Canadian Fine Art Auction MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018
Canadian Fine Art Auction MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018 AT 7:00 PM
MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018
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Canadian Fine Art Auction MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018 AT 7:00 PM
ON VIEW
Friday, May 25 from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm Saturday, May 26 from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm Sunday, May 27 from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday, May 28 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm Select lots may be viewed otherwise by appointment.
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Lot 84 CAROL WAINIO Dropped From the Calendar/ Experience and Self-Consciousness
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1 OTTO DONALD ROGERS, R.C.A. COOL SPRING RAIN
acrylic on canvas signed and dated ‘88 on the reverse 20 ins x 60 ins; 50.8 cms x 152.4 cms
provenance:
Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto/Calgary Private Collection, Toronto $7,000–9,000
Otto Rogers (b.1935) has made substantial contributions to abstracted landscape painting in Canada. Like many western Canadian artists such as Jack Shadbolt, Takao Tanabe, Don Jarvis, Doug Haynes, Gordon Smith and Ted Godwin, Rogers’ early work reflected an interest in the aesthetic of late automatic surrealism. Many including Rogers did not seem comfortable creating paintings that were exclusively pure abstract inventions. Rogers preferred instead to look out upon the world, synthesize and abstract from a model drawn from nature. For Rogers, growing up on the prairies, the most evident visual splendour was the interaction between big sky country and the patterns, colours and variations to be seen in the prairie farmlands. Cool Spring Rain is such a painting. Ostensibly it is an abstract composition, yet its distinct horizon line, light-filled bluish sky, vestige clouds, attenuated horizontal format and floating celestial orbs locate it as an abstracted prairie scene. Certain forms suggest trees along the horizon, a grain elevator and rural buildings. Even the faithless will often marvel at the majesty of the vastness of prairie vistas in relation to our tiny place within its grandeur and scale. We experience being ‘grounded’ beholding the weather swings and sudden changes in light conditions. For Rogers, this would become even more profoundly personal and spiritual. He became a senior member of the Bahá’í Faith; his beliefs took him to Haifa, Israel where he served for ten years as an elder. He has since returned to Canada and has taken up residence in Prince Edward County, Ontario.
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2 PHILIP HENRY HOWARD SURREY, R.C.A. CONSTRUCTION
watercolour on paper with an unfinished pencil sketch on the reverse 17.25 ins x 11.75 ins; 43.8 cms x 29.8 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal $2,000–2,500
3 ULYSSE COMTOIS PROTO-JARDIN
oil on canvas board signed and dated ‘74; also signed, titled and dated on the reverse 8 ins x 10 ins; 20.3 cms x 25.4 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal $1,000–1,500
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4 TED HARRISON, R.C.A. THE LONELY HOUSE
acrylic on canvas signed; also signed, titled and dated 1990 on the reverse 36 ins x 24 ins; 91.4 cms x 61 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Ottawa $15,000–20,000
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5 LOT WITHDRAWN
6 JACQUES GODEFROY DE TONNANCOUR, A.R.C.A. SUNSET IN THE LAURENTIANS oil on masonite signed and dated ‘56 10 ins x 14 ins; 25.4 cms x 35.6 cms
provenance:
Dominion Gallery, Montreal Private Collection, Winnipeg $2,500–4,000
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7 MARC-AURÈLE FORTIN, A.R.C.A. ÉTUDE HOCHELAGA, CIRCA 1930 oil on board signed 7 ins x 9 ins; 17.8 cms x 22.9 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal
literature:
François-Marc Gagnon and Michèle Grandbois in Marc-Aurèle Fortin: The Experience of Colour, (catalogue), Michèle Grandbois (ed.), Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec and Les Éditions de L’Homme, Quebec, 2011, pages 110, 122 and 163.
While Marc-Aurèle Fortin (1888-1970) enjoyed painting the majestic elm trees found throughout his beloved childhood hometown of Ste-Rose, he also regularly captured the Hochelaga region of Montreal. In fact, his depictions of this working class, French-speaking neighbourhood in the early stages of urbanization earned him considerable national and international attention. Étude Hochelaga illustrates this changing landscape using a geometric and colour blocking style developed through Fortin’s experimentation with paint during the 1930s. The city is rendered in contrasting colours against a dark brown ground, giving a shadowed effect to the entire scene. The thick black outline that separates the forms works to focus, highlight and ultimately liberate the bright, highly saturated colours of the buildings. The boxy geometric pattern of the urban landscape, further emphasized by the squared and stylized clouds in the distance, is perhaps Fortin’s comment on the increasing industrialization and automatization of the modern city. The work is included in the catalogue raisonné for Marc-Aurèle Fortin as no. H-1029.
$15,000–20,000
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8 ALFRED JOSEPH CASSON, O.S.A., P.R.C.A. THUNDERHEADS, LAKE MAZINAW, 1952
watercolour signed 11.5 ins x 15.25 ins; 29.2 cms x 38.7 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $20,000–25,000
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A.J. Casson (1898-1992) first learned watercolour painting under the private tutelage of Harry Britton in Toronto from 1916-18. He also benefitted from working as an apprentice to Franklin Carmichael at the commercial firm of Rous and Mann from 1919-26. Among the members of the Group of Seven, Carmichael was known for his watercolours; he felt that the medium was equally suited to depicting the Canadian landscape as oil painting. In 1925, along with Carmichael and F.H. Brigden, Casson was a founding member of the Canadian Society for Painters in Water Colour (CSPWC), whose purpose was to promote the art of watercolour painting in Canada. Casson would continue to work in both watercolour and oil throughout his long career. In Thunderheads, Lake Mazinaw, Casson demonstrates his mastery of this difficult medium. He roughly sketches in the composition with pencil, reducing the landscape to simple forms, then applies washes of greens and blues. The horizontal land mass provides a solid foundation for the billowing cumulus clouds which rise above (giving the work its title) to fill the upper two-thirds of the composition. It is in the handling of the cloud forms that Casson gave free expression to the abstracting tendencies which first appeared in his work in the late 1940s. This was his response to the interest in abstraction that prevailed in Toronto after World War II. Casson never embraced pure abstraction by abandoning the subject entirely, but found patterns in the landscape with which to create a well-structured image. Mazinaw Lake, part of which is contained within Bon Echo Provincial Park, is located in eastern Ontario, south-west of Ottawa. Casson would have painted Thunderheads during his summer vacation, when he had time to travel greater distances from Toronto in search of subject matter.
9 ALFRED JOSEPH CASSON, O.S.A., P.R.C.A. WAKEFIELD, QUE., 1951
oil on canvas board signed; also signed, titled and dated on the reverse 9.5 ins x 11.25 ins; 24.1 cms x 28.6 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $20,000–30,000
Like fellow members of the Group of Seven, A.J. Casson (1898-1992) travelled the countryside in search of subject matter. Although he participated in exhibitions of the major art societies of his day, Casson did not become a full-time artist until after his retirement from the commercial art world in 1958. It has been suggested by Colin S. MacDonald that Casson’s attention to the pronounced design aspect in his paintings may have arisen from his involvement with the National Gallery’s project for silkscreen reproductions of Canadian paintings during and after World War II. This may have been the case, but Casson had always been concerned with the formal qualities of his compositions. This sketch is characteristic of Casson’s work of the period. Wakefield is a village located north-west of Ottawa on the western shore of the Gatineau River in the province of Quebec. He was able to travel further from his Toronto home only during holidays due to the constraints of full-time employment. In this sketch, Casson has rendered the sky and hills that rise up behind the village as simplified patterns. Ominous dark clouds hover over the landscape like heavy iron plates, under which stylized white clouds appear to claw at the top of the hills. The hills are also reduced to a pattern of curved brushstrokes that represent sunlit trees cascading downwards. Casson typically chose views with evidence of a human presence, such as the simplified buildings that nestle against the hills. While many of his contemporaries focused on wilderness scenes, Casson painted rural villages in the 1920s to establish a distinctive identity within the Group of Seven.
