TORONTO, CANADA.- Sotheby's auction of Important Canadian Art, held in association with Ritchies, took place on Monday morning, November 22nd in Toronto before a full house. A select and broad range of works (217 lots), from early historical Canadian canvases and works by the Group of Seven and other 20th century painters, to major works by contemporary artists, brought the sale total to $4.8 million CDN and was 84% sold by lot.

"Our commitment to quality is the prime contributor to this success," commented C. Hugh Hildesley, one of the morning's auctioneers, and Chairman of the Advisory Board of Sotheby's (Canada) Inc. David P. Silcox, President of Sotheby's Canada, added that he was "pleased with the balance between historic and contemporary art," and that Sotheby's, in association with Ritchies, "had been able to gather together such a wide range of significant works from across Canada and abroad."

One of the highlights of Monday's auction was a magnificent canvas by Jean-Paul Riopelle, Untitled, 1951 (presale estimate: $300,000-400,000). This iridescent work drew interest from potential buyers outside Canada, and was the highest price realized at the auction. Riopelle's work from 1951 clearly sets the standard against which his entire oeuvre is measured, and realized a price of $522,700

Another of the auction's masterpieces was Havre, by James Wilson Morrice's (presale estimate: $250,000-350,000). Morrice painted this fine canvas about 1909 from a sketch he had done during a summer visit at Le Havre, a popular destination at the time. Morrice's canvases are numbered among Canada's finest creations, and are highly prized. The canvas found a new owner at $365,900.

Also selling brilliantly was a 1916 canvas by David Milne from his Boston Corners period, which set a new record for the artist at $332,300.

The dynamic Lawren Harris oil on panel, Algoma Sketch XXXI, (presale estimate: $90,000-120,000) shows the inspiration the artist found in the Algoma region and clearly displays the iconic imagery created by Harris and fellow members of the Group of Seven. The small oil panel sold for a stunning $207,000.

Another great star of the sale was Anne Savage's Owl Totem, Kispiax [sic], a rare 1927 canvas painted from her outstanding sketches and studies created during a spectacular journey with the noted anthropologist Marius Barbeau to the Skeena River, British Columbia, to document the deteriorating totem poles in the Indian villages along the river. This important canvas was estimated to fetch $40,000 - 60,000 and reached an impressive $138,000, setting a new record for this artist.

New records were also set for a number of Canadian artists, including Laura Muntz, Regina Seiden, Fritz Brandtner, Philip Surrey, Marcelle Ferron, Maxwell Bates, and Carl Schaefer, an unprecedented series of firsts. Among contemporary artists records were also set for Gershon Iskowitz, Kenneth Lochhead, Joyce Weiland, Kazuo Nakamura, and Ed Burtynsky.

The Paul Kane painting, Encampment, Winnipeg River, failed to find a buyer. Sotheby's next auction of Important Canadian Art, held in association with Ritchies, will be in Toronto on Monday, May 30th, 2005.