Consignor’s Online Auction of Works on Paper, Prints & Books is a fantastic place to begin for someone new to the world of collecting art. The February sale offers a selection of prints, drawings, oil and watercolour paintings, photography and books to choose from in a broad range of prices, for both the emerging and seasoned collector. Purchasing a work on paper is often a more affordable opportunity to own an original work of art, or a print by a prominent artist whose original works are less accessible.
Presented below are some great examples of quality artworks offered in the February auction, all of which have estimates below $1000. Browse by your preferred subject matter, from calming landscapes, still lifes and street scenes to bold abstracts and expressive figural works. Keep in mind there is a total of 237 lots in the auction, so please visit our online catalogue for the entire selection.
LANDSCAPES
Lot #219: RFM McInnis
Farm in Sunshine
watercolour, 9 x 12 ins
Estimated: $150.00 – $200.00
Auction Showcases Important Non-Figurative Works in Canadian Art History
Consignor’s Fall Live Auction of Canadian Art presents an impressive selection of abstract painting from artists across the country and through the decades. Early ventures into abstraction in Canada occurred in the 1920s and 1930s, although they were sporadic and inconsistent. These artists, notably Kathleen Munn, Bertram Brooker, Lawren Harris and Jock MacDonald, were heavily influenced by European artistic movements, namely Cubism, Surrealism and Symbolism. An examination of the abstract works in Consignor’s November sale can help illustrate the story of how abstraction emerged and developed throughout Canada in the following decades.
In the 1940s, Montreal gave rise to the highly-influential Automatistes, Canada’s first avant-garde art movement. Under the leadership of Paul-Émile Borduas, a group of young artists rebelled against their artistically conservative and politically and religiously repressive province. They strove for creative spontaneity, free from academic rules.
After reading André Breton’s “Le Surréalisme et la peinture” in 1945, Jean-Paul Riopelle was inspired to break away from tradition to pursue non-representational painting. The young artist created several small watercolours in the next two years, consisting of web-like black lines, inspired by Surrealism and Breton’s automatic writing techniques, such as Sans titre of 1946, lot 6 in Consignor’s November sale.
Another member of the Automatistes, Marcelle Ferron was encouraged by Borduas to abandon landscape painting in favour of a more radical abstraction. From 1946 to 1953, Ferron preferred a ‘sgraffito’ technique, applying multiple layers of pigment and scraping away between applications with a palette knife. This signature approach of Ferron is exemplified in the colourful layers of paint in Sans titre (1949), lot 101 in the Live Auction.
In the following decade abstraction spread across Canada. Toronto exploded as an art centre in the 1950s, largely influenced by the Abstract Expressionists in New York. Harold Town was a founder and member of the Painters Eleven, a group of Toronto abstract artists that exhibited together during the 1950s. Rich colour and thick paint application, as exemplified in Clandeboy Reprise(1959), lot 71, are characteristic of Town’s approach to abstraction, inspired by the New York School.
Contemporary artist Michael Snow exhibited in Toronto in the mid-to-late 1950s at the Greenwich Gallery. Though today he is known as a pioneer of conceptualist and multimedia art throughout the world, Snow’s work of these years were also heavily influenced by American abstract artists such as De Kooning, Kline, and Rothko. Off Minor(1958), lot 25 in Consignor’s November auction, exemplifies Snow’s affiliation with avant-garde abstract movements at the time, shortly prior to creating his famous Walking Woman Works.
A notable and influential group of Canadian abstract artists formed in Regina in the 1960s, known as the Regina Five. Founding member Ron Bloore was instrumental in starting the Emma Lake workshops as a way for practising artists to break from the artistic isolation they felt in the prairies. As a professor of art history and archaeology, the influence of archeological excavation and ancient civilizations worked their way into Bloore’s painting.The monochromatic palette of Untitled, lot 86, references the white marble buildings and sculptures of ancient Greece and the Classical period.
During the Emma Lake Artists’ Workshops held in 1962-63, Saskatchewan artist William Perehudoff was introduced to Post-Painterly Abstraction by art critic Clement Greenberg and American artist Kenneth Noland. Many of the artist’s wide horizontal canvases of the mid-to-late 1970s are composed of vibrant parallel bands of colour, such as AC-78-20, lot 11 in the live auction. The effect of the flat plains and open skies that are so dramatically present throughout Saskatchewan is often detectable in Perehudoff’s work – AC-78-20 may be evocative of a prairie sunset.
Jack Shadbolt was an innovative and dominant figure in the Vancouver art scene beginning in the 1940s. Shadbolt drew from many sources of inspiration, including Cubism, Surrealism, American Regionalism and Northwest Coast art. The artist met Emily Carr in 1930 while attending Victoria College. Carr left a strong impression on Shadbolt’s life and work; they were both inspired by the spiritual unity with nature that is apparent in Northwest Coast art. Sea Edge 5 (1978), lot 9, is exemplary of Jack Shadbolt’s bold and colourful work of the late seventies. Sea Edge 5 serves as part of a series on the theme of abstracted seascapes, and Contexts: Variations on Primavera Theme, lot 10, is one of 15 hand-painted posters of the ‘primavera’ theme, which together form a mosaic-like mural.
Abstract painting in Canada has continued to evolve through a multitude of approaches in the 1970s, 80s and through to today. Lot 8,Rituel, by Léon Bellefleur, Lot 31, Spring Yellows – B by Gershon Iskowitz, and Lot 103, Les feuilles d’un astre by Jean-Paul Jérôme, among many other non-figurative artworks in Consignor’s Fall Live Auction, demonstrate the enduring development of unique abstract styles throughout the country, from the ‘gestural’ to the ‘hard-edge’. Visit our gallery and view the full catalogue on the Consignor website for more artworks and details regarding the Fall Live Auction of Important Canadian Art on November 23rd at the Gardiner Museum.
