News Release

Fine Collection of Emily Carr Works Highlights
Heffel Fine Art Spring Auction

Vancouver, B.C. (April 20, 2010)

On May 26, Canada's leading fine art auctioneer, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, will auction 12 lots of work by the iconic Canadian artist Emily Carr. Ten Carr paintings will be on the auction block as well as two Klee Wyck pottery pieces. The Spring Auction, which will take place at the Vancouver Convention Centre West, will be divided into two separate sessions: Canadian Post-War & Contemporary Art and Fine Canadian Art. Together, the two sales are estimated at $12 to $15 million.

Two standouts amongst the Carr works are Emily and Lizzie and Stumps, from the Clarke family of Clarke, Irwin & Company Limited, who published Carr's books. Emily and Lizzie, a 19 by 26 ¼ inch self-portrait of Carr and her sister, has a conservative estimate of $400,000 to $600,000. This painting, which depicts the two sisters sharing tea, is an outstanding example of Carr's brilliant French-influenced Impressionist work. Painted circa 1913, it also serves as a complex comment on Carr's personal and societal dilemma of women conforming to established expectations. Stumps, a 20 by 27 inch, oil on canvas, circa 1936, is a mature period Carr canvas. This superior and rare piece demonstrates Carr's great love of the West Coast forest, and illustrates how she worked on the leading edge of modernism in Canada. Stumps is reproduced in Hundreds and Thousands: The Journals of Emily Carr, in the 1966 edition. The very best examples of Carr's work are reproduced in this book, including Stumps. This painting has a conservative estimate of $400,000 to $600,000.

"Carr's painting in this sale, from her early watercolours such as The Quay, Alert Bay, to works such as Emily and Lizzie, to mature period masterpieces such as Stumps reveal an exploration of the life of a truly remarkable painter,"comments Robert Heffel, Vice-President of Heffel Fine Art Auction House. "We are happy to have Canada's first lady of fine art well represented in our spring auction."

Other Carr pieces up for auction include Forest Interior, an oil on paper, circa 1935, with an estimate of $60,000 - 80,000. Young Arbutus, an oil on paper on board, and West Coast Forest - Metchosin, an oil on paper on board, are also up for bid. Both paintings have estimates of $125,000 to $175,000.

The spring auction also features two of Carr's Klee Wyck pieces: one of which is part of A Collection of Three Works, which has an estimate of $7,000 to $9,000 and a ceramic bowl which is estimated between $4,000 to $6,000. Lot 105, A Collection of Three Works, features a Klee Wyck Bird Stand / Lamp Base, a cheque written by Emily Carr to Cyril (Twinkie) Rodd dated Feb. 1, 1927 and Rodd's Boy Scouts Diary. In the diary, Rodd recorded how he often helped Carr with her yard work and spent time with her on the weekends. Carr's watercolour Woo, lot 108 and lot 106, the ceramic bowl, are also from Rodd.

The items in this collection were recently discovered when Cyril Rodd's sons were going through their mother's estate. Bringing back fond memories of how their father used to reminisce about Emily Carr, the brothers decided to contact Heffel Fine Art Auction House.

"If you are an Emily Carr collector, nothing can quite compare to the mementoes kept by Cyril Rodd. We were delighted to hear from the Rodd brothers and to be given additional insight into Emily Carr's life," says David Heffel, President of Heffel Fine Art Auction House. "Carr's work has been a cornerstone of our business. The upcoming auction is no exception and the pieces up for sale represent some of her finest work."

"Carr's strong interest in native imagery manifested itself in the production of pottery," says Robert Heffel, Vice-President of Heffel Fine Art Auction House. "Carr did research in order to keep the purity of native designs, and she also signed her ceramic works Klee Wyck, meaning 'Laughing One,' the name given to her by West Coast First Nations people."

In previous Heffel Fine Art auctions, three Carr paintings have sold for more than $1 million, and one for more than $2 million. In the spring 2009 auction, Wind in the Treetops, a 36 1/2 x 21 1/4 inch oil on canvas, circa 1936 - 1939, set a new Heffel Fine Art Auction record, selling for $2,164,500. In the May 2000 sale, the striking 1912 oil painting War Canoes sold for $1,018,750. In 2004, Carr's Quiet, an oil on canvas forest scene, sold for $1,121,250. At the Heffel Fine Art auction in November 2008, Alert Bay Burial Ground, a painting that was originally part of the Emily Carr Trust, sold for $1,053,000. Heffel Fine Art Auction House is the only auction house to have sold Carr paintings for more than a million dollars.

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 Fine Art Auction House has national presence with offices and galleries in Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, and representatives in Calgary and London, England.

The Spring Auction consists of 222 works of art by Canada's greatest painters divided into two sessions. Information and the online version of the sale catalogues can be found at www.heffel.com.

