Author: Rob

WAG-Qaumajuq Announces Sale to Build Endowment Fund for Contemporary Art

Acquisition funds raised will support more diverse representation in the permanent collection

Winnipeg, Manitoba, April 20, 2023: The Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG)-Qaumajuq announced today details of a new endowment fund for art acquisitions to support more diverse representation in the permanent collection, beginning with contemporary Indigenous art. To help build the endowment, WAG-Qaumajuq has identified artworks from the collection where there is considerable depth and representation of the artist and field, or where the artwork is no longer aligned with the strategic direction of the Gallery’s collections policy.

To establish initial funds for the endowment, WAG-Qaumajuq has deaccessioned four colour screen prints of Queen Elizabeth II from Andy Warhol’s Reigning Queens series. These artworks being offered at auction were selected by the WAG-Qaumajuq curatorial team and the directorate, in collaboration with the Works of Art Committee and WAG-Qaumajuq Board of Directors, following an extensive evaluation of the Gallery’s permanent collection. Funds raised for the endowment will support the Gallery’s interest in continuing to build a more diverse and equitable collection, particularly in the areas of contemporary Indigenous and Canadian art. The works will be sold by Cowley Abbott Auctioneers this June through public auction. Cowley Abbott will donate their selling commission to the WAG-Qaumajuq endowment fund as part of the sale. 

WAG-Qaumajuq, one of the oldest civic art museums in Canada, holds notable collections of European and Canadian art spanning over five centuries, with strong representation in 15^th and 16^th-century Northern European painting, 19^th and 20^th-century British art, German Expressionism, and Canadian art in all media and periods. In addition to the collections of painting, sculpture, and works on paper, WAG-Qaumajuq has extensive holdings in British, Canadian, and French decorative arts. The Gallery also holds the largest public collection of contemporary Inuit art in the world, now housed in Qaumajuq, the new Inuit art centre.

Quick Facts:

• WAG-Qaumajuq announces the deaccessioning of four artworks to raise funds for an endowment to support more diverse representation in the permanent collection, beginning with contemporary Indigenous art. 
• These artworks were selected by the WAG-Qaumajuq curatorial team and the directorate, in collaboration with the Works of Art Committee, and supported by the WAG-Qaumajuq Board of Directors, following an extensive evaluation of the Gallery’s permanent collection.
• The works will be sold by Cowley Abbott Auctioneers this summer through public auction.
• WAG-Qaumajuq holds notable collections of European and Canadian art spanning over five centuries, with strong representation in 15^th and 16^th-century Northern European painting, 19^th and 20^th-century British art, German Expressionism, and Canadian art in all media and periods.
• WAG-Qaumajuq has extensive holdings in British, Canadian, and French decorative arts. The Gallery also holds the largest public collection of contemporary Inuit art in the world, now housed in Qaumajuq, the new Inuit art centre.
• Andy Warhol’s Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, from Reigning Queens (1985) will be featured as part of the two-session Cowley Abbott Spring Live Auction on Thursday, June 8^th at Toronto’s Globe & Mail Centre, subject to a pre-sale auction estimate of $700,000-900,000 CAD.
• Warhol’s Queen Elizabeth II prints are highly coveted and particularly rare to find offered as a complete set. This set of four silkscreens was assembled by a collector through two separate purchases before being donated to WAG-Qaumajuq.  
• Previewing of the auction will take place in Montreal (April 27th to 29th) and Toronto (May 8th to June 8th) in the weeks leading up to the auction.
• For more information on the sale, please visit cowleyabbott.ca. and follow this link to view the auction listing for the Warhol silkscreens.

Quotes:

“With the opening of Qaumajuq, the Gallery has been more focused than ever on building an organization that is welcoming to everyone and more representative of our entire community. The important work of reconciliation and equity throughout the organization, includes the ongoing development and strengthening of the permanent collection. The initiative to establish a new endowed fund for the acquisition of contemporary Indigenous and Canadian art will allow us to reach more people and communities through the presentation and engagement with art and artmaking.  As we make meaningful strides in creating a more equitable and representative collection, we hope to inspire and inform audiences in real and tangible ways.”

— Dr. Stephen Borys, Director & CEO, WAG-Qaumajuq

“The WAG-Qaumajuq Board of Trustees is supportive of the Gallery’s commitment to continue building and refining the permanent collection so that it reaches and connects with more people and audiences. To support the vision for the Gallery, we need to continue to allocate the necessary resources; and this endowment will ensure that the future of the WAG-Qaumajuq permanent collection will better reflect the community that it serves.”

— Lewis Rosenberg, Works of Art Committee Chair

 “We are privileged to have the opportunity to offer this rare set of Warhol Queen Elizabeth prints to benefit this important endowment fund and are delighted to donate our selling commission as further support of the initiative. We very much look forward to sharing these works with clients internationally towards the live auction in June.”

