Tag: art auctions

  • Un rare dessin au crayon de Lawren Harris en vedette dans le cadre de la vente automnale de Consignor Canadian Fine Art

    (Left to Right) Lawren Harris, Lake Superior (I.D. 463); Emily Carr, European Street Scene; Mary Pratt, Baking Bread; Michael Snow, Off Minor (1958)
    De gauche à droite: Harris, Lake Superior; Carr, European Scene; Pratt, Baking Bread; Snow, Off Minor

    Les œuvres d’Emily Carr, Mary Pratt et Alex Colville seront présentées aux enchères le 23 novembre

    (Toronto – le 1er novembre, 2017) Consignor Canadian Fine Art annonce sa vente aux enchères semestrielle qui inclura un rare dessin au crayon de Lawren Harris, un travail préparatoire d’une de ses toiles les plus renommées, « Lake Superior », qui est présentement affichée dans la collection Thomson au Musée des beaux-arts de l’Ontario. Le dessin, qui appartenait autrefois à son épouse Bess Harris, sera offert aux enchères avec une estimation de 20 000 $ – 30 000 $. Cependant, sa rareté et son importance en tant que précurseur d’une toile majeure pourraient remettre en question le prix record pour un dessin d’un membre du Groupe des Sept. L’œuvre sera offerte à la vente en salle, laquelle aura lieu au musée Gardiner le jeudi 23 novembre.

    « L’importance du dessin au crayon pour Lawren Harris est bien connue » dit Rob Cowley, Président de Consignor. « Il considérait son carnet de croquis et ses crayons tout aussi importants que les huiles et les pinceaux qu’il portait avec lui lors de ses excursions de peinture en plein air. Nous sommes ravis d’avoir acquis cette esquisse importante qui est liée à l’une des œuvres les plus célèbres de Harris. C’est une superbe œuvre d’art et nous prévoyons de fortes enchères la soirée du 23 ».

    Yvonne McKague Housser, amie et collègue artiste de Harris, a décrit sa technique en graphite:  « Ses dessins sont une clé qui ouvre la porte à ce qu’il pensait et peignait…Les dessins étaient importants à titre introductif, afin de clarifier son esprit avant de commencer une toile ».

    L’été dernier, Consignor s’est lancé dans une tournée d’évaluation, voyageant des Maritimes à Montréal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Winnipeg, Regina et Vancouver. Les spécialistes ont invité les membres du public à amener leurs œuvres d’art à des fins d’évaluation. C’est au cours de cette tournée que Consignor a découvert certaines des œuvres les plus exceptionnelles dans le cadre de la vente de novembre, y compris le dessin du lac Supérieur.

    Points saillants de la vente en salle automnale 2017 de Consignor:

    –Emily Carr, European Street Scene, une aquarelle peinte en 1911 lors de sa formation artistique en France (estimation 150 000 $ – 175 000 $), découverte à Calgary, Alberta

    –A.J. Casson, Bridge Over Humber River, une des premières œuvres de Casson créée en plein air (estimation 20 000 $  – 30 000 $), découverte en Colombie-Britannique

    –Mary Pratt, Baking Bread, peintre célèbre des Maritimes (30 000 $ – 40 000 $); et Alex Colville, Recording Line Zero, Near Nijmegen, une aquarelle de la période de guerre (estimation 30 000 $ – 40 000 $), les deux œuvres ont tous deux étées découvertes à Saint John, Nouveau-Brunswick

    En vedette sur la page couverture du catalogue de la vente de Consignor est une toile d’huile de Michael Snow de 1958, intitulée « Off Minor ». La grande toile abstraite appartenait auparavant à Joseph Gladstone, le frère de l’artiste torontois Gerald Gladstone; elle est présentée pour la première fois aux enchères avec une valeur estimée de 40 000 $ – 60 000 $.
    Les œuvres d’art sont présentement exposées à la galerie Consignor Canadian Fine Art, au 326, rue Dundas Ouest. Pour de plus amples renseignements sur l’exposition et la vente en salle, ainsi que pour accéder au catalogue en ligne, veuillez consulter le site internet consignor.ca. La vente se tiendra le jeudi 23 novembre, au musée Gardiner (111, Queen’s Park, Toronto).

