Heffel Fine Art Auction House Brings Museum Quality Canadian Masterworks to Light for its Fall 2014 Live Auction

• Featuring 142 lots, this fall's live auction is expected to achieve between $8M and $11M (by conservative estimates)
• Among the highlights: five works from Jean Paul Riopelle together estimated at $1.3 - $1.9M, five works by Emily Carr with a combined estimate of $750,000 - $1.4M, four works from Clarence Gagnon together estimated at $647,000 - $906,000 and three works from Group of Seven artist Lawren Harris estimated at $600,000 - $770,000 combined
• Cross-Canada previews to be held in Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto, beginning November 1, 13 and 22 respectively, in advance of the live auction taking place in Toronto on November 27
• Heffel further expands its Canadian presence with the opening of a Calgary office this month

TORONTO, Oct. 29, 2014 /CNW/ - Heffel Fine Art Auction House is delighted to unveil another collection of significant Canadian works to be auctioned live on Thursday, November 27 in Toronto. As Canada's leading national auction house, Heffel will once again present culturally important Canadian artwork from across the country and internationally. The annual fall sale offers great opportunity for both new and established clients to collect blue-chip works by many of Canada's most distinguished artists.

"Having achieved tremendous success with last year's fall auction, we couldn't be happier to be back in Toronto to present another stellar series of Canadian masterworks," said David K. J. Heffel, President of Heffel Fine Art Auction House. "This year's collection includes key pieces of original Canadian art that showcase the vast talent our great nation has to offer."

Last year's fall auction saw a record-breaking sale for Emily Carr's The Crazy Stair (The Crooked Staircase), which sold at $3.4M, making it the fourth most valuable piece ever sold in Canadian art auction history and the most achieved for the work of a Canadian female artist. Heffel is proud to have sold 233 Emily Carr lots to date for a total of $39M and this season presents five works by Carr including the stunning oil on board Totem Poles, Kitwancool Village (est. $400,000 - $600,000).

With sales of $372 million in Canadian art, Heffel is truly Canada's national auction house. To date, over 62 Canadian works of art have now surpassed the million dollar mark, and of those, Heffel has sold 42 works. Notably, Heffel has also sold seven of the ten top Canadian paintings for over $2 million. As the first auction house in Canada to split historical and contemporary Canadian art into separate sales, Heffel remains the only house to produce separate detailed catalogues for each session: Canadian Post-War & Contemporary Art and Fine Canadian Art. The much anticipated fall auction is expected to reach between $8 and $11 million.

Heffel's Post-War & Contemporary Art highlights include: 

• Jean Paul Riopelle is an undeniable favourite each season, with five works represented at the fall auction for a total combined estimate of between $1.3M to $1.9M. His 1955 masterpiece Ombrages was first sold at the Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York. Also from 1955, Aventure Picaresque comes from the private collection of Riopelle's late Montreal dealer Gilles Corbeil, and Sanstitre is a fine example of his working method using the palette knife.
• A significant piece by Jeff Wall, internationally acclaimed Canadian photo conceptualist whose photographs have transformed contemporary art. Wall's Park Drive is a documentary photograph that reveals a familiar place - Stanley Park - a landscape shaped by humanity on the fringe of urban Vancouver, and tells a story of the passage of time. (est. $250,000 - $350,000).
• At auction for a combined total estimate of between $562,000 and $766,000, are Paul- Émile Borduas's oil on canvas pieces Sans titre and Gris-gris, along with the beautiful watercolour Aquarelle no. 6, which was painted on the back of the title page of William Saroyan's book Harlem as Seen by Hirschfeld, published in New York in 1941 in a limited edition.
• Coinciding with a major retrospective exhibition opening at the National Gallery of Canada this month, three impressive paintings by Painters Eleven member Jack Hamilton Bush will go on the block for the competition of collectors. Leading the way is the cover lot Dull Day (est. $125,000 - $175,000), from Bush's period following his exhibition at the 1967 Sao Paulo Biennial in Brazil, which garnered him significant recognition in the New York market. Bush's compelling Cry Cry and his deeply personal Frightened Child round out the sale. The Jack Bush retrospective exhibition is set to open at the National Gallery of Canada on November 13, 2014, before travelling back to the Art Gallery of Ontario.
• The fall auction offers a mini-retrospective of Canadian treasure William Kurelek, with ten charming works, all in original frames crafted by Kurelek. The whimsical A Real Big One! is a quintessential Kurelek evocative of his fond recollections of his childhood on the Prairies. Retired Sea Captain in Newfoundland depicts a small Irish settlement in Newfoundland and is part of Kurelek's 1970s series focused on the rich history and cultural fabric that has shaped our country. Inspired by Kurelek's summer spent working at a logging camp in Northern Ontario, Notching is accompanied by a copy of the book Lumberjack, inscribed by the artist. Lastly, The Atheist (est. $70,000 - $90,000) offers a window into a challenging aspect of Kurelek's life and is rich with symbolism.
• Two works from renowned Quebec artist Guido Molinari, the meditative Quantifacteur bleu from his Quantificateur Series and Espaceocre-rouge (est. $40,000 - $50,000), from his Stripe Series, vibrating with hot reds and oranges.