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10 RANDOLPH STANLEY HEWTON, R.C.A. PORTRAIT IN BLUE
oil on canvas 24.25 ins x 20 ins; 61 cms x 50.8 cms
provenance:
Estate of the artist Private Collection, Ontario $5,000–7,000
11 MARJORIE (JORI) ELIZABETH THURSTON SMITH FRENCH GIRL
oil on canvas board signed and dated ‘55 21.75 ins x 18 ins; 54.6 cms x 45.7 cms
provenance:
Kastel Gallery Inc., Montreal Private Collection, Montreal $3,500–5,000
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12 FRANKLIN MILTON ARMINGTON JEANNE LEDUC
oil on canvas signed, dated 1920 and indistinctly inscribed; also signed and titled on the reverse 36.25 ins x 28.5 ins; 90.2 cms x 72.4 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $9,000–12,000
Frank Armington (1876-1941) was a Canadian artist probably best known for his prints depicting the extensive travels in Europe and the Middle East that he undertook with his wife, artist Caroline Armington. After a year of study in Paris in 1900, Armington settled there in 1905 with his wife Caroline, becoming part of the expatriate community until 1939. Among their friends was the poet Robert W. Service who moved to Paris in 1913. Frank Armington contributed illustrations to Sisley Huddleston’s book, Back to Montparnasse: Glimpses of Broadway in Bohemia, published in 1931, which describes the Anglo-American expatriate experience in Paris. Armington was also a prolific painter, working in a style that was influenced by French Impressionism, but more akin to American Impressionism. By 1920, Impressionism had been eclipsed by new approaches to image making in more avant-garde circles, but it persisted internationally for decades. Jeanne Leduc depicts a young woman sewing in an interior space, a typical Impressionist subject which American expatriate Mary Cassatt often painted. Also characteristic of Impressionism is the overall light tonality and the use of a divided brushstroke. At the height of French Impressionism, these broken strokes dissolved form; but Armington has adapted the technique, so that while giving the appearance of Impressionism, the broken brushstrokes are superficial, painted over the solidly constructed figure and furnishings. MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018
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13 MANLY EDWARD MACDONALD, R.C.A. LOADING THE LOGS
oil on canvas signed 20 ins x 26 ins; 50.8 cms x 66 cms
provenance:
Abitibi Bowater, Quebec Private Collection, Ontario $5,000–7,000
Traditionally, logging is a difficult and often dangerous occupation. During the early years of settlement in Ontario, logging served a dual purpose of clearing the land for farming and providing a source of building materials, fuel and income. In Prince Edward County, where Manly MacDonald (1889-1971) would likely have painted this scene, the logging industry had been active since the turn of the nineteenth century. Logging in the County focused mostly on the harvest of maple and pine done during the winter months by farmers who were not occupied by their primary occupation. In 1808, the first sawmill was built in Milford and by 1840 there were over 30 such operations. By the time this work was executed (probably in the mid-1950s), mechanization had begun to take over some of the more laborious aspects of foresting. Demand for lumber and paper products was high after the second World War. The fruit growing for which the mild climate of the County is known also required the production of wooden crates and barrels to transport produce to market. Even today traces of the foresting industry remain.
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While horses began to be replaced by tractors, the horse and their sled were still used in the thicker woods at least to haul harvests out to the forest’s edge to meet railway lines, or later as seen here, to meet awaiting trucks. The truck depicted in this painting is probably an International Harvester, with its distinct grill and signature paint job. MacDonald charmingly depicts a harmonious fusion of tradition and innovation. It is interesting to consider that this work was painted during a period when the Toronto art world itself was struggling with traditional versus modernist approaches to art making, a polarization that the artist would undoubtedly have been aware of.
14 CLARENCE ALPHONSE GAGNON, R.C.A. CRÉPUSCULE - D’HIVER, QUÉBEC oil on panel signed 4.75 ins x 7 ins; 12.7 cms x 17.8 cms
provenance:
Antoine’s Art Gallery Inc., Montreal (acquired in 1967) Private Collection, Montreal Private Collection, Vancouver (by descent)
literature:
Hélène Sicotte and Michèle Grandbois, Clarence Gagnon, 1881-1942: Dreaming the Landscape, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Quebec, 2006, pages 95 and 116. $25,000–35,000
Clarence Gagnon (1881-1942) spent a good deal of his artistic life abroad – in France, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland and Italy. However, according to Hélène Sicotte, he “felt compelled to see himself in terms of his homeland” and in particular the undulating hills of his beloved Charlevoix County from which he drew his greatest inspiration, especially when it lay covered in a blanket of snow during the winter season. “This”, Sicotte notes, “was the landscape that would define him.” Sicotte, who could be referring to this very lot, continues: “…Gagnon’s painting is marked by an energetic touch and a palette of pure colours applied in dramatic warm-cold contrasts of complementary tones. In Charlevoix County the artist found vistas where cultivated areas, transformed by close to three centuries of human occupation, alternated with stretches of wilderness. His painter’s eye became entirely absorbed by this mountainous countryside, whose dynamism seemed to resonate with his own personality. Its picturesque villages and brightly hued houses held immediate appeal for this dedicated colourist who saw the landscape genre essentially as an opportunity to achieve chromatic and formal harmony.” With awesome economy, the painter uses here a classic combination of signature motifs - a gently curving road, flanked by peak-roofed habitant homes and a backdrop of snow-covered, sunlit hills. Though measuring a mere 4 3/4 by 7 inches, quite remarkably this croquis masterfully distills and concentrates a sweeping panorama of as many kilometres. MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018
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15 ALFRED JOSEPH CASSON, O.S.A., P.R.C.A. LITTLE ISLAND - OXTONGUE LAKE, 1973 oil on board signed; also signed, titled and dated on a label on the reverse 12 ins x 15 ins; 30.5 cms x 38.1 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Maple, Ontario
literature:
Margaret Gray, Margaret Rand and Lois Steen, A.J Casson, Gage Publishing, Agincourt, Ontario, 1976, pages 49-50, 56. Ted Herriot, Sunday Morning With Cass: Conversations with A.J. Casson, Purpleville Publishing, Mississauga, 1993, page 128. $15,000–18,000
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Situated slightly south west of Algonquin Park, Oxtongue Lake was visited frequently by A.J. Casson (1898-1992) and was among his favourite painting places. Casson’s familiarity with the area ran deep: “If you ask me to paint a picture of Oxtongue Lake with one of the islands, I could sit down and do it right now”. Oxtongue Lake is a classic interpretation in which the simplified forms of trees, some displaying their vivid autumn colours, are silhouetted against a darker background of elevated land or dense evergreens. The big, hazy sky – to which more than half the composition is dedicated - with its full moon or sun evoke in us a humility and wonder we often feel when contemplating the vastness and beauty of nature.
16 ALFRED JOSEPH CASSON, O.S.A., P.R.C.A. OCTOBER STORM, 1972
oil on board signed; also signed and inscribed “Dorset Rd., 1972” on the reverse 12 ins x 15 ins; 30.5 cms x 38.1 cms
provenance:
Roberts Gallery Limited, Toronto Private Collection, Toronto
literature:
Paul Duval, A.J. Casson / His Life & Works / A Tribute, n.p., Toronto, 1980, pages 158-163 and 225-229. $15,000–18,000
It was at Roberts Gallery in March of 1959 that A.J. Casson (1898-1992) had his first one-man show. Jack Wildridge of Roberts Gallery held the artist in high regard, hosting six dedicated exhibitions of Casson’s work between 1959 and 1972, the year this work was painted. The important new association with Roberts Gallery and the freedom from his commercial art career led Casson to a period of great production and achievement from the 1960s onward. In October Storm Casson uses both the rolling storm clouds and the fiery autumn foliage to great effect, provoking an almost dizzying sensation mitigated somewhat - and thoughtfully - by the distance set between viewer and the cliff’s edge. It is a dynamic viewpoint. But Casson also devotes about half of his composition to rocky terrain and autumn trees and half to the sky; a decision that serves to stabilize the composition. The result is a sublime view executed with a wise and experienced brush.
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17 MARC-AURÈLE FORTIN, A.R.C.A. ORMES À STE-ROSE, CIRCA 1925 oil on panel signed 10.25 ins x 14.5 ins; 26 cms x 36.8 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal
literature:
Jean-René Ostiguy, Marc-Aurèle Fortin (Translated by Norah McCullough), National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, n.d., introduction. François-Marc Gagnon, “The Paradox of Marc-Aurèle Fortin” and Richard Foisy, “Portrait of a Life”, in MarcAurèle Fortin: The Experience of Colour, (catalogue), Michèle Grandbois (ed.)., Musée national des beaux-arts du Quebec and Les Éditions de L’Homme, Québec, 2011, pages 28, 33, 35, 51 and 151. $30,000–40,000 Marc-Aurèle Fortin (1888-1970) demonstrated a talent for painting from an early age. He attended advanced art classes at the Académie commerciale and won prizes throughout his adolescence. Yet the one person Fortin could not impress was his father. A strict, stern man who climbed the ranks of the Quebec judicial system to become a Liberal member of Parliament, a successful lawyer and a judge in the Quebec Superior Court, the elder Fortin had high hopes that his son would follow in his professional footsteps. His strong disapproval of his son’s artistic ambitions could be why Fortin left Montreal and the Académie a year prior to his graduation and went to work on a farm in rural Quebec. After seemingly learning the lesson his father was determined to teach him about the meaning of hard labour, the younger Fortin returned to his studies where he finished first in his class in commercial law. Seeking an escape from this parental pressure, Fortin went west, where he quickly got a job working at the Edmonton post office. Working by day and studying art by night, Fortin raised enough money to attend the prestigious Art Institute of Chicago in 1909. There, he was introduced to the Barbizon School, the Impressionists and several other prominent American artists.
