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HISTORICAL ART & AUCTIONS
Home MAGAZINE HISTORICAL ART & AUCTIONS AUCTIONS Fall 2011 Review
AUCTIONS Spring 2011 Review
LUCIAN FREUD (1922-2011)
AUCTIONS Fall 2011 Review
by Douglas Maclean
Image courtesy of Heffel Fine Art
"Nineteen Ten Remembered"
JEAN PAUL LEMIEUX CC QMG RCA 1904 - 1990 Canadian "Nineteen Ten Remembered" oil on canvas, 1962 42" x 57 1/2" [SOLD: $2,340,000 including premium]
"Le croisement"
JEAN PAUL LEMIEUX CC QMG RCA 1904 - 1990 Canadian "Le croisement" oil on canvas, 1967 19 1/2" x 70 3/8" [SOLD: $304,200 with premium]
"Les voyageurs"
JEAN PAUL LEMIEUX CC QMG RCA 1904 - 1990 Canadian "Les voyageurs" oil on canvas, 1964 39 3/4" x 74 3/8" [SOLD: $702,000 with premium]
"Sideway"
MICHAEL JAMES ALECK SNOW OC RCA 1928 - Canadian "Sideway" lucite on aluminum, enamel on wood, steel brackets, nuts and bolts, 1962 73" x 30" x 21 3/4" [SOLD: $175,500 with premium]
"Grande fête"
JEAN-PAUL RIOPELLE AUTO CAS OC QMG RCA SCA 1923 - 2002 Canadian "Grande fête" oil on canvas, 1952 39 3/8" x 19 3/4" [NOT SOLD]
Image courtesy Heffel Fine Art
"War Canoe, Alert Bay"
EMILY CARR BCSFA RCA 1871 - 1945 Canadian "War Canoe, Alert Bay" watercolour on paper, 1908 10 5/8" x 15" [SOLD: $1,228,500 with premium]
"Catskill Mountains"
KATHLEEN FRANCES DALY PEPPER CGP OSA RCA 1898 - 1994 Canadian "Catskill Mountains" oil on canvas, circa 1929 37 1/4" x 40" [SOLD: $40,950 including premium]
'Snow, Lake O'Hara"
JAMES EDWARD HERVEY (J.E.H.) MACDONALD ALC CGP G7 OSA RCA 1873 - 1932 Canadian 'Snow, Lake O'Hara" oil on board, 1926 8 1/2" x 10 1/2" [SOLD: $64,350 with premium]
"Rocky Mountain Sketch CXXI (Mount Robson)"
LAWREN STEWART HARRIS ALC BCSFA CGP FCA G7 OSA RPS TPG 1885 - 1970 Canadian "Rocky Mountain Sketch CXXI (Mount Robson)" oil on board, circa 1929 12" x 15" Sold For: $1,813,500
"Aftermath of Storm - Lake Superior Sketch XXXIV"
LAWREN STEWART HARRIS ALC BCSFA CGP FCA G7 OSA RPS TPG 1885 - 1970 Canadian "Aftermath of Storm - Lake Superior Sketch XXXIV" oil on board, circa 1921 ~ 1926 12" x 15" SOLD: $175,500 with premium]
Image courtesy of Joyner Fine Art
"THE RETURN FROM TOWN"
LAWREN STEWART HARRIS "THE RETURN FROM TOWN", oil on canvas, signed "LSH" and dated /11 46" x 36" [SOLD: $519,200 with premium]
Image courtesy Joyner Fine Art
"POND INLET"
FREDERICK GRANT BANTING "POND INLET", ink, signed and titled in the margin 4 3/4" x 6" [SOLD: $5,900 with premium]
"ICEBERG"
FREDERICK GRANT BANTING "ICEBERG", ink, signed 4 3/4" x 6" [SOLD: $6,490 with premium]
"WOMAN SEWING"
RANDOLPH STANLEY HEWTON, R.C.A. "WOMAN SEWING", watercolour, unframed 15" x 10" [SOLD: $4,956 with premium]
"MOUNTAIN SPELL, JASPER PARK"
FRANK HANS JOHNSTON, O.S.A., A.R.C.A. "MOUNTAIN SPELL, JASPER PARK", gouache on board, signed 5 1/4" x 7" [SOLD: $10,030 with premium]
"THE GROCERY STORE"
WILLIAM JOHN WOOD "THE GROCERY STORE", oil on canvas, laid down on board, signed and dated 1914 7" x 11" [SOLD: $3,540 with premium]
'UNTITLED"
JACK HAMILTON BUSH, O.S.A., A.R.C.A. 'UNTITLED", gouache, inscribed "Very best wishes! Jack and Mabel" 6 1/2" x 5" [SOLD: $20,060 with premium]
"LILT OF SONGS"