Heffel's Fine Canadian Art highlights include:

• Group of Seven's Lawren Harris has three masterworks at auction with a combined total estimate of between $600,000 and $770,000. The impressive Houses on Gerrard Street eloquently showcases his talent for painting directly from a subject and relates to his other well-known urban house paintings, such as Toronto Houses from 1919, in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada. Mountain Sketch, Jasper, Athabasca Valley, painted on Harris's journey to "the big country" with fellow Group of Seven member A. Y. Jackson, is a prime example of the dramatic evolution his work took while travelling in the Rockies. Heffel maintains a record-breaking sale for Harris's The Old Stump, Lake Superior at $3.5M from the fall auction of 2009, making it the second highest amount ever paid at an art auction in Canada and the most ever paid for a Group of Seven painting sold at auction to date.
• Undeniably one of Canada's greatest artists, Emily Carr has five significant works estimated to fetch between $750,000 and $1.14M combined. Most notably, Totem Poles, Kitwancool Village expresses the affinity Carr felt with the First Nations people. Her 1928 pivotal journey to the remote village of Kitwancool inspired several of her better known pieces and marked her last extended visit to First Nations villages.
• Rarely available, two major Clarence Gagnon canvases are on offer including the impressive The Trapper's Return (est. $500,000 - $700,000), which has come back to Canada after residing in a U.S. collection for many years and is a testament to Gagnon's talent for painting winter scenes. Making its auction debut is Gagnon's Paysage de Charlevoix, given to the current owner's parents as a wedding gift in 1948.
• The classically Canadian Ste-Fidèle, PQ (est. $250,000 - $350,000) by Albert Henry Robinson, who took many sketching trips with Group of Seven artist A.Y. Jackson, embodies a feeling of warmth despite the winter scene. This piece is being offered for sale for the first time, having been in the possession of the Robinson family since its creation.
• Paul Peel's poignant Goodbye (est. $35,000 - $50,000) is a prime example of 19^th century Canadian painting. Portraying his younger sister, Mildred, who holds a white handkerchief and a cruciform necklace - a classic sailor's keepsake - as a ship sails out to sea, it is one of Peel's most progressive pictures.

Heffel's Ongoing Commitment to Canadian Arts Culture
Heffel has earned a strong reputation not only for curating Canadian masterworks at auction and for the trusted handling of culturally significant estates, but also for demonstrating a passionate commitment to the development of Canadian art and arts culture. Through the support of important organizations and institutions, Heffel continues to elevate art through an innovative approach.

Heffel is delighted to expand its representation across Canada by opening a gallery in Calgary this month. As part of the new gallery opening, Heffel will proudly host the Imperial Oil Limited charity live auction in Calgary this November for the benefit of Imperial's United Way partners across Canada, featuring works from Jean Paul Riopelle and Christopher Pratt, to name a few. Heffel also continues to establish unique sponsorships designed to recognize outstanding Canadian artists and projects to help foster an appreciation for and enjoyment of art across Canada, including the Artists, Architects and Artisans: Canadian Art 1890-1918 exhibit at the National Gallery of Canada, From the Forest to the Sea: Emily Carr in British Columbia exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario and the upcoming unnamed Beaver Hall Group exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. The David and Patsy Heffel Award in Art History at the University of British Columbia and an ongoing internship program at the University of Toronto are prime examples of Heffel's nurturing of the arts in Canada, outside of the live auction and consignment world.

Heffel's Fall 2014 Live Auction Schedule

To give interested buyers from across Canada a chance to view these extraordinary pieces, the collection will be previewed in three cities in advance of the live auction:

• Vancouver: Saturday, November 1 to Tuesday, November 4 at Heffel Gallery Vancouver, 2247 Granville Street
• Montreal: Thursday, November 13 to Saturday, November 15 at Galerie Heffel Montreal, 1840 Sherbrooke Street West
• Toronto: Saturday, November 22 to Wednesday, November 26 at the University of Toronto Art Centre (UTAC), 15 King's College Circle

The two-part live auction will take place in Toronto on Thursday, November 27 at the Park Hyatt Hotel (4 Avenue Road):

• 4:00 p.m., Canadian Post-War & Contemporary Art
• 7:00 p.m., Fine Canadian Art

For more details on the previews and live auction, and access to the online catalogues, please visit www.heffel.com. 

About Heffel Fine Art Auction House 
Heffel has sold more Canadian art than any other auctioneer worldwide, with over $372 million in art auction sales since 1995, and has conducted the most valuable live auctions of Canadian art.  Heffel is led by the most experienced team of fine art specialists in Canada who enjoy providing transparent expert service because they believe that art inspires the human spirit.  With offices and representatives in Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Calgary, Heffel provides superior client services to both sellers and buyers nationwide.  In addition to full-colour printed catalogues, Heffel publishes its entire live auction online at www.heffel.com, from initial promotion and illustrated lot listings, to the final sale results.

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*All estimates are in Canadian Dollars and include buyer's premium

Image with caption: "Clarence Alphonse Gagnon's, The Trapper's Return, one of the cover lots at Heffel's fall 2014 live auction of Canadian art to be held in Toronto on November 27, 2014. (CNW Group/Heffel Fine Art Auction House)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20141029_C9207_PHOTO_EN_43129.jpg

SOURCE: Heffel Fine Art Auction House

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Heffel Fine Art Auction House
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