Rare Portrait by Landscape Painter Tom Thomson Up for Auction

Posted by & filed under Cowley Abbott News & Press.

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Tom Thomson, Daydreaming

TORONTO (For Immediate Release) – A rare 100-year-old portrait by Tom Thomson is going up for auction online.  Consignor Canadian Fine Art says Daydreaming is a portrait of artist Thoreau MacDonald, the son of Group of Seven member J.E.H. MacDonald.  The auction house dates the work to sometime between 1913-1915, a few years before Thomson’s untimely death in 1917.  Consignor says “Daydreaming” represents a rare portrait by Thomson, who is best known for painting landscapes of northern Ontario. It estimates the work could fetch between $200,000 and $250,000.

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Questions To Consider When Valuing Your Artwork

Posted by & filed under Cowley Abbott Updates.

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Consignor regularly receives contact from clients, looking to receive guidance regarding the possible valuation of their artwork.  It is our pleasure to be of service in providing preliminary “verbal” auction estimates at no charge, based on the auction market for comparable works of art.  

If you are interested in speaking with our specialists and engaging in this confidential and complimentary process, we recommend that you gather certain pertinent details regarding your artwork to assist our team in providing you with the highest (and most accurate) level of initial service.

The following questions will help provide you with some direction through the preliminary steps in the valuation process with our firm.

 

1. Who is the artist of your artwork?

Examine the front and reverse sides of the artwork, looking for a signature from the artist and/or potentially a notation which might 

be present on a gallery or exhibition label.  The identity of the artist is an important valuation factor for our specialists as it allows us 

to compare the artwork directly with other works by the artist which have appeared at auction.

 

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The Auction is Over. What’s Next?

Posted by & filed under Cowley Abbott Updates.

what's next blog picImmediately following the close of an auction, bidders, buyers and consignors typically wonder “What’s next?”  We believe that transparency helps everyone navigate the sometimes confusing denouement of an auction. Below, we’ve answered some of the frequently asked post-auction questions.

How can I tell if I am the successful bidder?

To place a bid on an artwork in our sale, you must be logged in to your collector profile. After a lot closes, within the “Your Bids” screen, the item will be highlighted in either red or green indicating if you were successful (an “X” or “checkmark” will also be displayed). Green highlighting (with a checkmark) indicates that you’ve been awarded the artwork. If successful, you will also receive an e-mail notice indicating your success and the hammer price.

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Get to Know Lydia!

Posted by & filed under Cowley Abbott Updates.

IMG_2685As with most industry websites, the Consignor site includes a section which features our professional biographies, however we feel they can often miss some of the funny and interesting facts that really help you get to know someone.  We asked Lydia Abbott to complete the questionnaire below in order to provide some insight into her everyday life.

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The First Consignor Auction is Officially Closed!

Posted by & filed under Cowley Abbott Updates.

Maud Lewis, Winter Sleigh Ride - Price Realized $5,520

Maud Lewis, Winter Sleigh Ride – Price Realized $5,520

Our premier auction of Canadian Art came to a close with furious biding on consignor.ca this past Wednesday, September 25th.  Our site traffic spiked in the home stretch, and with only one hour left in bidding, the gallery filled with an eager group of clients who were keen to ensure that they were the high bidders on their favourite works!  We are very pleased to be sending some wonderful works of art to Australia, China, USA, and across Canada.  The past few days have witnessed a steady stream of happy clients, excited to collect their purchases, with many already talking about the upcoming Fall Auction of Important Canadian Art.  Congratulations to everyone who successfully purchased an artwork (or two, or three…)!  Thank you to everyone who visited our gallery to view the previews, placed a bid online, and to everyone who continues to support us.  We are looking forward to revealing our exciting fall auction!

The Fall of the Gavel Replaced by the Tap of a Finger

Posted by & filed under Cowley Abbott Updates, How to.

bidding on your iphone
I remember speaking with a prominent Canadian dealer who told me about about a client of his who had missed out on their dream Lawren Harris painting, some years earlier. The client now wanted to get their hands on a Tom Thomson they had been eyeing for a long time. The Thomson was spotted in an auction catalogue for a sale that was scheduled to take place a few weeks later, in a different Canadian city than the where the client and dealer were located. The dealer was scheduled to be on a cruise ship with his wife at the same time as the auction. Not wanting to disappoint the client, the dealer insisted that he could act over the phone as an absentee bidder, and all but promised the Thomson artwork to his client. Despite the very-modern ship, connected completely by wi-fi, the telephone situation was poor. Of the few phones that were available to the guests, most had long lines behind them. The dealer and the client missed out on the Tom Thomson painting that went for a steal at the live auction!

Bidding is Open! How to Create your Collector Profile!

Posted by & filed under Cowley Abbott Updates, Cowley Abbott Videos, How to.

Consignor_Sept19adToday marks the first auction for Consignor Canadian Fine Art. With almost 70 works of art by Canadian artists including Joe Fafard, Maud Lewis, John Fox, Bruno Coté, and Doris McCarthy to name a few, this sale is a great opportunity for emerging and experienced collectors alike to add to their collection.  Before you can bid, you need to create a collector profile, on Consignor.ca, and we’ve made a video to show you how quick and easy it is to create your collector profile.

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