  • Rob Chats with CH Morning Live Regarding Auction Valuation & Recent Maud Lewis Auction Record

  • Carmichael Masterwork Sells for $475,000 During Spring Season

    Records Broken & New Traditions Established for Consignor This Season

    Old Orchard, a major 1940 painting by Franklin Carmichael was sold for $475,000 during the spring auction season, the highest price paid for the painter’s work in eight years and one of the highest values ever achieved for the painter’s work by an auction firm.  The price was just one of the many highlights encountered by Consignor Canadian Fine Art this spring.

    The Spring Live Auction of Important Canadian Art, held May 25th, was an evening of new traditions and continued success for Consignor, the auction establishing strong prices for historical, post-war and contemporary works of quality and rarity.  The auction was held for the first time at Toronto’s Gardiner Museum, the downtown venue filled to capacity with an electric environment of excitement palpable from the drop of the hammer on the first lot sold.  The classy and cozy setting was instantly popular with clients, paddles comfortably waving in the air throughout the night.

    Excited bidding participation came through not only in the room, but through spirited telephone and absentee bidding, pushing choice artworks well beyond expectation.  Drawing strong reaction from the room was the sale of Three Black Cats, the small oil painting by Nova Scotia folk artist Maud Lewis fetching a record $36,800 (prices posted include applicable Buyer’s Premium), almost double the previous auction record and five times the presale estimate.  Appreciation for Atlantic Canadian artists continued with David Blackwood’s Fire Down on the Labrador selling for $48,300, doubling its estimate and marking the second highest price ever achieved for the iconic imagery created by the Newfoundlander printmaker.

    Artwork by Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven continued to excited collectors during the spring season, with notable results including: Tom Thomson’s Fallen Timber (Algonquin) selling for $125,000; Edwin Holgate’s Autumn Leaves selling for $75,000; Madawaska, a 20 x 26 inch canvas by A.Y. Jackson fetching $69,000; A.J. Casson’s captivating Old Hotel, Elora selling for $36,800 while Casson’s Byng Inlet fetched $29,900.  Works on paper by the Group saw record prices set with Lawren Harris’ Snow-Covered Trees more than doubling its estimate to reach $50,600 and A.Y. Jackson’s Gulf of St. Lawrence selling for $14,950, both auction records for works on paper by the artists.

    Further historical highlights displayed a love for portraiture from collectors this season with an enchanting Jean Paul Lemieux portrait fetching $48,300; Randolph Hewton’s Portrait of Thomas Archer Esq. selling for $14,950; and Hal Ross Perrigard’s Vere reaching $10,925, each exceeding their pre-sale estimate.

    Post-War and Contemporary Canadian works performed notably during the May 25th live auction with: Ted Harrison’s The Grecian House (Dawson City) selling for $34,500, Sorel Etrog’s “Ferrari red” Sadko fetching $27,600, Paul-Émile Borduas’ Abstract Composition watercolour reaching $21,850 and Rita Letendre’s L’Enchenteur selling for $17,250.

    The May live auction was surrounded by Consignor’s March and June Online Auctions, sales which are carefully catered not only to established collectors looking to supplement their existing collections but also to new collectors who continue to hunt for gems to create an assemblage.  Feverish online bidding led to collectors across Canada and beyond being awarded notable works of art by A.J. Casson, J.W. Beatty, Manly MacDonald, H.S. Palmer, Alan Collier, Yvonne McKague Housser, Goodridge Roberts, Jack Bush, Alex Colville, Norval Morrisseau, David Urban, Angela Leach, and Kim Dorland, among many others.

    We extend our thanks to the consignors, buyers, bidders and clients who helped to ensure another season of success for Consignor Canadian Fine Art.  Preparation has already begun for our fall sales, including the Live Auction of Important Canadian Art (to be held on November 23rd at the Gardiner Museum).  We are currently accepting consignments for the upcoming sales and our team would be delighted to meet with you in our downtown Toronto gallery or during our national travels this summer.  The summer months feature a selling exhibition in the gallery and online, allowing clients the opportunity to consider a variety of work by Canadian artists, available for immediate sale (full listing available here).

  • Rob Chats with Global Morning About the Upcoming Consignor Spring Live Auction

  • Franklin Carmichael Masterpiece Featured in Spring Live Auction

    Franklin Carmichael, Old Orchard (1940)

    (Toronto – May 2, 2017) Two celebrated artworks by Group of Seven painter Franklin Carmichael are the centerpiece to Consignor Canadian Fine Art’s upcoming Spring Live Auction of Important Canadian Art taking place May 25th at the Gardiner Museum, Toronto. A large-scale oil painting, Old Orchard (1940), will make its auction debut having been privately owned by the family of Herbert Laurence Rous, founder of the renown Rous and Mann printing studio where many of the Group of Seven artists began their careers.