Previews of the work are scheduled for:

• Montreal - May 6 - 8, 11 am - 6 p.m., Galerie Heffel, 1840 Rue Sherbrooke Ouest
• Toronto - May 13 - 15, 11 am - 6 pm, Heffel Gallery, 13, Hazelton Avenue
• Vancouver - May 22 - 25, 11 am - 6 pm and May 26, 10 am - 12 pm, Heffel Gallery, 2247 Granville Street

The Spring Auction will take place at the Vancouver Convention Centre West, located at 1055 Canada Place. The first session begins at 4 pm and the second at 7 pm.

For more information contact:

Robert Heffel: 604 732-6505 or 604 418-0100
robert@heffel.com

David Heffel: 604 732-6505 or 604 418-6505
david@heffel.com

Heffel Fine Art Auction House - Canada's National Fine Art Auction House

List of Emily Carr works to be included in the sale

	Lot #104 EMILY CARR (1871 - 1945 Canadian) The Quay, Alert Bay watercolour on paper, signed and on verso inscribed "23a" and stamped on the frame Dominion Gallery 10 3/8 x 14 3/8 in, 26.3 x 36.5 cm ESTIMATE: $40,000 ~ $60,000
	Lot #105 EMILY CARR (1871 - 1945 Canadian) A Collection of Three Works a) Klee Wyck Bird Stand Base / Lamp Base ceramic sculpture signed Klee Wyck, circa 1924 - 1926 13 3/4 x 2 x 5 3/4 in, 34.9 x 5.1 x 14.6 cm b) Cheque written by Emily Carr to Cyril (Twinkie) Rodd dated February 1, 1927 3 1/4 x 7 7/8 in, 8.3 x 20 cm c) The Boy Scouts Diary of Cyril (Twinkie) Rodd dated 1927 4 1/8 x 3 in, 10.5 x 7.7 cm ESTIMATE: $7,000 ~ $9,000
	Lot #106 EMILY CARR (1871 - 1945 Canadian) Klee Wyck Eagle Bowl ceramic sculpture, circa 1924 ~ 1926 signed Klee Wyck 8 x 5 1/2 x 1 1/2 in, 20.3 x 14 x 3.8 cm ESTIMATE: $4,000 ~ $6,000
	Lot #108 EMILY CARR (1871 - 1945 Canadian) Woo watercolour on paper, inscribed That all good things / May come to you / Is the wish / Of little Woo and on verso inscribed Christmas card from Miss Emily Carr 3 1/2 x 2 3/8 in, 8.9 x 6 cm ESTIMATE: $7,000 ~ $9,000
	Lot #171 EMILY CARR (1871 - 1945 Canadian) Emily and Lizzie oil on board, circa 1913 signed and on verso inscribed 23 and stamped Dominion Gallery, 1448 St. Catherine West, Montreal, Que., Telephone Harbour 7421 19 x 26 1/4 in, 48.3 x 66.7 cm ESTIMATE: $400,000 ~ $600,000
	Lot #172 EMILY CARR (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 68.6 cm ESTIMATE: $400,000 ~ $600,000
	Lot #177 EMILY CARR (1871 - 1945 Canadian) Breton Woman Washing oil on board, circa 1911 signed 12 3/4 x 15 3/4 in, 32.4 x 40 cm ESTIMATE: $60,000 ~ $80,000
	Lot #179 EMILY CARR (1871 - 1945 Canadian) West Coast Forest ~ Metchosin oil on paper on board, circa 1935 signed22 3/4 x 34 3/4 in, 57.8 x 88.3 cm ESTIMATE: $125,000 ~ $175,000
	Lot #181 EMILY CARR (1871 - 1945 Canadian) Young Arbutus oil on paper on board, circa 1939 signed and inscribed Victoria and on verso signed and titled on a label 34 x 22 in, 86.3 x 55.9 cm ESTIMATE: $125,000 ~ $175,000
	Lot #183 EMILY CARR (1871 - 1945 Canadian) Landscape and Sky oil on canvas, circa 1935 signed with estate stamp and on verso inscribed 77 and stamped Dominion Gallery 14 x 18 in, 35.6 x 45.7 cm ESTIMATE: $150,000 ~ $250,000
	Lot #185 EMILY CARR (1871 - 1945 Canadian) Forest Interior oil on paper, circa 1935 signed with the estate stamp 18 x 12 in, 45.7 x 30.5 cm ESTIMATE: $60,000 ~ $80,000
	Lot #192 EMILY CARR (1871 - 1945 Canadian) Old Mill House, Near Paris oil on board, circa 1910 signed and on verso titled 7 1/2 x 9 1/2 in, 19 x 24.1 cm ESTIMATE: $30,000 ~ $40,000