Buyers take home Canadian history: Heffel's spring live auction achieves $9.43 million in sales

• Strong competition for six works by Emily Carr sold tonight, led by the mature-period canvas, Forest Light which realized $1.53M
• The internationally collected leader of the Automatists, Paul-Émile Borduas set a new artist record
• Tonight's auction broke six records and achieved impressive sales of $9.43M

VANCOUVER, May 27, 2015 /CNW/ - As the art market continues to make headlines around the world, Heffel Fine Art Auction House remains the major player in the Canadian marketplace. Tonight in Vancouver, Heffel presented 145 Canadian masterworks at its spring 2015 live auction. Frenzied bidding from participants in the room and around the world resulted in noteworthy sales of $9.43 million (all prices are in Canadian dollars and include an 18 per cent buyer's premium).

"One of the most rewarding parts of the art business is connecting passionate collectors with outstanding works of art," said David K.J. Heffel, President of Heffel. "This season's auction was especially exciting with Canadian and international buyers competing for major works."

Tonight's spring live auction was led by Emily Carr, who is the foundation of the Heffel business. Following an internationally acclaimed exhibition at the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London, England and now on view at Toronto's Art Gallery of Ontario, Carr is presently representing Canada in the global art spotlight. It came as no surprise that the artist stood out in tonight's sale with six highly anticipated works, totaling $2.3 million. Leading the group was Forest Light, a rare mature-period canvas which had not been available for sale since its original acquisition from the artist in 1937. Inclusive of tonight's sales, Heffel has sold 243 works by Carr, totaling more than $42 million.

Highlights from this year's spring auction include:

• The exceedingly rare mature-period canvas, Forest Light by Emily Carr nearly quadrupled its low estimate and sold for $1.53 million, leading the spring auction (est. $400,000 - 600,000). The six lots by the artist resulted in a combined total of $2.3 million.
• The stunning Paul-Émile Borduas canvas, Chant d'éte shattered the artist record at a final price of $737,500 (est. $400,000 - 500,000). The internationally collected leader of the Automatists had three lots in tonight's sale which totaled $1.25 million.
• Jean McEwen's Ochre Cell was, until now, in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The striking abstract sold for an impressive $118,000 and the proceeds will benefit the museum's acquisitions fund (est. $60,000 - 80,000).
• An astonishing garage sale find and a highlight in the sale, B.C. Binning's Painted Structure in Space sold for $26,550. The painting was purchased in a box of artwork for under $200 and tonight, far surpassed this ticket price (est. $10,000 - 15,000).
• Jean Paul Riopelle's large-scale canvas, La forêt enchantée dramatically outperformed its presale estimate with a final bid of $590,000 (est. $150,000 - 250,000).
• A total of six records were broken in tonight's auction. Notable artist records were achieved with Pierre Gauvreau's Couchant corridor for $82,600 (est. $15,000 - 25,000) and Paul-Émile Borduas' Chant d'été for $737,500 (est. $400,000 - 500,000).
• Following a rigorous bidding war, Jean Paul Lemieux's canvas, La visite nearly tripled its low estimate and sold for $719,800 (est. $250,000 - 350,000).

With sales approaching half a billion dollars in Canadian art, Heffel is truly Canada's national auction house. As the industry leader, Heffel was the first auction house in Canada to split historical and contemporary Canadian art into separate sales; Canadian Post-War & Contemporary Art and Fine Canadian Art. Tonight's live auction achieved a sales result of $9.43 million. The Canadian Post-War & Contemporary Art session had sales totaling more than $5 million, while the Fine Canadian Art session totaled more than $4 million.

For more information on the pieces included in this year's spring auction, visit www.heffel.com.

About Heffel
Heffel has sold more Canadian art than any other auctioneer worldwide, approaching half a billion dollars in art sales since 1978. With offices in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa and Calgary, Heffel has the most experienced team of fine art specialists in Canada and provides superior client service to both sellers and buyers internationally.

Twitter and Instagram: @HeffelAuction 
YouTube: HeffelAuction

SOURCE Heffel Fine Art Auction House

Image with caption: "Emily Carr's mature-period canvas, Forest Light led Heffel's spring 2015 live auction and realized $1.53 million (CNW Group/Heffel Fine Art Auction House)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20150528_C5217_PHOTO_EN_17150.jpg

Media Contact: For additional information, to schedule an interview, or for high-resolution images, please contact: Rebecca Rykiss, 647-338-6707, [email protected]; David Heffel / Robert Heffel 604-418-6505 / 604-418-0100, [email protected] / [email protected]