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Despite his success in Chicago, he returned to his family home in Quebec and soon thereafter moved to Montreal, which at the time was quickly becoming a hub of creative activity. In the city, Fortin resumed his job at the post office, immersed himself in the art world, painted voraciously and became part of the bohemian arts circle. While he did not participate in the indulgences of hedonistic drinking and romantic pursuits typical of this bohemian label, he garnered a reputation as a poverty stricken artist, despite his stable job as a civil servant. His scruffy attire and humble lifestyle became synonymous with both his public reputation and his own concept of what it meant to be an “artist”. Exempt from military service during WWI, Fortin continued to paint regularly, but surprisingly, after years of continuous exhibiting, he left the art world and his job at the post office in 1919 for the Quebec countryside. After five years away, he began showing his work again, and the painting Ormes à Ste-Rose from 1925 is an example of his great re-emergence on the art scene. Fortin has been described by the art critic Albert Laberge as “the poet and painter of summer” and the resplendent tree that dominates this panel evokes the full bloom of the season. Depicting his boyhood home of Ste. Rose, this painting imagines the “innocent world of childhood, where everything is new and vivid”. Fortin identified himself as a member of the “school of light and sun” and through his gaze, trees become bigger, greener, more impressive than ever. The layers of paint give depth and weight to the foliage, while the little spots of white give a great sun-kissed feeling to the entire work. Fortin’s aesthetic defies easy categorization, and he has been described as a decorative artist, a Fauvist, an Impressionist, an Expressionist, and at times a naive painter, but throughout his career was a dedication to colour. By the early 1920s, Fortin was experimenting with a bolder more saturated colour palette that suggested a modernist inclination, though he remained an ardent traditionalist. Despite demonstrating the very things that came to define the Modern aesthetic, Fortin was an artist most at home in the picturesque, rustic and idyllic Quebec countryside; and the simplicity of Ormes à Ste-Rose is a keen example of Fortin at his very best.
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18 JEAN PAUL LEMIEUX, R.C.A. NATURE MORTE
oil on panel signed and dated ‘51 11.75 ins x 10 ins; 29.8 cms x 24.8 cms
provenance:
Dominion Gallery, Montreal Private Collection, Montreal $7,000–9,000
19 RANDOLPH STANLEY HEWTON, R.C.A. HAYSTACKS AND PUMPKIN PATCH oil on canvas signed; with estate stamp on the reverse 23.25 ins x 28.5 ins; 59.1 cms x 72.4 cms
provenance:
Estate of the Artist Private Collection, Toronto $8,000–12,000
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20 ALFRED JOSEPH CASSON, O.S.A., P.R.C.A. AUTUMN MORNING, NEAR YANTHA LAKE, 1960 oil on board signed; also signed and titled on the reverse 12 ins x 15 ins; 30.5 cms x 38.1 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Vancouver $18,000–22,000
The Madawaska Valley, south of Algonquin Park, was a region to which A.J. Casson (1898-1992) would often return to paint around Barry’s Bay, the Opeongo River and Yantha Lake. By 1960, the year he painted Autumn Morning, Near Yantha Lake, Casson had retired as Vice-President and Art Director of the commercial art firm Sampson-Matthews and was free to travel further afield on sketching trips. He painted the area around Yantha Lake many times, under varying weather conditions at different times of the year, and using a variety of approaches. Autumn and winter were Casson’s favourite painting seasons. His Yantha Lake images often include the motif of the sugar loaf mountain, which here provides an effective backdrop for the trees displaying the golden hues of autumn. Characteristic of Casson’s later works, Autumn Morning demonstrates less concern with patterning, which still lingers in the stylized trees, while the sky is given a more atmospheric treatment than in earlier versions.
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21 MARC-AURÈLE FORTIN, A.R.C.A. BARQUES SUR LA PLAGE, PERCÉ coloured chalks on illustration board signed 24.25 ins x 18.5 ins; 61.6 cms x 47 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal
literature:
Richard Foisy and Esther Trépanier in Marc-Aurèle Fortin: The Experience of Colour, Michèle Grandbois (ed.), Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec and Les Éditions de L’Homme, Quebec, 2011, pages 26, 43, 56, and 211. $8,000–12,000
Marc-Aurèle Fortin (1888-1970) studied art at the Art Institute of Chicago in the early 1900s. He returned to Canada, Richard Foisy writes, inspired by the American artists who were “trying to create a national American art”. This idea of a national language would come to dominate much of Fortin’s work, and he sought to express through painting what it meant to be French Canadian separate and apart from any European aesthetic influence. This lifelong interest in the Quebec landscape, and a desire to escape the heat of the city, took him along the coast to the Gaspé Peninsula. Fishing boats, stormy seas and shipwrecks emerged as new subject matter in his work from this period, and Barques Sur La Plage, Percé is a ready example of his time exploring the fishing villages of the region. Fortin returned to favourite themes like this one throughout his career, but continually experimented with media, alternating between oil, watercolour and ink repeatedly. In this lot, Fortin has elected to render the subject in coloured chalks, a medium that allows little room for error, a steady hand and a certain decisiveness. This work is included in the catalogue raisonné for Marc-Aurèle Fortin as no. P-0064.
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22 ALBERT JACQUES FRANCK, A.R.C.A. BEHIND SULLIVAN STREET oil on masonite signed and dated ‘68 30 ins x 24 ins; 76.2 cms x 61 cms
Like other painters of urban scenes, such as John Kasyn, Albert Franck (1899-1973) was often as interested in the rear view of the houses he painted as he was about their charming facades perhaps even preferring this vantage.
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $10,000–15,000
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23 ROBERT REGINALD WHALE, O.S.A., A.R.C.A. PORTRAIT OF A GIRL IN A LANDSCAPE oil on canvas 40 ins x 32.75 ins; 101.6 cms x 83.1 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto
exhibited:
The Whale Dynasty: 100 Years of Painting Southern Ontario, The Dundas Museum & Archives, Dundas, Ontario, June 24 - September 2, 2017. $8,000–12,000
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Robert Whale (1805-1887), a self-taught artist from Cornwall, immigrated to Canada in 1852 with his wife and their six children. They would make Burford in present-day southwestern Ontario their home, later moving to Brantford where Whale and his sons (also painters) established a family painting studio in 1864. By submitting his work to local and provincial fairs (where he would often win the prize money), and by working as an itinerant portraitist and landscapist, Whale was able to support his family through his art. This portrait of a girl is a showpiece for Whale’s versatility as a painter of portraits, landscape and still life—all three elements are present in the picture. The girl’s fashionable dress and hairstyle indicate that she is from a wealthy family. Her wearing of a coral necklace was a longstanding European tradition, believed to protect children and ward off evil. She is seated on the ground, against a low wall in a parklike setting, with a basket of freshly cut flowers before her. This painting demonstrated Whale’s skills as an artist and his affiliation with established British painters like Joshua Reynolds whose work he had copied as a young man in England.
24 LAURA ADELINE MUNTZ LYALL, O.S.A., A.R.C.A. CHILDREN FEEDING THE RABBITS oil on canvas signed 48 ins x 36 ins; 121.9 cms x 91.4 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Oakville
literature:
Joan Murray, Laura Muntz Lyall: Impressions of Women and Childhood, McGill-Queen’s University Press, Montreal and Kingston, 2012, pages 22, 145, 150 and 154. $20,000–30,000
In the summer of 1894 and 1898, Laura Muntz (1860-1930) visited rural Holland. She travelled there again in the late summer of 1899. It was a particularly happy time for her and her paintings seem to reflect this. In her 2012 biography of the artist, Joan Murray notes Lyall’s Dutch subjects “were striking and made good materials for painting, particularly for works to be exhibited in the Salon.” Murray further notes that there is something quite special about the compositions from this period that make the viewer feel part of an intimate moment. Indeed, the positioning of the young girl and young boy near the rabbit hutches leaves just enough space for the viewer to be incorporated into their experience. The almost life size scale of the work further enhances the sense of a virtual experience. While this painting is not titled, a work called Feeding The Rabbits was exhibited by Muntz in 1900 (as no. 154) at the Canadian National Exhibition. That work, or a work of the same title, was exhibited again in 1901 (no. 107). Muntz was active in various art societies of the day, both abroad and in Canada, but she also built her reputation as a teacher while travelling overseas and again once she had settled back in Canada. She found teaching positions in some of Canada’s finest private girls schools including Branksome Hall (1901-1905) and Havergal Ladies College in Toronto and Miss Edgar’s & Miss Cramp’s in Montreal (1910-1914). MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018
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25 ADRIEN HÉBERT, R.C.A. MONTREAL HARBOUR, 1925
oil on canvas signed and dated 32 ins x 40 ins; 81.3 cms x 101.6 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto
literature:
Yves Lacasse and John R. Porter (general eds.), A History of Art in Quebec, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Quebec, 2004, page 98 for a closely related work in the collection of the Musée du Québec. $20,000–25,000 The Port of Montreal was among Adrien Hébert’s (1890-1967) favourite subjects and works from the period after his return from Paris in 1924 are among his greatest achievements. Here, Hébert uses as a backdrop the sunlit mass of a grain elevator. The building acts as a foil to the tangle of rigging on the various vessels anchored at this busy port. Solid shapes are set in contrast to the airy effects of steam and light and further contrast is established between the variety of colours and textures seen here. The artist renders an encyclopedia of materials - cement, steel, stone, textile, wood and water - each of which respond differently to the light reflecting off or penetrating through their respective surfaces. Interestingly, Hébert seems to have chosen a lull in human activity, astutely sensing that depicting the dockworkers in action amid an already dynamic scene might just be “de trop”. He wisely elects to de-emphasize their role here. Interwoven diagonals of ropes, cables, chains, derricks, ladders, gangways, chutes and other devices form a vortex around the orangey-red central smokestack. But Hébert considerately provides a clever navigational device to escort us through his composition. Flashes of orangey-red act as way-finding beacons: the red ensign flag on the stern and keel in the foreground lead to the smokestack in the middle ground, which in turn directs us to the deep background with another stack in the distance. Using these markers, we slalom through the painting with both pleasure and ease. Unlike many other painters of his generation who romanticized the traditional Québécois rural lifestyle, Hébert celebrated progress which he felt the port embodied (see lot 64). By 1923 Montreal was among the worlds largest grain-handling ports and the buildings that had been constructed to handle this volume were renowned. According to arkinetblog “the famous architect Le Corbusier, like other great modernists, marvelled at North American elevators in his book Vers une architecture, and mentioned Montreal’s elevator No. 2 (which is likely the one depicted in this lot) as an example.”
