TORONTO.- Heffel Fine Art Auction House, the Canadian leader in art at auction, presents its fall 2015 collection, including an outstanding selection of highly sought-after masterpieces. The 156 lots will be offered at a two-session live auction taking place on November 26, 2015, at Torontos Park Hyatt and are expected to achieve between $10 million and $15 million (all prices are in Canadian dollars and according to conservative estimates).
Group of Seven painter, Lawren Harris will unquestionably hold the auction spotlight with three masterworks in the fall sale, including two major canvases. Heffel has facilitated 14 of the 24 works by Harris sold for more than $1 million, including the artist record with the sale of The Old Stump, Lake Superior in 2009 at $3.5 million.
Harris is currently at the forefront of the global art world with a much-celebrated retrospective at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, California, co-curated by actor and art lover Steve Martin. The Idea of North: The Paintings of Lawren Harris has received significant media attention, including features in The New York Times and Los Angeles Times.
This is new and exciting territory for us, says David Heffel, President of Heffel Fine Art Auction House. Its gratifying to see the increased international interest in Canadian art, and we feel lucky to be part of this historical moment for Lawren Harris and so many others. We are eager to see this important exhibition catalyze the global appreciation for Harris and for Canadian art as a whole.
While works by Canadian-born artists are increasingly admired and purchased around the world, so too are Canadian buyers appreciative of and eager for a broad range of contemporary artwork. This year, for the first time in its history, Heffel welcomes international consignments, expanding the Post-War & Contemporary Art catalogue to include important masters such as Roy Lichtenstein and Barbara Hepworth. Internationally acclaimed Canadian-born artists, such as Jean Paul Riopelle and Alex Colville, will also feature prominently in this years live auction.
A fixture of the countrys fine art scene, Heffels fall auction will again delight Canadian art enthusiasts with extensive offerings of important historical works. The Fine Canadian Art session will feature all of the original and later members of the Group of Seven, as well as Emily Carr and Tom Thomson.
Heffels Fine Canadian Art highlights:
Lawren Harriss stunning Winter Landscape canvas is the Fine Canadian Art cover lot and the leader of the fall auction by estimate. The rare work shows the artists constant engagement with the Canadian landscape (est. $1,200,000 1,600,000).
Harriss Mountain and Glacier depicts a commanding idealized landscape. This is the first time Heffel has offered a Harris Rocky Mountain canvas at auction (est. $1,000,000 1,500,000).
Winter in the Ward, painted by Harris circa 1920, depicts a now demolished Toronto working-class neighbourhood known as The Ward (est. $500,000 700,000). The work is comparable to Houses on Gerrard Street, sold by Heffel in 2014 for $1.12 million.