— Rob Cowley, President, Cowley Abbott

For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact:

Hanna Waswa
Public Relations Officer
Winnipeg Art Gallery
204.789.1295
hwaswa@wag.ca

Follow WAG-Qaumajuq on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram #atwag

Andrea McLoughlin
Director
Centric PR for Cowley Abbott
andrea@centricpr.ca
416.407.4321

Follow Cowley Abbott on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

The Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG)-Qaumajuq is a cultural advocate using art to connect, inspire, and inform. Playing a dynamic role in the community, we are a place for learning, dialogue, and enjoyment through art. Opened in March 2021, Qaumajuq connects to the WAG on all levels, celebrating the largest public collection of contemporary Inuit art in the world. The new WAG-Qaumajuq cultural campus is now one of the largest art museums in Canada. To learn more visit wag.ca.

About Cowley Abbott: Since its inception in 2013, Cowley Abbott’s live and online auctions have included headline-grabbing works that have regularly smashed auction records. Cowley Abbott has rapidly grown to be a leader in today’s competitive Canadian auction industry, with two galleries in downtown Toronto and representatives across Canada. Cowley Abbott’s effective set of services marry the traditional methods of promoting artwork with technology and innovative means to connect collectors with artwork of rarity and quality.

Cowley Abbott’s Two-Session
Live Auction of Important Canadian Art Shatters 11 Auction Records

Thank you to all of the collectors, bidders and art lovers that ensured our live auction last evening was a resounding success. Marking the first of three landmark live auctions dedicated to this prestigious private collection of Canadian art, a bidding frenzy helped to break 11 artist records with most artworks in the sale exceeding – and often doubling, tripling or more – presale estimates. Cowley Abbott’s two session live auction event, which also included their Live Auction of Important Canadian Art in the afternoon, achieved a combined $19.6 million. 

The highlight of the evening was an Emily Carr masterwork, The Totem of the Bear and the Moon, 1912, selling for $3.12 million, coming close to challenging the current artist record of $3.39 million. Sold for the first time at auction, this rare canvas has been included in important exhibitions for more than a century.

Also offered for public sale for the first time, Tom Thomson’s Petawawa Gorges (1916) doubled the low-end estimate, selling for $2.22 million to excited audience applause. The painting was part of the artist’s family’s collection for over fifty years before being acquired by the collection owners in 1972. Other versions of this composition are in major public collections across Canada.

A second work by the iconic painter, a rare sketch for a known canvas, Evening, Pine Island, also exceeded expectations, selling for $1.68 million.

The auction set a new artist record for Group of Seven artist A.Y. Jackson with the large oil canvas Tadenac, Novemberachieving $936,000, exceeding the previous record of $760,500.

Internationally celebrated artist James Wilson Morrice’s rare canvas Neige, Canada (Snow Canada) (circa 1905) doubled the presale estimate selling for $1.26 million in its auction debut. The accompanying sketch for the painting, Study for “Neige, Canada” sold for six times the estimate at $408,000.

The oldest painting in the collection, a rare canvas by Paul Kane, Ojibwa Camp in the Spider Islands (c. 1845), sold for $1.08 million.

Frances Anne Hopkins achieved a new artist record of $552,000 with her 1867 canvas Voyageurs Encampment (Camp Scene on the Ottawa), tripling the previous record.

David Milne’s Young Cedars (1919), painted during one of the most esteemed periods of his career, sold for $792,000, more than doubling its presale estimate.

Debuting at auction, Lawren Harris’ study for a canvas in the collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario, North Shore, Lake Superior, doubled expectations, selling for $1.03 million  

Adrien Hébert, The Eaton’s Window, Montreal (1937) sold for $408,000, nine times the previous artist record of $45,600.

Jock Macdonald’s Drying Herring Roe sold for $408,000, nearly five times the previous record of $88,750.

Records were also set for L.L. FitzGerald, Ozias Leduc, Antoine Sebastien Plamondon, Henry Sandham, Charlotte Schreiber, P.C. Sheppard and Mary Wrinch.  To view the full auction results, please visit: https://cowleyabbott.ca/items/1193

Lydia Abbott discusses “Neige, Canada (Snow, Canada)” by James Wilson Morrice, a canvas which was first exhibited by the artist more than a century ago. Join Lydia as she chats about the rare Canadian canvas, making its auction debut with Cowley Abbott this fall. This painting is featured in the Auction of An Important Private Collection of Canadian Art, the second session of the December 1st, 2022 Cowley Abbott Fall Live Auction. You can view details of J.W. Morrice’s “Neige, Canada (Snow, Canada)” at this link: https://cowleyabbott.ca/artwork/AW41523

“Nocturne”, an evocative sketch, dates from Tom Thomson’s golden painting year of 1916. Estimated at $900,000-1,200,000, this work has a long and distinguished pedigree. Private collections have kept this work well-hidden from public view since 2000, until today.

It has been a pleasure for Cowley Abbott to handle this painting and we look forward to offering this Tom Thomson tomorrow evening in our live auction.

Rob and Peter both discuss the importance of this 1916 painting by Thomson in our new video, highlighting that the work was executed in the same year as Thomson’s “The West Wind” in the collection of the AGO.

View further images and information about this important painting here: https://cowleyabbott.ca/artwork/AW40914.