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018
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26 MARC-AURÈLE DE FOY SUZOR-COTÉ, R.C.A. FEMMES DE CAUGHNAWAGA
bronze signed, titled and inscribed “Roman Bronze Works, Inc.” 16.5 ins x 22 ins x 12 ins; 41.9 cms x 55.9 cms x 30.5 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal (acquired approximately forty years ago)
literature:
Hugues de Jouvancourt, Suzor-Coté, Éditions Le Frégate, Montreal, 1967, page 133, and pages 46 and 47 for the charcoal sketch to Femmes de Caughnawaga and the bronze (collection Montreal Museum of Fine Arts), reproduced. Pierre L’ Allier, Suzor-Coté l’Oeuvre Sculpte, Musée du Québec, Quebec, 1991, cover illustration, for Femmes de Caughnawaga, reproduced in colour, page 23 for the tinted plaster of Femmes de Caughnawaga (cat.23) reproduced in colour, and pages 80-81 for plaster model, and charcoal sketch reproduced, respectively. Laurier Lacroix, Suzor-Coté, Light and Matter, Musée du Québec, Quebec, 2002, pages 250 and 253, page 252 for the charcoal sketch of this subject, reproduced and cat.no.120, for Femmes de Caughnawaga, reproduced. $18,000–22,000 This exceptional bronze was produced during one of Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté’s (1869-1937) most fecund periods of creativity. It depicts three women at Caughnawaga (now Khanawake), a village on the south shore of Lac Saint Louis, approximately ten minutes drive outside of Montreal. Other castings or versions of this subject may be found in prominent private and public collections including that of the National Gallery of Canada, the Musée du Québec, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Laurier Lacroix writes that the artist regarded this sculpture as “one of his greatest successes” and quotes Pierre L’ Allier’s view: “Even if Suzor-Coté had only created this one work, his name would deserve to be featured in any history of Canadian sculpture.” De Jouvancourt concurs, describing this work as “une de ses pièces maitresses”. Suzor-Coté is associated with the Canadian Impressionist school and here effectively creates an Impressionist sculpture. The three female figures move determinedly forward against the suggestion of inclement weather as they make their way perhaps to or from a market. Their baskets and cloth sacks are filled with goods to sell or recently purchased. So suggestively evocative of atmosphere is this work, that one art historian described Femmes as appearing as though it “had been sculpted by the wind”. Because Suzor-Coté worked in bronze to produce some of his most famous genre sculptures, he was able to introduce a kind of vitality and individuality of type that an additive art making process like this allows. Conceived using plastic materials (for example clay) there can be greater opportunity for a level of detail or subtlety that is more difficult when other (reductive) methods and materials are used.
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018
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27 CORNELIUS KRIEGHOFF THREE WORKS: CAUGHT IN A BLIZZARD; MAPLE SUGARING SEASON AND HABITANT ICE FISHING watercolours, with rounded upper corners the first and second signed 5.75 ins x 8 ins; 14 cms x 20.3 cms; 6.25 ins x 9 ins; 15.9 cms x 22.9 cms; 5.25 ins x 8 ins; 13.3 cms x 20.3 cms
provenance:
The format of these three works with their rounded upper corners suggests that they were perhaps mounted onto pages of a scrapbook. Such works were popular collectibles for visitors to Canada, including itinerant military personnel and, even, the wife of the Governor General (the Marchioness of Lorne) and daughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Louise, who owned a watercolour entitled Sleigh Riders in a Snowstorm.
literature:
These three works were acquired by the present owner from a descendant of a military officer posted to Canada in the nineteenth-century.
Private Collection, United Kingdom Private Collection, Montreal J. Russell Harper, Krieghoff, Key Porter Books, Toronto, 1990, page 174, and fig. no. 158 for a related watercolour, measuring the same size, with rounded upper corners, reproduced. $18,000–22,000
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While Cornelius Krieghoff (1815-1872) is well known for his oil paintings of habitant subjects, as well as his successful publishing projects and hand-painted photographs, it is rare to see works in watercolour by the artist. Very few of these are known to exist.
Canadian Fine Art Auction
MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018
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28 NICHOLAS DE GRANDMAISON, R.C.A. PAPOOSE
pastel 12 ins x 9.25 ins; 30.5 cms x 23.5 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $12,000–15,000
29 LIONEL LEMOINE FITZGERALD STORMY WEATHER NEAR WINNIPEG oil on canvas; laid down on board signed and dated 1915 6.75 ins x 9 ins; 17.1 cms x 22.2 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal $5,000–7,000
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
30 CORNELIUS KRIEGHOFF A VISIT TO THE DENTIST
oil on canvas signed 13.5 ins x 10 ins; 34.3 cms x 25.4 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal
literature:
Dennis Reid, Krieghoff: Images of Canada, Douglas & McIntyre, Toronto, 1999, page 53. $10,000–15,000
When Cornelius Krieghoff (1815-1872) arrived in Canada in 1840, he had little significant formal training and yet his work attracted enough commercial interest that friends recommended he consider enhancing his skills by spending time visiting the great galleries of Europe where he might set himself the task of copying masterworks. This was a traditional step in an artist’s training that was popular then and is still done today. As a result of the trip he made to Europe around 1845, we have a small number of works that survive. This work, A Visit to the Dentist, likely stems from that early period of artistic development. We know something of the artist’s movements while overseas. He visited London to meet with his publishers, and carried on to Paris, were he copied works both in the Louvre and the Luxembourg. Yet, the precise source inspiration of this picture remains unknown. Perhaps it was not one single picture that he copied (as is the case for other early works that have surfaced) but a pastiche of inspirations, interpreted in an entirely novel way. Marius Barbeau, Russell Harper and Dennis Reid have each devoted space in their histories of the artist to this period in his production and the works that resulted. If we place A Visit to the Dentist in that early period of Kreighoff’s art making, we may view it as a prototype for what would follow. Returning to Canada with sharpened skills, Krieghoff went on to paint the Canadianized versions of the genre scenes he saw in the European galleries. Typically, figures - or more accurately, characters - are set within or upon a kind of stage that clearly indicates mood and setting, as this lot does. One thinks of the Officers Trophy Room (Royal Ontario Museum) and The Artist’s Studio (National Gallery of Canada). The lessons of Europe are also evident here particularly in the way Kreighoff has understood and interpreted light, reflecting, as it were, the methods of the the great Dutch Masters to which he would have been exposed. MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018
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31 SOREL ETROG, R.C.A. WAR REMEMBRANCE, 1961-62
Pierre Restany has described Sorel Etrog (1933-2014) as an artist who was “striving to exorcise his memories”.
provenance:
Etrog was born in Iaşi in north east Romania into a vibrant community. Nearly half the city’s population was Jewish. But in 1941, German troops entered the city and life changed dramatically for all of the town’s inhabitants. Restany recounts that Etrog recalled the hunger and horror (such as mock executions) that ensued. He continues: “Such memories of terror and fear form part of the ineluctable procession of the artist's obsessions, a burden that would be inhuman were it not to be shared with others.”