JAMES WILLIAMSON GALLOWAY MACDONALD, O.S.A., A.R.C.A. "LILT OF SONGS", oil on canvas, signed and dated /59; signed and titled on the reverse 32" x 39" [SOLD: $59,000 with premium]
"ICEBERG REFLECTION"
DORIS JEAN MCCARTHY, O.S.A., R.C.A "ICEBERG REFLECTION", oil on canvas, signed, with an Arctic ice floes landscape on the reverse 24" x 30" [SOLD: $30,680 with premium]
"LE CRI"
RITA LETENDRE, R.C.A. "LE CRI", oil on canvas, signed and dated /62; signed, titled and dated on the reverse 16" x 20" [SOLD: $21,400 with premium]
Image courtesy of Sotheby's
"RIO"
JOHN MEREDITH	1933 - 2000	"RIO"	signed, titled and dated /69 on the reverse, oil on canvas	71 1/2" x 120" [SOLD: $152,000 with premium]
"LEXICON II"
DENNIS EUGENE NORMAN BURTON	B. 1933	"LEXICON II"	signed and dated '58 lower right; signed, titled and dated '57 and July '57 on the reverse, oil on board	48" x 48" [SOLD: $24,000 with premium]
Image courtesy Sotheby's
"L'ALPHABET INCONNU/THE UNKNOWN ALPHABET"
JACQUES GODEFROY DE TONNANCOUR	1917 - 2005	"L'ALPHABET INCONNU/THE UNKNOWN ALPHABET"	signed, titled and dated 1969 on the reverse	mixed media on board	36" x 36" [SOLD: $13,200 with premium]
"ON THE NOSE"
JACK HAMILTON BUSH	1909 - 1977	"ON THE NOSE"	signed, titled and dated May 1969 on the reverse, acrylic on canvas 24" x 67" [SOLD: $175,000 with premium]
"COUNTRY CLUB"
JEAN-PAUL LEMIEUX	1904 - 1990	"COUNTRY CLUB"	signed and dated '72 lower right, oil on canvas	28 1/4" x 53 1/2" [SOLD: $1,095,000 with premium]
"WOMAN, JOCKEY AND HORSE"
DAVID ALEXANDER COLVILLE	B. 1920	"WOMAN, JOCKEY AND HORSE"	signed and dated 1952 lower right; signed, titled and dated on the reverse, tempera on board 15" x 20" [SOLD: $370,000 with premium]
"EVENING STROLL, VENICE"
JAMES WILSON MORRICE	1865 - 1924 "EVENING STROLL, VENICE"	signed lower right, oil on canvas 19 3/4" x 24" [SOLD: $1,497,500 with premium]
"KELLY ORE BED"
DAVID BROWN MILNE	1882 - 1953	"KELLY ORE BED"	signed and dated Aug 20 '20, watercolour 15 1/4" x 22 1/4" [SOLD: $244,000 with premium]
"THE BURNING OF THE S.S. DIANA"
DAVID LLOYD BLACKWOOD	B. 1941	"THE BURNING OF THE S.S. DIANA" a triptych, signed, titled, dated 1968 and numbered 4/10 in the lower margin, colour etching and aquatint 22" x 69" [NOT SOLD]
"BLANCS MÉTAUX"
PAUL-ÉMILE BORDUAS	1905 - 1960	"BLANCS MÉTAUX"	signed and dated '55 lower left, oil on canvas, mounted on board 20" x 24" [SOLD: $416,500 with premium]
"CORE WAVES NO. 3"
KAZUO NAKAMURA	1926 - 2002 "CORE WAVES NO. 3"	signed lower right; signed and dated 1961 on the reverse, oil on canvas 37" x 40" [SOLD: $94,500 with premium]
Image courtesy of Bonhams Fine Art
"Eiffel Lake, Valley of the Ten Peaks, Alberta"
Walter Joseph Phillips, RCA, ASA, CSPWC (Canadian, 1884-1963) "Eiffel Lake, Valley of the Ten Peaks, Alberta" signed 'WJ PHILLIPS.' (lower right) watercolour on paper 19 5/16 "x 15 3/16" [SOLD: US$23,750 with premium]
"La Trilla"
John (Jack) Chambers (Canadian, 1931-1978) "La Trilla" signed and dated 'Chambers 59' (lower left); titled 'Threshing #4' on a gallery label oil on canvas 48" x 44 1/2" [SOLD: US$40,000 with premium]
"Lac La Biche & Roses #2"