(L to R) Lawren Harris, Lake Superior; Emily Carr, European Scene; Mary Pratt, Baking Bread; Michael Snow, Off Minor
From Charlottetown to Vancouver, Consignor’s National Travels Yield Notable Works by Emily Carr, Mary Pratt & Alex Colville to be offered on November 23rd
(Toronto – November 1, 2017) – Behind many masterpieces, there is a sketch that formulates the artist’s ideas and vision. Consignor Canadian Fine Art announces its fall semi-annual auction highlights that will include a rare pencil sketch by Lawren Harris, the preparatory work for of one of his most renowned canvases, Lake Superior, which currently hangs in the Thomson collection in the Art Gallery of Ontario. The sketch, once owned by his wife Bess Harris, carries an auction estimate valued at $20,000 – $30,000; however, its rarity and significance as the precursor to a major canvas could challenge the record for a pencil sketch by the Group of Seven artist. It debuts on the auction block at Consignor’s live auction event taking place Thursday, November 23, 2017at the Gardiner Museum in Toronto.
“The significance of pencil sketching to Lawren Harris is well known,” says Rob Cowley, President of Consignor. “His pad of paper and pencil were just as important as the oils and brushes he carried on sketching trips. We’re thrilled to have acquired this important piece of narrative in Harris’s creative process, particularly a sketch that is connected to one of his most renowned works. It is a stunning work and we expect lively bidding when it reaches the block on the 23rd.”
Fellow artist and close friend of Harris, Yvonne McKague Housser quoted the below about the artist’s process in graphite: “His drawings are a key which open the door to what he was thinking and painting… The drawings were important as an introduction, to clarify his mind before he started a painting.”
This past summer, Consignor set out on a 10-city Art Roadshow travelling from the Maritimes to Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Winnipeg, Regina and Vancouver, inviting the public to consult with their specialists regarding works of art for valuation. It was during the tour that Consignor discovered some of its most unique offerings and exceptional works including the Lake Superior sketch. Other highlights from the tour, which will be offered at Consignor’s Fall Auction of Important Canadian Art include:
Emily Carr, European Street Scene, watercolour painted in 1911 during her artistic training in France (auction estimate $150,000 – $175,000), discovered in Calgary, AB
A.J. Casson, Bridge Over Humber River, one of the first outdoor sketches by the artist (auction estimate $20,000 – $30,000), discovered in British Columbia
Featured on the cover of the Consignor fall auction catalogue is a 1958 canvas by Michael Snow titled Off Minor, being offered for the first time at auction with an estimated value of $40,000 – $60,000. The abstract painting, which measures 60” X 36”, was privately owned by Joseph Gladstone, the brother of Toronto artist Gerald Gladstone, and has not been seen at auction until now.
Live previews are ongoing at the Consignor Canadian Fine Art Gallery located at 326 Dundas Street W. and viewable at consignor.ca. Consignor’s Fall Live Auction of Important Canadian Art event will take place on Thursday, November 23, 7:00pm at the Gardiner Museum located at 111 Queen’s Park, Toronto, ON.
Within the broad practice of printmaking are several distinct techniques, many of which are included in the Consignor September Auction.
Consignor’s current Online Auction of Canadian and International art, consisting of 239 lots, offers a vast range of artwork for sale in various media – oil paintings, photography, sculpture and prints.
Collecting prints is an excellent way to start or build a comprehensive art collection, as well as a way to familiarize oneself with styles and artists at a more accessible price point than other mediums.
Many artists of the Post-War period embraced printmaking, creating images of their modern compositions in multiple copies. Leader of the abstract colourist movement, Rita Letendre produced many silkscreen prints, such as Sharas, lot 56. Also known as serigraphy or screen printing, the silkscreen process consists of a stencilled image placed in a frame, which has a layer of mesh stretched across it, forming a ‘screen’. Ink is then pushed through the stencil onto a sheet of paper. Dating to 1973, Letendre’s Sharas serves as a prime example of her signature style of hard-edge abstraction.
Lithography has also been a popular printmaking method among 20th century Canadian artists. Jean Paul Riopelle frequently worked in this medium, creating abstract and quasi-abstract images such as Les Oies II, lot 58 in the September auction. In this process the artist draws an image onto stone with a grease-based medium, then applies ink to the stone, which adheres only to the image. The stone is then run through a press onto a sheet of paper. The online auction features two lots of rare black and white lithographs by Henri Masson of Quebec village scenes. These charming prints, lots 91 and 92, are examples of the artist’s very limited body of work in printmaking.
A very old form of printmaking that is still used today is etching. Using a needle, the artist scratches a composition onto a metal plate covered with wax. The plate is then submerged in acid, which eats into the metal exposed by the scratched lines. Etching has often been used to achieve very delicate black and white images, such as lot 155 by Caroline Armington, a pair of etchings depicting two of Paris’ famous bridges. A more contemporary rendering of the etching technique is lot 54, Cycle by contemporary Canadian artist Ed Bartram.
Purchasing prints at auction are also an excellent and accessible way to collect the work Canada’s most renowned artists. Lots 64, 81 and 90 by William Kurelek, Harold Town and Ted Harrison respectively, provide the opportunity to own a composition in these painters’ distinct styles, as their prints are more readily-available and affordable when compared to original works.
Consignor’s September Auction of Canadian and International art includes many excellent examples of traditional printmaking methods used by Canadian artists. Buying prints at auction is also a fantastic platform for the emerging collector. Visit our website and view our full online catalogue for more details on the available works and upcoming sales.
Lot #85: Thomas de Vany Forrestall