bronze signed including base 35.75 ins x 42 ins x 23 ins; 91.4 cms x 106.7 cms x 58.4 cms Estate of the artist The Friends of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg
literature:
William J. Withrow, Sorel Etrog: Sculpture, Wilfeld Publishing Co. Limited, Toronto, 1967, page 23 for War Remembrance, reproduced. Carlo L. Ragghianti, Sorel Etrog: 1958-1968, Centro di edizione, Firenze, 1968, cat. no. 3, for War Remembrance, reproduced. Carlo L. Ragghianti, Sorel Etrog, Centro di edizioni, Firenze, 1968, page 60, for War Remembrance, reproduced. Alan Toff, Sorel Etrog: One Decade, (catalogue), Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 1968, cat. no. 14, for War Remembrance, reproduced. Yves Pepin, Sorel Etrog, (catalogue) Canadian Cultural Centre, Paris, 1978, page 2, for War Remembrance, reproduced. Pierre Restany, Sorel Etrog, Prestel, Munich, London, New York, 2001, page 19-23, and 26, and page 12 for a plaster related to War Remembrance, reproduced, page 15 for an installation shot of War Remembrance on display at the Rose Fried Gallery, New York, and page 64, for War Remembrance, reproduced. Joyce Zemans (intro.), Sorel Etrog, Painting and Drawings 1963-1971, Simon Fraser University Gallery/ Buschlen Mowatt Gallery, B.C., 2008, page 3, fig. 1 for War Remembrance, reproduced. Ihor Holubizky (ed.), Sorel Etrog: Five Decades, Art Gallery of Ontario, 2013, page 27, for War Remembrance, reproduced in colour. $70,000–90,000
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
In 1950, the Etrog family was able to emigrate to Israel. Etrog was just seventeen years old. He attended art school in Tel Aviv and completed his military service and became active in the artistic life of Tel Aviv from 1956-58. For about eight years prior to the creation of War Remembrance, Etrog’s primary concern was a series of works known as his Painted Constructions. The last of these was made around 1958. War Remembrance (1960-61) forms part of an early (first) group of bronzes by the artist which date from 1959-1963 and precede the Links works (see lot 91). This lot was inspired by the memory of the death of a soldier. Compositionally, the work is dominated by a large triangular dart positioned horizontally (perhaps a soldier’s bayonet), which pierces the two lower discs with a powerful forward thrust. The early 1960s were a productive time for Etrog. Creativity fed success and success fed creativity; his reputation grew to attract the attention and patronage of Canadian and international collectors - both institutional and private. There were exhibitions of his work in Toronto (at Walter Moos Gallery - an early champion of Etrog), Montreal (at Dominion Gallery), New York (at the Rose Fried Gallery, where Etrog had first met Sam Zacks, his great patron, who “changed the artist's life overnight.”) and in Los Angeles (UCLA also owns a bronze of War Remembrance). War Remembrance is surely among Etrog’s most recognizable and important bronzes. It is a linchpin between the earliest works like Hasidic Head, 1959 (Hirshorn Museum, Washington and Shaw Festival Theatre, Niagara-on-the-Lake) and Sunbird (collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario) and contains the seeds of the germinal idea that would lead to the Links works that follow. This lot is being sold to benefit the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg.
MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018
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32 JOHN GRAHAM COUGHTRY RECLINING FIGURE MOVING, #10, JAN. 1980 oil on canvas signed, titled and dated ‘80 on the reverse 72 ins x 60 ins; 182.9 cms x 152.4 cms
provenance:
The Isaacs Gallery Ltd., Toronto Art Sales and Rental, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto Private Collection, Toronto $25,000–35,000
The road towards progressive art in Canada in the mid-20th century was convoluted, taking many unexpected twists and turns. This complex history exerts a considerable impact upon the development of the career and art of Graham Coughtry (1931-1999). The reaction to the prospect of abstract art in post-war Canada was outright hostile. Following graduation in 1945 Riopelle departed in 1946 to the friendlier environs of Paris, not to return to residence in Canada for decades. Paul-Émile Borduas was fired from his teaching job as a result of the radical nature of his art and the 1948 manifesto Refus Global. In Toronto, prospects for abstraction looked even more meagre. The principal exhibition vehicles were the art society annual shows. Abstract art was openly disparaged by many of the members of the O.S.A. who still clung to the tenets of the Canadian landscape. Within this context a group of Toronto artists banded together to find a more conducive environment to exhibit. In fall 1953 they held the spirited exhibition Abstracts at Home at the Robert Simpson Toronto store. They formed Painters 11 and held joint exhibitions through 1960. Miraculously the tide completely turned. Hart House, previously the stronghold of A.Y. Jackson and the Canadian Group of Painters, hosted a series of exhibitions of abstract art: Graham Sutherland and the British St. Ives Group, Roloff Beny, William Ronald, and a two-person exhibition of Michael Snow and Graham Coughtry. Where previously abstraction was shunned, every major educational centre reversed its faculty in favour of abstraction. Young students at the Ontario College of Art, Gordon Rayner and Dennis Burton (see lot 83) witnessed the Hart House exhibitions and vowed forever more to paint only abstractions. They, along with Michael Snow, John Meredith, Joyce Wieland and Graham Coughtry, would form the nucleus of the Isaacs Gallery group, who all made primarily abstract art through 1962. Toronto Mayor, Nathan Phillips, took offense at some of the figurative works by Graham Coughtry in the 1955 Hart House exhibition and caused them to be temporarily removed. Incongruously, this minor episode breathed new life into representational art. Once again figuration could be considered radical not déclassé. The entire enterprise of the Isaacs group of artists changed direction, they evolved to embrace abstract figuration admixed with their admiration for dadaism and jazz. Coughtry, born in Quebec, studied at the School of Art and Design at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts from 1948-1949 and completed studies at the Ontario College of Art from 1949-1953. Despite the brevity of his Montreal studies one wonders whether the legacy of fauvistic colour and figuration from Morrice, Lyman (see lot 67) through to Goodridge Roberts might have inspired Coughtry and the rich lush impasto application of his works.
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
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33 GUIDO MOLINARI, R.C.A. UNTITLED (BLUE STUDY)
oil on canvas signed and dated 2/96 on the reverse 20 ins x 15.75 ins; 50.8 cms x 39.4 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $12,000–18,000 Untitled (Blue Study) by Guido Molinari (1933-2004) is a fine work by an artist of great importance to the history of abstract art in Canada. Its highly reduced compositional format displays his affection for related works by Kasmir Malevich, Mark Rothko, but more specifically Piet Mondrian and Josef Albers. Molinari personally owned works by the latter two artists. Rothko of course was well-regarded for creating compositions that tried to ‘light-up’ a central floating rectangle by the sheer contrast of the surrounding border colour. In Molinari’s instance, his inspiration was no doubt directly attributable to Alber's paintings Homage to the Square and his much-read treatise: The Interaction of Colour. Molinari’s monochrome paintings later in life, such as his Quantifier series continue to draw critical acclaim (see lot 68). His works are numerously included in the collections of every significant art museum in Canada, and additionally the Museum of Modern Art, NY. Molinari was the recipient of many awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1967. Molinari represented Canada at the 1968 Venice Biennale, participated in the Paris Biennale, 1970, was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1971, elected a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and won the Prix Paul-Émile-Borduas in 1980.
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
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34 JEAN-PAUL RIOPELLE, R.C.A. VALLÉE DE LA ROCHE BLANCHE pastel on paper signed and dated ‘75 26.5 ins x 17.25 ins; 67.3 cms x 43.8 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal
Riopelle was in Paris from the 1950s and represented Canada in the Venice Biennale 1962. His aesthetic placed him firmly in the Abstract Expressionism movement that was taking hold of the Western world at the time. However, where many of his contemporaries followed the avant-garde precedent set by Picasso, Riopelle was instead inspired by the immense, Impressionist paintings of Claude Monet. While in Paris, Riopelle began a 25 year long relationship with the American Abstract Expressionist painter, Joan Mitchell. Their working relationship is currently the subject of a major retrospective at the Art Gallery of Ontario.
$9,000–12,000
After his separation from Mitchell in the early 1970s, Riopelle divided his time between France and Canada, returning to Quebec definitively by 1989. Born in Montreal, Jean-Paul Riopelle Through these final decades of his career, Riopelle focused on figurative (1923-2002) began his early artistic training like so many art makers by copying imagery with a distinct fixation on birds in flight. The Canadian landscape was again a primary source of inspiration for him. Demonstrative of Riopelle’s nature. He later studied under Paul-Émile representational shift, Vallée de la Roche Blanche evokes the bird in flight motif. Borduas at the École de Meuble in the early 1940s, where he joined the Surrealist Red, orange, black and blue intersect, while the curvilinear figures in the centre push our attention to the periphery of the picture. Riopelle’s black lines create inspired Automatiste movement and was one of the original signatories of the Refus movement throughout the composition applying harmony and organization to the maelstrom of colour. Global manifesto.