    The iconic image depicting a neighbour’s orchard, painted from the view of his studio in present-day North York, Ontario, was used as the catalogue cover for Carmichael’s memorial exhibition at the Art Gallery of Toronto (now the AGO) and the Summer 1947 issue of Canadian Art Magazine, following his death. This will be the first time Old Orchard will be on the auction block (estimated between $500,000 – $700,000); however, given its significance, quality and rarity, the artwork is expected to challenge the current record for a Carmichael painting (Frood Lake sold at auction in December, 2002, for $915,000 including buyer’s premium).

    As the youngest original member of the Group of Seven, Carmichael is also considered one of Canada’s most renowned watercolourists of the twentieth century. Consignor’s auction also includes a stunning watercolour, The Bay of Islands (1929) estimated at $150,000 – $200,000, a sister version of Carmichael’s Bay of Islands that is part of the Art Gallery of Ontario’s permanent collection.

    “Franklin Carmichael’s accomplishments in oil and watercolour are recognized as some of the greatest work produced by the Group of Seven. Both Old Orchard and The Bay of Islands illustrate Carmichael’s mastery of the two media, setting him apart as one of Canada’s preeminent painters,” says Rob Cowley, President of Consignor Canadian Fine Art. “Old Orchard has stood as an example of Carmichael’s best work through its exhibition history over the past 80 years, and we are very excited to be hosting this major work at auction for the first time.”

    Consignor’s Spring auction will also offer two important works by Tom Thomson painted in his early career. A modestly-sized oil on canvas, Road Near Leith (1908), estimated between $100,000 to $150,000, was painted at the start of the decade which would see his transformation into one of Canada’s greatest painters; and Fallen Timber (Algonquin) (1912), estimated at $150,000 – $200,000, was painted the first year that Thomson visited Algonquin Park where his most iconic works would be created, and ironically the site of his untimely death in 1917, exactly 100 years ago this July.

    “It’s an incredible time for Canadian art as we celebrate our country’s sesquicentennial, alongside unprecedented growth and global attention for painters such as Tom Thomson, Lawren Harris and the Group of Seven and now a feature film about Maud Lewis’s life — combining to reinvigorate the public’s fascination and appreciation for Canadian artists,” says Lydia Abbott, Vice President, Consignor Canadian Fine Art. “The Spring auction features artwork that spans the entire 150 years of Canada’s history and presents a rich narrative of our cultural fabric.”

    Other notable Canadian works of art that will be highlighted in Consignor’s live Spring auction include:

    • A.Y. Jackson, Madawaska, 20” x 26” oil on canvas (auction estimate $60,000-$80,000)
    • David Blackwood, Fire Down on the Labrador, the artist’s most popular print (auction estimate $25,000-$30,000)
    • Lawren Harris, Snow-Covered Trees, 1929 gouache (auction estimate $15,000-$18,000)
    • Edwin Holgate, Autumn Leaves, 17” x 21” oil on canvas (auction estimate $90,000-120,000)

    Live Previews are currently taking place at the Consignor Canadian Fine Art Gallery located at 326 Dundas Street West and viewable at Consignor.ca.  Consignor’s Spring Live Auction of Important Canadian Art will take place on Thursday, May 25th, 2017 at the Gardiner Museum located at 111 Queen’s Park, Toronto.

    Since its inception in 2013, Consignor’s live and online auctions have included headline-grabbing works such as a rare 100-year-old Tom Thomson portrait (Daydreaming, sold for $172,500), an undiscovered William Kurelek (Ukrainian Proverb, sold for $41,400), and Jack Bush’s Summer Lake broke online auction records in May 2014 for the most expensive painting by a Canadian artist to be sold at an online auction ($310,500). Most recently, Consignor’s inaugural live auction event in May 2016 set the record for the highest-selling Algoma sketch by Lawren Harris, fetching $977,500; tripling the previous auction record.

    Consignor Canadian Fine Art is currently accepting consignments for its upcoming auctions, including the June Online Auction of Canadian and International Artwork, with bidding open at consignor.ca from June 7-14, 2017. Consignor offers all-inclusive selling commissions and the lowest buyer’s premium in the industry. Those interested in consignment can arrange a complimentary and confidential consultation by contacting Consignor’s specialists at 1-866-931-8415 or info@cowleyabbott.ca.