News Release

Heffel $22.1 Million Spring Auction Exceeds Expectations

For immediate release
Vancouver - May 27, 2010

On Wednesday May 26, Heffel Fine Art Auction House opened the spring Canadian Fine Art Auction season with a standout, record-setting sale of masterworks from prominent estates. The sale, which resulted in $22.1 million in total sales is now the second highest yielding Canadian fine art auction in history, second only to the Heffel sale of May 23, 2007. Of the 217 lots, three sold for more than a million dollars and thirteen records were set. The quality of the available works set the tone for the strength of the bidding and is an indicator of the health and vitality of the Canadian fine art market auction market. "The works consigned to us for this sale were just outstanding," said David Heffel, president of Heffel Fine Art Auction House. "The resulting records and the number of sales over the one million dollar mark are testament to the quality of works we were offering and we are very pleased with the results."

Tonight's sales result of $22.1 million was well past the $12-$15-million presale estimate. The Canadian Post-War & Contemporary Art session, which commenced at 4 p.m. PT, had sales totalling $4.8 million. The second session of Fine Canadian Art began at 7 p.m. PT and had a sales total of $17.3 million. In the two sessions, 43 paintings exceeded the $100,000 mark. The average price per lot sold was an impressive $100,000.

The auction was held before a crowd totalling more than 400 avid collectors, art dealers, and noted celebrities at the new Vancouver Convention Centre. The excited atmosphere in the room was palpable; bidders competed for works with business-like determination, spurred on by the relaxed and affable style of self-assured auctioneers Robert Heffel and David Heffel. It was standing room only for several lots in the sale, with Lawren Harris being a celebrity of his own right in the Canadian art world. When his large, stunning arctic canvas Bylot Island I was taken to the front of the room, all eyes followed; as did the television cameras. Arctic works mark the end of Harris's work in representational landscape, and Bylot Island I captures the essence of this remote place. A spirited bidding war between numerous bidders in the room and several bidders on the telephones took the hammer to $2.4 million before it rang down to enthusiastic applause. Once the 17% buyer's premium is added, this brings the final value to a stunning $2,808,000.A total of nine Harris works were on the block at the auction, and in addition to Bylot Island I. Arctic Sketch IX, a smaller oil on board sold for $1,521,000. Other Harris works included the early Impressionist influenced Winter, a delicate tracery of tree limbs from 1914 that sold for $731,250 and the stunning Rockies panel Mountain Sketch LXX that sold for $497,250. "We were very fortunate to have these high quality Harris lots in our sale," said Robert Heffel, vice president of Heffel Fine Art Auction House. "Lawren Harris was once quoted as saying of the Group of Seven that they lived in a continuous blaze of enthusiasm. Tonight's auction certainly shows that collectors have a blazing enthusiasm for Canadian art. For Harris, representative of this group of painters who often had trouble selling their works during their lifetimes, this is proof of the value of their contribution to our art history." The Harris works in this sale reached a combined total of $7,131,150.00.

Tonight's auction featured works from the estate and family of Vancouver architect Arthur Erickson, the estate of Montreal Collector Theodosia Dawes Bond Thornton and from the collection of a private Canadian philanthropist. The latter will donate the proceeds raised to several Canadian charities. The Thornton estate alone realized a total of $6.6 million. Works from these estates featured prominently in the highlights of the evening, with Claude Tousignant's Double 36 (Mars Phthalocyanine) from the estate of Arthur Erickson and featured as the second lot in the sale, starting the record-setting on a roll with a price of $49,725. In addition, standout works such as Arthur Lismer's The Sheep's Nose, Bon Echo, surpassed the presale estimate of $700,000 to $900,000, selling for $1.1 million, fittingly to a major Canadian museum. "Some works really do belong in museums, said David Heffel, "and we are very pleased that this work will now be part of a public collection."

Of the thirteen new records set tonight, two were for Arthur Lismer works, The Sheep's Nose, Bon Echo, and Well - That's That, a charcoal and pastel cartoon drawing on paper, that sold for a record $17,550. In total, eleven Lismer lots sold for a combined value of more than $1.7 million.

Ten Emily Carr paintings were on the auction block as well as two small Klee Wyck pieces. The Quay, Alert Bay, a crisp watercolour from Carr's early visits to Alert Bay where she sketched and lived with the First Nations people was highly contested, finally selling at $234,000. While all the Carrs saw furious bidding, Emily and Lizzie and Stumps, both from the Clarke family of Clarke, Irwin & Company Limited, publisher of Carr's books during her lifetime, were the most contested. Emily and Lizzie, a fauvist self-portrait of Carr and her sister circa 1913 sold for $468,000, while Stumps, a late oil on canvas circa 1936 sold for $555,750. Other Carr pieces included the canvas Landscape and Sky that sold for $280,800, Young Arbutus, an oil on paper on board that had a hammer price of $468,000 and West Coast Forest - Metchosin, an oil on paper on board that sold for $222,300.

Other highpoints included the sale of a Bill Reid bronze Killer Whale (Chief of the Undersea World) that sold for $702,000. This lyrical sculpture attracted numerous bids before it exceeded the previous Reid record of $414,500, set by Heffel in 2002. Another standout was Jean McEwen's Rouge sur rouge. This highly coveted stunning red abstract from 1962 surpassed its conservative estimate $60,000 to $80,000, selling for $117,000. Jean Paul Lemieux's delightful depiction of the young boy Ti-Gus had charmed crowds at Heffel's auction previews in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Clearly charming several collectors, Ti-Gus sold for a record $672,750. A large, 1990 Gordon Smith acrylic sold for a record $128,700, well past the $40,000 - $60,000 estimate. The work, Cypress Creek, represents a highly significant time in the long and prominent career of this granddaddy of West Coast painting. Chris Cran's 1985 Self -Portrait with the Combat Nymphos of Saigon, the first by this highly collected Calgary painter to reach the auction market, set a promising first time out record of $43,875.