Dorothy Elsie Knowles RCA (Canadian, born 1927) "Lac La Biche & Roses #2" signed, titled and dated 'Sept 87' on the reverse, titled and dated on a gallery label acrylic on canvas 37" x 62" [SOLD: US$15,000 with premium]
Fall 2011 Auctions Review
After an "incredible, amazing" auction season in New York, it seemed the "world economy" was just fine. The major Canadian auctions, taking place in Toronto at the end of November, hoped this wave of optimism would carry over.
Heffel Fine Art auctions grabbed the front spot with their two-part sale on November 24. After previews across Canada featuring the Post-war and Fine Art collections, the nine Jean Paul Lemieux works were generating a buzz. The featured lot, catalogue cover, Lot #18, "Nineteen Ten Remembered" had a provenance and exhibition history that took up three catalogue pages. It sold for $2,340,000 with premium, a record price for the artist. Was it my pick? Hardly matters, but no, of the nine Lemieux works I had two other strong favourites, #32 "Le Croisement" 1967, ($304,200) a more adventurous abstracted landscape, and #29 "Les Voyagers" 1964 ($702,000), the more mysterious figure painting. Of course the sale of #18 certainly did not hurt, and the values for good Lemieux works went up across the board.
My absolute favourite of the contemporary works in the sales was #19, Michael Snow's "Sideway", first shown in 1962 at the Issacs Gallery. This museum-quality work sold for $175,000. The "Walking Woman" series is an iconic statement made by Snow well in advance of the 'fabricated' art movement, which of course includes many POP artists all the way up to Jeff Koons today. The Modern Post-war sale did well across the board with a few misses. Jean Paul Riopelle's "Grande Fete" 1952 work, with an overly-confident estimate of $900,000, passed -- surprising since the pass was not about the quality. A friend characterizes these kinds of estimates as 'sit up and beg to be bought'. After all, these are auctions not retail sales. Lessons to be learned? Not likely.
The overall sale was robust and no doubt a good portion of the overall total of $16 million sold, was done in one night. Two factors figured prominently. Firstly the #110 Emily Carr, War Canoe, Alert Bay, wisely bought by Mr. Ernest E. Poole of Edmonton (from Dominion Gallery back in the day), is a small, powerful, detailed study for a major painting and it sold at $1,226,500, easily a record price for Carr's work on paper. The other hefty price came from a panel, "Mount Robson" painted by Lawren Harris. His works are a constant contributor to value in the Canadian Art sales and this one did not disappoint. It sold for $1,813,500. Some very good estates and art works owned by prominent collectors helped Heffel gain substantial ground.
Standout historical works of interest to me were: Kay Daly Pepper's "Catskill Mountains", a rare early major canvas and J.E.H. MacDonald's, "Snow Lake O'Hara", a small beauty, evoking the quiet, thick atmosphere of the day, captured with sparse brush and colour. Another Lawren Harris, "Aftermath of a Storm", bright, bold, with strong colour, this painting danced the line between pure abstraction and landscape. All confirmed good reasons to attend previews: once they are sold they are gone.