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
The work is included in the catalogue raisonné for Jean-Paul Riopelle as no.1975.031P.
35 SAMUEL BORENSTEIN STILL LIFE
oil on canvas signed and dated “ 7-25-60” 20 ins x 16 ins; 50.8 cms x 40.6 cms
provenance:
Kastel Gallery Inc., Montreal Private Collection, Ontario
literature:
Joyce Borenstein, The Colours of My Father: A Portrait of Sam Borenstein (documentary film), The National Film Board of Canada, Quebec, 1992. $8,000–10,000
“My father would come home at night with a wet canvas. Then, while we waited for supper to cook, we’d all sit on the couch and stare at it. The same way families today watch television. We’d look at his paintings.” So begins Joyce Borenstein’s 1992 documentary film “The Colours of My Father: A Portrait of Sam Borenstein”, a touching, animated glimpse into the life and work of her father, Samuel Borenstein. Trips to the Laurentians every summer with his family sparked a keen interest in wildflowers, which he would render in rich sensual colours and thick, generous layers of paint. Known for only wanting to paint genuine things, Borenstein let nature be his guide. Capturing the world around him with unfettered enthusiasm, he was more concerned with evoking a mood of feeling in his work rather than picturing the thing itself. This foundational freedom is clear in Borenstein’s Still Life from 1960. The dazzling orange and ultramarine of the wildflowers, thickly and gesturally painted, contrast with the muted background, made flat and angular by the use of a palette knife. This juxtaposition adds energy to the painting and draws our eye insistently to the wild force in the centre. Speaking about his work, Borenstein explained:“How can I control myself when everything around me is so beautiful?”
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36 MAUD LEWIS TOBOGANNING
oil on board signed 9 ins x 12 ins; 22.9 cms x 30.5 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Waterloo $9,000–12,000
37 MAUD LEWIS WINTER SCENE
oil on board signed 11.75 ins x 12 ins; 29.8 cms x 30.5 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Waterloo $9,000–12,000
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
38 BENJAMIN CHEE CHEE FLOCK OF GEESE
oil on canvas signed and dated ‘74 24 ins x 30 ins; 61 cms x 76.2 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Teeswater, Ontario
literature:
Al Evans, Chee Chee: A Study of Aboriginal Suicide, McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal and Kingston, 2004, pages 34, 43 and 36. Bruce A. Thyer, John S. Wodarski, Laura L. Myers, and Dianne F. Harrison (editors), Cultural Diversity and Social Work Practice, Charles C. Thomas Publisher Ltd., Springfield, Illinois, 2010. $9,000–12,000
Benjamin Chee Chee (1944-1977) struggled with his identity his entire life. Born in Temagami, he grew up without his parents and despite identifying as Ojibwe, Chee Chee had a fraught relationship with his relatives and culture. After moving to Montreal in 1965, Chee Chee was encouraged to develop his passion for art, and it is through this creative practice that he was able to regain, if even for a few years, what Al Evans calls a “promise of identity”. Part of the second generation of Woodland School painters, founded famously by Norval Morrisseau in the early 1960s, Chee Chee’s style was largely influenced by modern abstraction, setting him apart from his contemporaries. After moving to Ottawa and over the span of three years from 1973 to 1976, his style transformed from colourful, abstract and geometric shapes to one of linear, simplistic and figurative representations of birds and animals. Not wanting to be categorized as an “Indian artist”, Evans notes he thought of himself as an “Ojibway artist-a member of the Ojibway nation” with an aesthetic that was completely his own, denouncing the mythical and legend-based narrative of other Woodland artists. Speaking to this, he stated “my drawings of animals and birds have no symbolic meaning from the past. To me they are creatures of the present and I draw them because I like their clean lines and beautiful shapes”. This subdued but elegant form is evident in Chee Chee’s 1974 painting Flock of Geese. The fine lines which animate the painting capture the experience of watching the Canada geese fly in and out of the north as the seasons change. Chee Chee’s birds are the paintings that made him popular and for which he is most remembered. MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018
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39 WALTER JOSEPH PHILLIPS, R.C.A. AUTUMN, LAKE
watercolour signed 10 ins x 9 ins; 25.4 cms x 22.9 cms
provenance:
Richardson Bros., Winnipeg Private Collection, Vancouver $6,000–8,000
40 KATHLEEN FRANCES DALY PEPPER, O.S.A., R.C.A. FISHING BOATS, NEWFOUNDLAND oil on canvas board signed; titled on the reverse 16 ins x 20 ins; 40.6 cms x 50.8 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $8,000–12,000
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
41 FRANK HANS JOHNSTON, O.S.A., A.R.C.A. THE OPAL POOL
oil on masonite signed 24.5 ins x 29.5 ins; 62.2 cms x 74.9 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Calgary
literature:
Roger Burford Mason, A Grand Eye for Glory: A Life of Franz Johnston, Dundurn Press, Toronto and Oxford, 1998, page 11. $20,000–25,000
Frank Hans Johnston (1888-1949) was a versatile and prolific painter whose landscapes have shaped our collective imagination of what constitutes the canon of early 20th century Canadian painting. Johnston was academically trained and worked for a time as a commercial artist at the Toronto based design firm, Grip Limited, where he met a number of other artists with whom he would go on to form the Group of Seven in 1920. While he would soon break from the Group, his dedication to the natural landscape grew out of the shared experiences and wilderness expeditions in those early years of burgeoning nationalism and modernism in Canada. His vast body of work demonstrates an array of artistic styles but largely favours a more decorative aesthetic, though never without depth or a keen eye for detail. This is evidenced in the painting The Opal Pool, where Johnston’s careful play of light and shadow evokes the setting sun and the silent and enduring beauty of a forest river. The precise depiction of perspective and snow, two notoriously difficult elements to paint well, are the result of excellent academic training undertaken by Johnston. Winter in Canada is long and lingering, but Johnston manages to transform this bleak season into one of imagination, invitation and even nostalgia for the carefree days of childhood adventures in the great outdoors.
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42 ROBERT WAKEHAM PILOT, P.R.C.A. LOOKING AT THE MOTHER HOUSE FROM QUEEN ELIZABETH PARK, WESTMOUNT oil on panel signed 5.25 ins x 7 ins; 13.3 cms x 17.8 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal $6,000–8,000
43 ROBERT WAKEHAM PILOT, P.R.C.A. THE OLD ST. PATRICK’S CHURCH, QUEBEC oil on panel signed and titled on the reverse 5.5 ins x 7 ins; 14 cms x 18.4 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal $7,000–8,000
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
44 MARC-AURÈLE DE FOY SUZOR-COTÉ, R.C.A. A STREET IN A CANADIAN VILLAGE, WINTER pastel on toned paper, laid down on card signed 12.75 ins x 19.75 ins; 30.5 cms x 49.5 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, France
literature:
Laurier Lacroix, Suzor-Coté: Light and Matter, Le Musée du Quebec, Quebec, 2002, page 198, and page 199, cat.66 for a closely related work, reproduced in colour, and page 341, for the canvas related to this lot, entitled A Street in a Canadian Village, Winter, reproduced in colour.
This delightful pastel by Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté (18691937) relates to a larger oil painting, currently in a private collection in Toronto, that had been widely exhibited to great acclaim shortly after it was painted in 1910. Known variously by the title shown here as well as Street in Arthabaskaville; Street Scene, Arthabaska and A Street in Arthabaska Winter, the painting received high praise from critics and colleagues alike when it was exhibited (first with the R.C.A. at their 32nd Annual Exhibition in Montreal in 1910, at the Salon of the Société des Artistes Français in Paris in 1911 and again with the R.C.A. in Ottawa in 1912). Specifically, viewers were impressed with the artist’s expert handling of light and application of colour. Laurier Lacroix quotes Newton McTavish’s opinion of the painting to which the lot is related: “this picture fairly scintillates with sunlight on snow and is a fine, sonorous collection of color.” Similarly, this work, from a collection in France beautifully evinces the artist’s mastery of colour and light.
