
12 x 15 in, 30.5 x 38.1 cm
Provenance:
Bess Harris Collection
G. Blair Laing Limited, Toronto, 1951
Acquired by the present Private Collector, Toronto, 1970
Literature:
Lawren Harris, "Art as an Expression of the Value of its Day", National Archives of Canada, Lawren Harris fonds, Mg30 D208, undated, unpaginated
Andrew Bell, Lawren Harris - "Retrospective Exhibition of his Painting, 1910 - 1948", Canadian Art, Volume VI, No. 2, 1948, page 51
Northrop Frye, "The Pursuit of Form", Canadian Art, Volume VI, No. 2, 1948, page 54
Exhibited:
The Art Gallery of Toronto, Lawren Harris Retrospective Exhibition, 1948, catalogue #132
Estimate: $200,000 - 250,000
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Lot 167
Franklin Carmichael
CSPWC G7 OSA RCA 1890 ~ 1945
In White Fish Hills
watercolour on paper, signed and on verso titled on the G. Blair Laing gallery label
11 x 13 in, 27.9 x 33 cm
Provenance:
G. Blair Laing Limited, Toronto
Acquired from the above by the present Private Collector, Toronto, 1969
Estimate: $50,000 - 70,000
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Media Contact:
Robert Heffel 604 732 6505 or 604 418 0100
robert@heffel.com
David Heffel 604 732 6505
david@heffel.com
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