Rob Cowley chats with Jon Erlichman of BNN Bloomberg to discuss investment in art, the art market and Cowley Abbott’s Fall Live Auction on Wednesday, December 6th.
To be offered on Wednesday, December 6th at 7:00 pm (EST)
To be offered on Wednesday, December 6th in the two-session Fall Live Auction
To be offered on Wednesday, December 6th at 4:00 pm (EST)
and Laurentian Hillside, October 1914 by J.E.H. MacDonald
To be offered on Wednesday, December 6th at 7:00 pm (EST)
To be offered on Wednesday, December 6th at 7:00 pm (EST)
The artwork from the collection is being offered in memory of Joe, Anita and Laura Robertson. Each work of art was carefully chosen by the Robertson family and hung in their welcoming home.
Joe and Anita Robertson were prominent Niagara Peninsula businesspeople, both born to large, closely knit families. They met as teenagers while working at a McDonald’s in Bells Corners, Nepean and married in 1986, raising three children, Taylor, Clark and Laura.
Joe and Anita were lifelong best friends and business partners. They excelled in their careers, purchasing a small dental supply company in St. Catharines, Ontario to grow it under the name of Arcona Health Incorporated. They would sell the company with Joe becoming the CEO and Chair of the Board of Directors of the parent company’s Canadian subsidiary, Henry Schein Arcona Inc.
Laura Robertson, the family’s youngest child, grew up in St. Catharines before moving to Vancouver to earn her Bachelor’s of Kinesiology from the University of British Columbia in 2017. Laura had begun working in Brock University’s Kinesiology Department as a Facilities Coordinator at the time of her passing. She was an active volunteer at Red Roof Retreat and was proud to serve Niagara-on-the-Lake as a volunteer firefighter. Laura had a lifelong passion for the arts and was a skilled illustrator and oil painter.
Joe and Anita Robertson were philanthropically active in their Niagara-on-the-Lake and St. Catharines communities, making major financial contributions to the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre to build a multipurpose theatre, the Niagara Health Foundation to support the construction of the hospital and the Niagara-on-the-Lake nursery, as well as many other causes.
Besides being active volunteers, they also individually played pivotal roles supporting the St. Catharines & District United Way, the Council of Chairs of Ontario Universities, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, Music Cares, Bravo Niagara and the Brock Performing Arts Centre. Joe also served on the board of Brock University for over a decade, and between 2012 and 2014 was Chair of their Board of Governors.
As such strong supporters and active participants of arts and culture, it is not surprising that the artwork they collected reflected their passion for art.
Cowley Abbott is proud to donate a portion of our commission from the sale of the family’s artwork to the United Way Niagara in memory of Joe, Anita and Laura Robertson and on behalf of their surviving children, Clark and Taylor.
To be offered Wednesday, December 6th at 7:00 pm (EST)
The Live Auction of Artwork from An Important Private Collection of Canadian Art – Part III includes a superb selection of paintings by remarkable Canadian female painters, including The Chintz Sofa by Helen McNicoll, an impressionist painter and one of Canada’s most notable female artists. This well-known work has been exhibited extensively internationally for over a century, most recently in the 2023 exhibition, Cassatt‒McNicoll: Impressionists Between Worlds at the Art Gallery of Ontario.
Emily Carr, Nirvana, circa 1930 is a well-known work by the artist. This fourth and final major work by Carr from the celebrated private collection relates to a 1912 watercolour currently in the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, as well as a 1930 canvas in another prominent private collection.
Rare artworks by Charlotte Schreiber and Laura Muntz are also included in this Private Collection of Canadian Art, specifically Don’t Be Afraidby Charlotte Schreiber. This work was exhibited with the Ontario Society of Artists in May 1878 and the small study for this work is also included in the offerings.
This is an incredible opportunity to acquire an important historical Canadian artwork by these renowned female artists, and it is our privilege to continue to introduce these artworks to the market ahead of the December 6th auction.
Highlights of the first session of the Fall Live Auction include two canvases by abstract painter Guido Molinari, deaccessioned by the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO). Molinari is represented by major works in the AGO’s collection, as well as across Canada. Following museum guidelines, the proceeds of deaccessioning go towards future acquisitions. Cowley Abbott is privileged to be entrusted with these artworks, on the heels of our success for the Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq in June 2023.
During Cowley Abbott’s Live Auction of Important Canadian and International Art on June 8th, Andy Warhol’s Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, from the Reigning Queens Series (1985) attracted international bidding, selling for $936,000. Proceeds from the sale of the set of four colour screenprints supported the development of an endowment fund to build more diverse representation in the Gallery’s permanent collection.
Another fantastic highlight from the first session of the Fall Live Auction is Untitled, 2012 by Denyse Thomasos, an important Canadian-Trinidadian female artist. This painting was recently included in the celebrated exhibition, “Denyse Thomasos: Just Beyond”, a large retrospective seen at the Art Gallery of Toronto in 2022. Painted in the last year of her tragically short life, this is an important artwork by the artist, that we are honoured to be entrusted with this auction season.
We hope you will visit Cowley Abbott to view these artworks in our gallery ahead of the Fall Live Auction on December 6th at Toronto’s Globe & Mail Centre.
Post-War Quebec
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