From The Estate of Robert Markle Online Auction – June 14th to 28th In conjunction with our current dedicated auction of works from the Estate of Robert Markle, this week’s blog entry is dedicated to the life and work of artist, Robert Markle. Contemporaries with Graham Coughtry, Gordon Rayner, Dennis Burton, and Harold Klunder, Markle… Read more »
Cowley Abbott’s Spring Live Auction of Important Canadian Art on June 15th presented a catalogue of important and rare artworks by some of Canada’s most celebrated artists. Hosted at a new venue, the Globe & Mail Centre, which boasts a terrific view of Toronto’s waterfront, clients enjoyed a chance to reunite in-person while enjoying a… Read more »
“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… Read more »
I have always been captivated by the work of William Kurelek. His representations are often entertaining, sometimes personal and always engaging. A great deal of what I know about William Kurelek as a person has come to me through those who met and knew the artist and Brian Dedora has been generous of his time… Read more »
Maud Lewis has captured the hearts of collectors, charmed by her humble upbringing, humour, whimsy, and the sheer joy radiating from her paintings of everyday Maritime life. Painting serial images, the inconsistencies of Maud Lewis’ work were undoubtedly intentional. She painted winter scenes with off-season foliage and colours because it pleased her. She repeated her… Read more »
William Kurelek was one of Canada’s most idiosyncratic artists of the twentieth century. His work remains both critically acclaimed and popular, although Kurelek resisted ideas of artistic exceptionalism and genius. “The Isaacs Gallery Workshop” is a 1973 ink drawing, once owned by gallerist Avrom Isaacs, that is now in the permanent collection of The Art… Read more »
There are many fantastic paintings by Franklin Carmichael included in the permanent collection of the AGO. “Study of Trees, Autumn” by Carmichael relates to these prime period signature works, executed with a pageantry of autumn colours. This Carmichael painting has a wonderful exhibition history and impeccable provenance. Learn more with Peter in this short video…. Read more »
Guido Molinari, a leader in Quebec abstraction, was a major contributor to post-Abstract Expressionism and post-Automatisme with his Stripe Paintings. Série noir/blanc is a “stop-you-in-your-tracks stunner” of a painting. Originally in the collection of the artist’s family, then sold in New York and now being offered by a major collector, this monumental acrylic on canvas… Read more »
Peter popped across the road recently to visit the Art Gallery of Ontario and take a closer look at the Cornelius Krieghoff interior scenes within their permanent collection. These paintings share many similarities in terms of subject matter, rich detail and narrative tone to “French Canadian Habitants Playing at Cards”, the important canvas included in… Read more »
One of the artworks I admire in the Spring Live Auction is Bertram Brooker’’s “Still Life (Variation No. 3)“. This work was one of two still-life paintings by Brooker included in the 1938 CNE exhibition in the “Canadian Small Pictures” section. Brooker’s “Variation No. 3” appears to be an abstract version of the second painting, which depicted an arrangement… Read more »
