Impressive Sales Reach $9.7 Million as Heffel's Spring Live Auction Showcases Canadian Artistic Talent

Masterpieces by Canada's most acclaimed artists from coast to coast draw significant interest from collectors and drive auction totals far above presale estimates

• The 135 lots offered in tonight's live auction brought this year's total to $9.7 million, well exceeding presale estimates of $6 to $8 million
• The evening saw seven record-breaking sales, including new artist records for Lise Gervais, Ken Danby, David Blackwood, Mary Pratt and Joyce Wieland
• This season's Post-War & Contemporary Art cover lot, Pleine saison  by Montreal's Jean Paul Riopelle sold for an impressive $1,298,000 (est. $400,000 – 600,000)
• Lawren Stewart Harris' Lake Superior Sketch LXI sold for $973,500 (est. $500,000 – 700,000)
• Eight Emily Carr lots including rare, early illustrations sold for a combined total of $1.5 million

VANCOUVER, May 28, 2014 /CNW/ - Tonight, Heffel Fine Art Auction House celebrated Canada's artistic talent with the presentation of its spring 2014 live auction at the Vancouver Convention Centre. The 135 lots, led by distinguished Canadian artists such as Lawren Harris, Emily Carr, Jean Paul Riopelle and more, exemplified the finest in Canadian Post-War & Contemporary Art and Fine Canadian Art. The evening achieved noteworthy total sales of $9.7 million (all prices are in Canadian dollars and include an 18 per cent buyer's premium).

"We are truly delighted with the results of this season's collection," said David K.J. Heffel, President of Heffel Fine Art Auction House. "As Canada's national auction house, it was important that we had a significant representation of our country's incredible talent, with rich subject matter originating from coast to coast. Our auction this season really embodied this depth, and we are excited for the collectors who are able to take home a piece of Canadian art history tonight."

Leading tonight's sale was Jean Paul Riopelle's Pleine saison, which sold for $1.3 million. The Group of Seven artists drew significant attention with this season's Fine Canadian Art cover lot, Lake Superior Sketch LXI. Conservatively estimated at $500,000 – 700,000, the piece sold for an impressive $973,500. Beautifully portraying one of Harris' favourite subjects, this lot bears resemblance to his record-breaking painting, The Old Stump, which sold for more than $3.5 million at a Heffel auction in 2009.

Emily Carr, who shattered records last season with her $3.39 million sale of The Crazy Stair (The Crooked Staircase) at Heffel's fall auction, continued to prove her significance with nine lots on the auction block this evening. Inclusive of tonight's sales to date, Heffel has offered 233 works by Emily Carr, with sales totaling $39 million. Carr's four highly anticipated lots from the family of Mr. & Mrs. William H. Clarke, Emily Carr's publishers, totaled  $581,150, led by Sea and Sky, Off Beacon Hill which sold for $472,000.

Another of this season's treasures is from the Group of Seven's eighth member, Edwin Holgate. His oil on board, Grand Manan, was recently acquired by the consignors at a garage sale close to the artist's former home. The piece sold for $12,000, far beyond the garage sale ticket price of two dollars.

Additional highlights from the spring auction include:

• Jack Bush's Temple set a new Canadian auction record at $438,750 (est. $125,000 – 175,000)
• Michael Snow's Solar more than doubled its pre-auction estimate of $40,000 –  60,000 selling for $129,800, a record for a painting for the artist
• Two anticipated lots by distinguished Quebec artist Jean Paul Lemieux totaled $494,325 in tonight's sale, led by La Québécoise, which sold for $442,500 (est. $250,000 - 350,000)
• Sharing the British Columbia spotlight with Carr this evening was E.J. Hughes, whose composition Looking South Over Sooke Harbour surpassed presale estimates and sold for $212,400 (est. $120,000 - 150,000)
• Only known through reproduced photographs until its recent consignment to Heffel, A.Y. Jackson's Mazinaw Lake, March, Bon Echo garnered great interest and achieved a notable $614,250, far exceeding its conservative estimate of $125,000 – 175,000. A total of 12 Jackson pieces sold in the spring auction for a total of $1.1 million
• Emily Carr's Trees in Swirling Sky nearly tripled its presale low estimate at $590,000 (est. $200,000 – 250,000)

With sales of more than $370 million in Canadian art, Heffel is truly Canada's national auction house. As the first auction house in Canada to split historical and contemporary Canadian art into separate sales, it remains the only house to produce separate detailed catalogues for each session; Canadian Post-War & Contemporary Art and Fine Canadian Art. Tonight's auction achieved a sales result of $9.7 million, well exceeding the $6 to $8 million presale estimate. The Canadian Post-War & Contemporary Art session had sales totaling $4.6 million, while the Fine Canadian Art session totaled at $5.1 million.

About Heffel Fine Art Auction House 

Heffel has sold more Canadian art than any other auctioneer worldwide, with more than $370 million in art auction sales since 1995, and has conducted the most valuable live auctions of Canadian art. 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 auction's live multi-camera webcast and final sale results.

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Image with caption: "Jean Paul Riopelle's Pleine saison sold for $1,298,000 at last night’s Heffel's 2014 Spring Auction in Vancouver. (CNW Group/Heffel Fine Art Auction House)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20140529_C1392_PHOTO_EN_2351.jpg

Image with caption: "The stunning Michael Snow canvas, Solar sells for a record breaking $129,800 at night’s Heffel’s 2014 Spring Auction in Vancouver. (CNW Group/Heffel Fine Art Auction House)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20140529_C1392_PHOTO_EN_2348.jpg

SOURCE: Heffel Fine Art Auction House

For more information, to schedule an interview, or for high-resolution images, please contact: Rebecca Rykiss, NATIONAL Public Relations, 416-848-1386, [email protected]; David Heffel / Robert Heffel?, Heffel Fine Art Auction House. 604-418-6505 / 604-418-0100, [email protected] /[email protected]