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Media Release
Vancouver, B.C. - (June 17, 2009, 5:45 p.m. PST)
Jean-Paul Riopelle
Jouet
Jouet, a vivid 44-7/8 x 57-1/2 inch drip painting by Jean-Paul Riopelle, sold for $1,170,000 (all lots include a 17 per cent buyers' premium) during the Canadian Post-War & Contemporary Art session of Heffel's Live Spring Auction. Painted in 1953, the canvas is from the most sought after period of Riopelle's career when he made his grand debut at New York's Guggenheim Museum. This striking piece attracted numerous phone bids in the first session of the Spring auction. It is the only Canadian painting to sell for over the million dollar mark in 2009.
Alexander Colville's Coastal Figure was among the top selling paintings in the first session, with a sale price of $526,500. A glazed tempera on board from 1951, this canvas is considered one of Colville's most superb masterpieces.
William Kurelek's four paintings all sold above their estimates, highlighted by After the Blizzard in Manitoba, which sold for $245,700.
A new record was set when a watercolour painting by Vancouver Island artist E.J. Hughes, titled Museum Ship at Penticton, BC, sold for $128,700. Additional highpoints in the first session include Jack Shadbolt's The Great Ones, an oil and casein on board that sold for the record price of $128,700. Then three lots later, a new Shadbolt price record was set when a spectacular butterfly triptych titled Summer Icon sold for $152,1000.
Among the other highlighted works was Jazz Town, an oil, duco and casein on board by William Ronald that sold for $52,650, well above the estimate of $12,000 to $15,000. Another sought-after piece was Downsweep, a vibrant abstract oil painting by Jack Hamilton Bush that sold for $128,700.
Heffel Fine Art Auction House hosted a stand alone sale for Canadian Post-War & Contemporary Art which commenced at 4 p.m. PST, with sales totalling $4.7-million. This was well above the presale estimate of $2-million to $3.5-million for the session. There were 13 price records and 12 of the 79 lots exceeded the $100,000 mark.
The second session, the Fine Canadian Art sale, begins at 7 p.m. PST and is anticipated to bring in between $4 - $5.5 million, with a combined total for both sales which should push the $10 million mark. Both auctions are taking place at Vancouver's new Convention Centre.
"We were thrilled with the strong bidding both in the room and on the phone during the first sale and expect it will continue during the second session," says David Heffel, president of Heffel Fine Art Auction House. "Our success is a reflection of the high calibre of art in the sale and confirms that the Canadian Post-War and Contemporary period is of great interest to art collectors."
This is the second consecutive time Heffel Fine Art has divided the auction into two auction sessions. The Canadian Post-War & Contemporary Art sale is part of Heffel's commitment to highlighting exceptional art from 1945 to the present. The second session - the Canadian Fine Art sale - features a rare million-dollar Emily Carr oil painting, six works from Lawren Harris, 11 Sybil Andrews pieces and an exceptional Tom Thompson landscape.
The standout piece in the second sale is Emily Carr's Wind in the Tree Tops, a large oil on canvas dated circa 1936-1939 with a conservative estimate of $900,000 - $1,2000,000. In the 1930s Carr's art transitioned from sculptural work to an exploration of spirituality. Wind in the Tree Tops is an outstanding example of this classic, mature period in Carr's work.
Heffel Fine Art Auction House 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.
The Spring Auction features 159 Canadian works in total. Information on the pieces and artists can be found at www.heffel.com.
For more information contact:
Ross Sullivan / Serena Matter
Peak Communicators (for Heffel Fine Art Auction House)
cell: 604-802-7139 (on site during auction)
office: 604-689-5559
email: rsullivan@peakco.com / smatter@peakco.com
Heffel Fine Art Auction House - Canada's National Fine Art Auction House
Vancouver Office:
2247 Granville Street, Vancouver
British Columbia, Canada V6H 3G1
tel: (604) 732 6505
fax: (604) 732 4245
toll free: (800) 528 9608
Montreal Office:
1840 rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Montreal
Quebec, Canada H3H 1E4
tel: (514) 939 6505
fax: (514) 939 1100
toll free: (866) 939 6505
Toronto Office:
13 Hazelton Avenue, Toronto
Ontario, Canada M5R 2E1
tel: (416) 961 6505
fax: (416) 961 4245
toll free: (866) 961 6505
Ottawa Office ~ by appointment:
104 Daly Avenue, Ottawa
Ontario, Canada K1N 6E7
tel: (613) 230 6505
fax: (613) 230 8884
toll free: (866) 747 6505
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