Waddington's, Toronto's major large auction house packed up their whole operation this past summer and moved east on King Street, into new second floor space, along with the Joyner Fine Arts sales group. The new building features a good viewing room for Joyner's down-sized sale of 200 lots. Future plans are for smaller live sales and larger online presentations, obviously drawing attention to quality important works. The sale conducted by Robert Cowley, auctioneer and Canadian Fine Art specialist, took off at a pace that would not slow over the next two hours. Cowley is a master at selling quickly and smoothly with little hesitation. Lose your concentration on a piece of interest and it will be sold.
At 96 lots per hour this sale was easy to take in. The feature lot was an odd Lawren Harris work, "Return From Town" ($519,200 with premium). Done as an illustration in 1911, this over-sized, ambitious 'night' painting was certainly interesting to see and know the history.
Two small drawings by Frederick Banting done in 1927 with A.Y.Jackson during their arctic voyage were beautiful rare pieces, and garnered a lot of interest with each selling for more than $5,000. Joyner's has an eye for finding off-beat art works. They may not generate huge values, but show the integrity and individualism of Canadian art. Perfect examples of this for me were: #45 Randolph S. Hewton "Woman Sewing" 1921, a watercolour featuring high colour and abstract forms yet revealing a beautiful image of the woman quietly sewing; #47 Frank Hans Johnston "Mountain Spell, Jasper", a tiny panel done in gouache paint, likely on site in Jasper, it still had all the fresh colour and light of that day looking at Mt. Edith Cavell; and #89 William John Wood "The Grocery Store" 1914, this small work had the mystery of an Edward Hopper. Wood worked in Ontario, and although not widely known, his etchings and paintings are important.
As with all the major auctions, a portion of Joyners was dedicated to Post-war/Contemporary. A tiny (5 x 6") untitled, Jack Bush study gifted to the artist York Wilson and consigned from his estate, jumpstarted this sale with a selling price of $20,600. The star Modern work catching lots of attention was a Jock MacDonald, "Lilt of Songs". My thought was 'this is museum-quality', a rare, beautiful work. In my mind, a steal at $59,000 with premium. I had a pre-sale idea of at least $80,000. It is always a surprise when a rare, high-quality work is 'put way' at such low value.
Doris McCarthy's "Iceberg Reflection" proved to be a vintage -- rare and no doubt a precursor painting to her most beloved series, the "Iceberg Fantasies". This double-sided oil, likely generated after her first trip north, was sold at $30,680 with premium. In my opinion, Joyner's also had the very best small Rita Letendre offered in the fall sessions. "Le Cri" 1962, was light and lively, full of raw, aggressive colour, and yet again, a painting that should have been $30,000, fell well short of the low estimate. The fickleness of the Contemporary market is good reason to keep your eye on works you like.
Joyner's first sale in the new premises might have suffered slightly from the move and a lot of change, but it went reasonably well, good works sold, and no doubt they will maintain a spot in the auction calendars.
Sotheby's was third in line but not a sale to pass through quickly. The preview had been busy and well attended. The opening evening of champagne and great finger food was so busy the art was almost a second take. Once again some strong Contemporary works caught the eye. On entry I was confronted by a powerful work, "Rio" by John Meredith, a huge painting, energetic, vital and no doubt an excellent example of this Issacs Gallery gang member of the 1960's through the 70's. Turn the corner and a Dennis Burton 1958, "Lexicon II" a gutsy full abstract expression of his true Lethbridge spirit. It was wonderful to catch these moments again.
The Modern proved to be special with possibly a bit more spark than the other sales. Curating the preview and the consignments are huge factors in generating sales. If there was a problem with Sotheby's, I think the overall installation needed better 'sales' attention.
On the History side of the catalogue collection, there were some odd gems of note. David Milne etchings in pristine condition, kept for all the years in a file, all from one collection, an astute buyer who, back in the 1950's, managed to get his eye and head around Milnes' eccentricities. Alex Colville was represented by two major paintings and one spectacular screen print of "Cat on a Fence".