$10,000–15,000
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45 JEAN-PAUL RIOPELLE, R.C.A. COMPOSITION
watercolour and ink signed and dated ‘48 19.75 ins x 25.25 ins; 50 cms x 64.1 cms
provenance:
Dominion Gallery, Montreal Private Collection, Winnipeg $50,000–70,000
Jean-Paul Riopelle (1923-2002) is arguably the most internationally renowned Canadian artist born in the 20th century and has made acclaimed contributions to the development of abstract art. He is one of two Canadians whose work is chronicled in H. H. Arnason’s History of Modern Art, used for decades worldwide as the standard university text. Composition from 1948 is a unique, rare and important document in the history of Canadian art. It was created in the year that Riopelle was a signatory to the ground-breaking manifesto Refus Global. Stylistically it is a perfect complement to the design Riopelle created to adorn the covers of that document. While it has been dated by the artist ‘48, we are not certain whether it was made in Paris, or upon his brief 1948 return to Quebec or upon his subsequent return to Paris. Historically, Riopelle’s development is linked to his time as a young student associate of Paul-Émile Borduas. This aspect is perhaps overtold. Riopelle graduated in 1945 and by 1946 or 1947 he had left Canada, not to return to take up residence again in Quebec until decades later, well after Borduas’ death. Although Riopelle was a proud exhibiting member of Les Automatistes his rapid stylistic ascension was due to his close association with prominent senior artists in Paris. He was the sole Canadian to exhibit with the Surrealists. Composition shares more with the automatic writing technique of André Masson and Max Ernst. His first solo exhibition was in 1949 at the Surrealist Galerie La Dragonne. Soon thereafter it was to be followed by a succession of solo exhibitions at significant venues such as Pierre Matisse Gallery New York, 1943. Composition employs a strident palette which would become the signature anchor for Riopelle works. Some have felt that the black tendril lines and reddish patches harken to a recollection of fall trees. Riopelle emphatically stated that these works were purely abstract, non-objective compositions unrelated to abstractions from nature. The methodology for abstract, automatic Surrealism was to commence a work in the absence of pre-ordained structural thoughts. A first mark on the page called for a counterbalancing action, creating myriad gestures in a part by part relational construction. The work would be complete when a sensed rhythmic harmony was achieved. In these early works neutral white spaces would be left untouched. Soon he would become increasingly obsessed with overlaying countless layers of marks covering the entire surface multiple times. Early works such as Composition are the “Rosetta Stone”, revealing the underpinnings of the scaffold upon which his works are built.
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
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46 BERTRAM BROOKER, O.S.A. SPACE AND TIME, 1953
oil on canvas signed 24 ins x 30 ins; 61 cms x 76.2 cms
provenance:
Estate of Bertram Brooker Sotheby’s Toronto Sale, November 15, 2000 (Lot 132) Private Collection
exhibited:
81st Annual Exhibition, The Ontario Sociey of Artists, Toronto, March 1953. It’s Alive! Bertram Brooker and Vitalism, Museum London, London, December 17 to April 02, 2011.
literature:
Cassandra Getty (ed.), The Logic of Nature, The Romance of Space, Art Gallery of Windsor, 2010, page 175, listed. $5,000–7,000
47 CHRISTOPHER PRATT, R.C.A. SUMMER ON THE SOUTH EAST, 1987
colour serigraph signed, titled, dated and numbered 54/70 in pencil in the lower margin 15 ins x 33.75 ins; 38.1 cms x 85.7 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal $2,500–3,000
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
48 ALEXANDER YOUNG JACKSON, O.S.A., R.C.A. AMETHYST LAKE, THE RAMPARTS
gouache on paper board signed; titled on the reverse sight 18.75 ins x 16.25 ins; 47.6 cms x 41.3 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Orillia
literature:
Naomi Jackson Groves, A.Y.’s Canada, Clarke, Irwin and Company Limited, Toronto / Vancouver, 1968, page 150 and page 151 for a related pencil drawing entitled Ramparts in the Tonquin, dated to 1924, reproduced. Wayne Larsen, A.Y. Jackson: The Life of a Landscape Painter, Dundurn Press, Toronto 2009, pages 123-125 for a discussion of the 1924 trip with Lawren Harris. $20,000–30,000
In 1924, A.Y. Jackson (1882-1974) took one of three important sketching trips with his friend and colleague Lawren Harris - to Algoma in the spring, Jasper in the summer and Lake Superior in the fall. From this 1924 summer trip, Harris produced many of his best loved sketches and paintings of mountain subjects but far less was produced, or little remains of works, by A.Y. Jackson. In fact, the artist’s niece and chronicler, Naomi Jackson Groves specifically references the rarity of the drawings from A.Y.’s visit to the Rockies which she insists “enhances the importance of the extant examples.” Of the few larger canvases that were produced by Jackson, we understand that at least one was thrown into the furnace of the Studio Building as Jackson attempted to high-grade his output. On that 1924 summer trip, the artists visited two spots, Maligne Lake and the Valley of the Tonquin where lies “the mighty Ramparts”, with their glaciers and treeless valley, so beautifully rendered in this lot. Ostensibly, the purposes of the trip was to produce material that could then be shown to executives at the CNR for use in marketing western Canada to tourists. Groves writes that works from this trip “formed part of a grandiose Harris-Jackson plan to collaborate on a set of large, strong, non-photographic panoramic murals for the Canadian National Railway, a project which the latter favored highly but never commissioned. A minor outcome of the studies was a travel brochure to which Jackson contributed six colour drawings.” This work, which was once owned by printer, Charles Matthews of Sampson Matthews, may have been one of the works produced for that brochure. MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018
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49 ROBERT WAKEHAM PILOT, P.R.C.A. PLACE D’ARMES, QUE.
oil on canvas signed 22 ins x 28.25 ins; 54.6 cms x 69.9 cms
provenance:
Acquired directly from the artist Private Collection, Toronto (by descent through the family) $90,000–120,000 Robert Pilot (1898-1967) was the legitimate heir apparent of Impressionist painting in Quebec. Born in Newfoundland, his stepfather, and Father of Canadian Impressionism, Maurice Cullen, was the indisputable towering figure of Quebec art at the turn of the century. Pilot apprenticed in Cullen’s Montreal studio. Additionally, he was befriended, supported and schooled by William Brymner at the Royal Canadian Academy and received subsequent training at the Art Association of Montreal. Pilot enlisted and served in the army 1916-1919. Upon his return he re-enrolled in Brymner’s classes. Thus, he developed an unwavering commitment to the subject matter as well as the stylistic attributes that their art stood for. Pilot must have been both a precocious as well as a highly touted student. Just months later, it was Pilot, not Brymner or Cullen to whom the honour was extended, alongside two other Montrealers, Randolph S. Hewton and Albert Robinson to exhibit as guests in the historically significant inaugural exhibition of the Group of Seven at the Art Gallery of Toronto in May 1920. No doubt, Edwin Holgate and A.Y. Jackson had a hand in making these recommendations. Unquestionably, this was an auspicious start for the young artist. He had been identified as a significant contributor to the new school of Canadian landscape painting. However, rather than remain in Canada to evolve these prospects he readily accepted financial backing to study in Paris for two years (1920-1922). Back in Quebec, he exhibited his 1925 masterwork Quebec from Lévis at the Royal Canadian Academy exhibition. It was purchased by the National Gallery of Canada and subsequently earned him the distinction of being named an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy of Art. He was elected President of the Royal Canadian Academy 1952-1953 and also elected to the National Academy of Design in the U.S.A. Pilot lived a long, productive life. He was a principal art instructor in Montreal throughout the periods that issued forth the Beaver Hall Group, The Canadian Group of Painters, the Automatistes, Prisme d’Yeux, and Les Plasticiens.
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
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50 ROBERT WAKEHAM PILOT, P.R.C.A. THE C.N.R. TUNNEL SHAFT IN OUTREMONT oil on panel signed and dated ‘15 5.5 ins x 7 ins; 14 cms x 17.8 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal $5,000–7,000
51 JOHN LITTLE, R.C.A DIMANCHE MATIN, RUE PETIT CHAMPLAIN, QUÉBEC, ‘67
oil on canvas board signed; also signed, titled and dated on the reverse 12 ins x 16 ins; 30.5 cms x 40.6 cms
provenance:
Walter Klinkhoff Gallery, Montreal The Fine Art Galleries, The T. Eaton Co. Limited $7,000–9,000 John Little (b.1928) has earned a reputation for modesty and is a reluctant celebrity, though a much celebrated painter. Little’s urban scenes capture the quotidian experience through a blend of playfulness and gritty realism.
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
52 ALFRED JOSEPH CASSON, O.S.A., P.R.C.A. OCTOBER, AVOCA, QUE., 1971 oil on board signed 12 ins x 15 ins; 30.5 cms x 38.1 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Hamilton
exhibited:
23rd Annual Exhibition, Art Gallery of Hamilton, 1972.
literature:
Christopher Jackson, A.J. Casson: An Artist’s Life, (catalogue), McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, 1998, page 53. $15,000–18,000
By the early 1970s there remained only two living members of the Group of Seven, A.Y. Jackson and A.J. Casson (1898-1992). The responsibility of spokesperson for things related to the Group fell to Casson due to Jackson’s health and advanced age. It was just several years after the centennial year and Canadians were feeling a distinct sense of the passage of time. As Christopher Jackson writes: “there was a surge of interest in Casson from organizations and institutions seeking to honour a pioneer in Canadian Art.“ At this time Casson was the recipient of a number of honorary degrees and the subject of at least one “lavish” publication. 1971, the year this work was painted, was a banner year for the artist. McMaster University held a Casson retrospective; he had once lived in Hamilton, as did the late owner of this lot. Writes Jackson, “Finally, at the age of seventy three, Casson was accorded his first solo exhibition at a public institution.”