"Tonight's auction was one of our finest collections of artwork to date, featuring of course a number of Group of Seven canvases and exceptional Carr works, as well as some very fine examples of Post-War & Contemporary work, which have come on so strong," said Robert Heffel. "This $22.1 million sale is an historic night for our business and a record night for all of Canadian Art."

The top ten results of Heffel's May 26, 2010 Auction of Post-War & Contemporary Art and Fine Canadian Art are listed below. All prices include the 17 per cent buyers' premium.

High-resolution images of the top paintings in the auction can be sent on request.
Information on the pieces and artists can also be found at www.heffel.com.

Top Ten:

	1. Lot 165 Lawren Stewart Harris ALC BCSFA CGP FCA G7 OSA RPS 1885 - 1970 Canadian Bylot Island I oil on canvas circa 1930 ~ 1931 on verso signed, titled and inscribed in graphite "Artic [sic] painting 02" 32 x 45 in 81.3 x 114.3cm Estimate: $1,500,000 ~ $2,500,000 CAD Sold For: $2,808,000.00 CAD
	2. Lot 124 Lawren Stewart Harris ALC BCSFA CGP FCA G7 OSA RPS 1885 - 1970 Canadian Arctic Sketch IX oil on board 1930 signed and on verso signed, titled, inscribed in graphite with the Doris Mills Inventory #1/9 and stamped Dominion Gallery, Montreal 12 x 15 in 30.5 x 38.1cm Estimate: $300,000 ~ $500,000 CAD Sold For: $1,521,000.00 CAD
	3. Lot 153 Arthur Lismer AAM CGP CSGA CSPWC G7 OSA RCA 1885 - 1969 Canadian The Sheep's Nose, Bon Echo oil on canvas signed and dated 1922 and on verso titled and incorrectly dated 1923 on the Laing Galleries label and on the stretcher 40 x 45 in 101.6 x 114.3cm Estimate: $700,000 ~ $900,000 CAD Sold For: $1,111,500.00 CAD
	4. Lot 120 Lawren Stewart Harris ALC BCSFA CGP FCA G7 OSA RPS 1885 - 1970 Canadian Winter oil on board signed twice and on verso signed twice, titled, dated 1914, inscribed with the Dominion Gallery Inventory #F3218 and with the artist's symbol and stamped Dominion Gallery 10 3/8 x 13 1/4 in 26.3 x 33.7cm Estimate: $300,000 ~ $500,000 CAD Sold For: $731,250.00 CAD
	5. Lot 034 William Ronald (Bill) Reid 1920 - 1998 Canadian Killer Whale (Chief of the Undersea World) bronze sculpture signed, editioned 5/9, dated 1984 and inscribed with the foundry mark Tallix Foundry, Peekskill, New York 44 1/8 x 29 1/8 x 19 5/8 in 112.1 x 74 x 49.8cm Estimate: $600,000 ~ $800,000 CAD Sold For: $702,000.00 CAD
	6. Lot 019 Jean Paul Lemieux CC QMG RCA 1904 - 1990 Canadian 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 76.2cm Estimate: $150,000 ~ $250,000 CAD Sold For: $672,750.00 CAD
	7. Lot 123 Albert Henry Robinson CGP RCA 1881 - 1956 Canadian St-Urbain oil on canvas signed and dated 1927 and on verso inscribed on the frame "This painting has made the British Empire tour, also exhibited at Imperial Gallery, London" 27 1/4 x 33 1/4 in, 69.2 x 84.4 cm Estimate: $300,000 ~ $500,000 CAD Sold For: $614,250.00 CAD
	8. Lot 135 Lawren Stewart Harris ALC BCSFA CGP FCA G7 OSA RPS 1885 - 1970 Canadian Island, Lake Superior oil on panel circa 1921 ~ 1926 signed and on verso signed, titled and inscribed in graphite "not for sale" and with the artist's symbol 10 1/2 x 14 in 26.7 x 35.6cm Estimate: $200,000 ~ $300,000 CAD Sold For: $585,000.00 CAD
	9. Lot 172 Emily Carr BCSFA RCA 1871 - 1945 Canadian Stumps oil on canvas circa 1936 signed and on verso titled on the gallery label 20 x 27 in 50.8 x 68.6cm Estimate: $400,000 ~ $600,000 CAD Sold For: $555,750.00 CAD
	10. Lot 132 Lawren Stewart Harris ALC BCSFA CGP FCA G7 OSA RPS 1885 - 1970 Canadian Mountain Sketch LXX oil on board circa 1924 ~ 1929 on verso signed, titled, inscribed in graphite with the Doris Mills Inventory #7/70 and "1779" and stamped on the frame Dominion Gallery 12 x 15 in 30.5 x 38.1cm Estimate: $250,000 ~ $350,000 CAD Sold For: $497,250.00 CAD

Media Contact:

Robert Heffel 604 732 6505 or 604 418 0100
robert@heffel.com
David Heffel 604 732 6505
david@heffel.com