A Lawren Harris abstract painted in Santa Fe, during the height of his abstract visual spiritual quest rolled in late for the catalogue but did not disappoint, the quality of light was perfect , the forms oddly Egyptian. J.W. Morrice was represented by two larger canvases rare to see in any sale, one quiet, unassuming, the other almost monochromatic but with his trademark sparse figures. A work by Canada's Newfoundland image expert David Blackwood, was a nice surprise, in a group of works on the back wall -- a triptych etching done in 1967. This vintage beauty I was sure would gather attention, with its rare subject and full of his characteristic fisherman, and a foreboding tale. Sadly, it did not sell.
Monday night finally rolled around after a busy weekend of previews, galleries, value discussion and all the usual rumours and chatter following big sales. Early on, a Sotheby's person made sure I had registered and handed me a VIP pass. That's nice I thought! But it turned out to be a way to scoot through the throng of protesters -- not Occupiers! -- teamsters from as far as New York city, protesting wages, cuts and the usual union complaints. Of course it's the 1% buying, and buying big, and these people get no breaks apparently. Anyway, it was a quick hustle through the mob and into the sanctity of the R.O.M.
Right away the Contemporary works took off, #1 "L'Alphabet Inconnu/The Unknown Alphabet" was a good Jacques DeTonnancour, $13,200 with premium, and we were off, doing well with good things at decent value, the stellar moment being the John Meredith "Rio" selling at a whopping $152,000 with premium. Great news, and well deserved, proving excellent quality gets value. Jack Bush was not to be outdone and a smaller, lively 1965 work "On the Nose" brought a quick $175,000. Jean Paul Lemieux, hit another million bid with his "Country Club" a somewhat joyous work. The path of Heffels' Lemieux sales was well-followed. The night hammered on with auctioneer Hugh Hemsley deftly handling hits and misses through the Modern and right into History. Colville did not disappoint. The best of two, a small painting "Woman, Jockey and Horse" sold for a bid of $370,500. The right image and right work.
The monotone but evocative Morrice "Evening Stroll, Venice" gathered attention, approached $1.5 million and got hammered down. The best Milne watercolour "Kelly Ore Bed" sold for $244,000 with premium, again sending signals that quality gets attention. That said, the 'passes' never cease to surprise me. Fine, if it's work of not much consequence or poor quality, but odd if it is something as good as a rare Lawren Harris, Yves Gaucher or even Christopher Pratt. The right collector has to see the works, make the decision and bid, based on solid knowledge.
My suspicion of why works don't sell is that the auction never really gets started -- the estimate is too high for interest in the first place. Again, these are auctions not retail gallery walls. In my opinion, all the auctions not only need to define the quality, they need to display the "sellers" and get the estimates where people want to enter the bidding.
A rare and wonderful Kazuo Nakamura "Core Waves No 3" goes $94,500 with premium and reinforces the interest in Contemporary works.
Overall, the Sotheby night was a positive jump, well over their spring sale.
One final sale was taking place as I flew out of Toronto, Bonham's sale of Canadian Art simulcast live in Toronto from New York City. For their first foray into a live-in-Toronto on-screen sale, the attendance was likely reasonable, and they did manage to sell three works of note. The W.J. Phillips, "Eiffel Lake, Valley of the Ten Peaks" was a beautiful watercolour, an image one does not see often, and it sold for a respectable US$23,750 on the hammer. An odd but compelling work "Trilla" by Jack Chambers from his Spanish work, sold for US$40,000 again before premium. The Art Gallery of Ontario just opened a retrospective of his work, well worth seeing. Possibly this had an effect on the buy. And finally of note, from the underrated-at-auction Dorothy Knowles, a great acrylic on canvas landscape, "Lac La Biche & Roses #2" sold for US$15,000, perhaps to an American buyer, who might properly appreciate our best contemporary landscape painter. Overall Bonhams was a rather quiet sale in terms of works sold, and interest I imagine, but new ideas at auction are slow to catch on.
A quick summary of the season: Modern/Contemporary marches forward, good to great-quality works gaining ground, pay attention if you're interested; Historical works come out not as frequently, but great works are still achieving huge value in a supposed depression. Canadian Art has a lot of ground to cover to reach an international stage, but slow, positive steps are taken. Great art is recognized and collected.
Review Auctions Spring 2012 issue Fall Auctions 2011 Review Heffel Fine Art Joyners Canadian Fine Art Sothebys Canada Bonhams Fine Art
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