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53 JAMES WILSON MORRICE, R.C.A. EARLY EVENING
oil on canvas with the estate stamp on the reverse 9 ins x 13 ins; 22.9 cms x 33 cms
provenance:
Collection of the artist’s brother (Robert Morrice) Gift to Florence Pitfield, Montreal By descent in the family, Ontario Sotheby’s (Canada), May 2005, Lot 189 Private Collection, Toronto $75,000–95,000
A full moon shines brightly over a velvety green landscape, its light reflected by the body of water in the middle distance. The sea in turn is animated by a cluster of bobbing boats. Of these vessels Morrice expert, Lucie Dorais, observes: “Their sails are still set. The fleet has just returned.” While close to us, on a path leading to the water’s edge, a woman waits. Madame Dorais notes that sentimental themes such as this were quite popular at the turn of the 20th century, although somewhat more rare for Morrice. Nonetheless, by leaving the figure of the woman de-emphasized, Morrice draws our attention to his real interest: the sailboats. Madame Dorais writes: “Sailboats had fascinated Morrice since his childhood, and we find them, in a variety of sizes and shapes, in about 10% of his landscapes, from his earliest Maine watercolours to his last Sicilian sketch.” Around 1903-1904, Morrice did a series of the famous Regatta of Saint-Malo which is how this work had been interpreted by Madame Dorais when she first saw it in 2005. At that time she had dated it circa 1898-99. Madame Dorais notes: “Not long after, I found a drawing for that landscape in one of the artist’s sketchbooks; no girl and no moon, so the “story” was built later in the studio. That sketchbook was mostly used in Paris and Dieppe, but a few pages are clearly from Cancale, a small town in Brittany not far from Saint-Malo. Morrice did spend part of the 1896 summer there, but this sketchbook dates from 1892-93 (Sketchbook #4, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Dr.1973.27) and does not contain any views of Saint-Malo. It seems that Morrice went only to Cancale. Madame Dorais further explains: “The drawing related to this painting is found on page 78 of the sketchbook. Morrice’s vantage point here in Cancale is from the “Sentier des Douaniers”, clearly visible on the right. He has left the busy town, passed the main jetty and its lighthouse, and gone around the “Pointe du Hock”, to look down at the beach of the same name. The tide is high, the boats are idle; very few sails are up, and no specific activity is hinted at. In the painting, the numerous sails revealed by the moonlight hint at some activity. Cancale’s fishing boats, the “bisquines”, were so famous that regattas were organized every summer for the tourists, but in Saint-Malo, not locally. Therefore, this cannot be a regatta as previously thought because the location is not Saint-Malo. The boats shown here were used to harvest the town’s treasure, the flat oysters naturally growing off the coast. To make the harvesting sustainable, it was reduced to a short period of just two weeks, around Easter. Every morning, 200 boats departed with the outgoing tide to drag the natural beds, and returned at night to dump their catch onto the man-made “oyster beds” near the quay. Women and children would sort them at low tide, removing the empty shells. Madame Dorais concludes: “This is more likely what is happening here: the fishing fleet, with the woman’s lover on board, is returning to Cancale under the full moon. The style of the painting, with its small dose of Victorian sentimentality, recalls the English paintings that Morrice had seen in Montreal and in England, where he spent a few months (perhaps to study) in 1891, not long before his visit to Cancale. To find such an accomplished painting so early in Morrice’s career is remarkable.”
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
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54 MAURICE GALBRAITH CULLEN, R.C.A. VIEW OF THE ROCKIES FROM THE ECHO RIVER
gouache signed with initials, Cullen Inventory No. 404; also signed on the reverse by a number of artists including Cullen, Pilot, Dyonnet and others. 5.75 ins x 5 ins; 14.6 cms x 12.1 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal
literature:
Sylvia Antoniou, Maurice Cullen, Queen’s University, Kingston, 1982, page 42. $2,500–4,000 Sylvia Antoniou writes: “Cullen and his wife travelled to Banff in the summer of 1930... Paintings of the Rockies were exhibited favourably at the Canadian National Exhibition in August in Toronto and the Annual Academy exhibition in November”.
55 HENRIETTA MABEL MAY, A.R.C.A. LACHINE CANAL
oil on panel; with an unfinished landscape on the reverse signed 8.5 ins x 10 ins; 21.6 cms x 25.4 cms
provenance:
Dominion Gallery, Montreal Private Collection, Toronto $7,000–9,000
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
56 EDWIN HEADLEY HOLGATE, R.C.A. WINTER, MORIN HEIGHTS
oil on panel signed with initials 8.5 ins x 10.5 ins; 21.6 cms x 26.7 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto
literature:
Dennis Reid, Edwin Holgate, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1976, page 22. $25,000–30,000
A central figure in the establishment of a Canadian tradition in painting after the First World War, Edwin Holgate (1892-1977) is remembered for his close association with the Group of Seven from 1929, and his earlier involvement with the foundation of the Beaver Hall Group. While Holgate is closely linked with figurative work, especially female nudes, which sets him apart from his contemporaries, Holgate did paint Quebec scenes throughout his career, particularly Morin Heights north-west of Montreal. In 1946 Holgate sold his house in Montreal and moved to Morin Heights in the Laurentians where he lived until 1973 when, for health reasons, he moved back to Montreal. As a group, Holgate’s Laurentian pictures capture his fascination with the ethnology of rural life in French Canada and his own personal relationship to the landscape of Morin Heights.
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57 MARC-AURÈLE DE FOY SUZOR-COTÉ, R.C.A. SNOW EFFECT ON THE HILLS OF CERNAY oil on canvas signed and dated 1906; indistinctly inscribed “Neige mouillée Coteaux/ d’Arthabaska” on the stretcher 31.5 ins x 39.5 ins; 80 cms x 100.3 cms
provenance:
W. Scott & Sons, Montreal Collection of Guérin éditeur Private Collection, Montreal
exhibited:
Canadian National Exhibition, Toronto, 1920, titled as Neige mouillée, coteaux d’Arthabaska, QC, cat. no. 129. Retrospective, Suzor-Coté, École des beaux-arts de Montréal, December 3 - 20, 1920, titled as Neige mouillée (coteaux d’Arthabaska), cat. no. 30. Suzor-Coté: Light and Matter, Musée du Québec, October 10, 2002 - January 5, 2003, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 2003, cat. no. 44.
literature:
Laurier Lacroix, Suzor-Coté: Light and Matter, Musée du Québec, Quebec, 2003,pages 148, 152, 154, 162-163, page 220 and page 338, cat. no. 44, for this work reproduced in colour. Anne Newlands, Canadian Paintings, Prints and Drawings, Firefly Books, Richmond Hill, 2007, page 308. A.K. Prakash, Impressionism in Canada: A Journey of Discovery, Arnoldsche Publishers, Stuttgart, 2015, pages 459, 461, 464, 471. $100,000–150,000 Like many artists of his generation, Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté (1869-1937) travelled abroad to further his art education. His ambition had been to attend the venerated École des beaux-arts in Paris and, indeed, he was able to gain admission there in 1892. He also attended the academies typically favored by his Canadian compatriots, that of Colarossi and Julian. Suzor-Cote lived in Montparnasse and socialized with fellow Canadian artists - Morrice, Cullen and Louis-Philippe Hebert - among others. When he had time, A.K. Prakash writes: “(Suzor-Cote) took the train to his favourite painting place, Cernay-la-Ville, an undulating area with rivers, forests, hills and lakes about 40 kilometers southwest of Paris.” Prakash continues: “There, as early as 1892, he painted landscapes that though created directly from nature, clearly demonstrate his interest in capturing the effects of light and changing weather conditions.”
Laurier Lacroix concurs with Prakash about Brittany’s allure noting that painters were drawn to the region for “the varied climate and beautiful landscape” which were “inexhaustible sources of subject matter.” He continues: “Brittany is without a doubt the region of France that Canadian artists at that time found most attractive.” Franchere, Huot, Gagnon, Henri Beau, as well as Morrice (see lot 53) and Cullen all found inspiration in the Brittany land - and seascape, in myriad seasons. Snow Effect is an important work and presents a unique opportunity to consider thoughtfully the evolution of Suzor-Coté’s oeuvre. Toggling between Canada and France at the turn of the century, and absorbing the various approaches to painting popular with both French and international artists working in France at the time, Suzor-Coté was coming to a clearer understanding of his own proclivities and talents in art making. Lacroix quotes SuzorCoté in 1901: “Through my time in incomparable Paris, I became a painter, but I still have a long way to go ...to become an artist.” But by 1906, the year this work was painted, Suzor-Coté had begun to identify an approach which would inform his painting for the next decade forward. Gone was the detail seen only a few years before, now replaced by a deeper understanding of the relevance of atmospheric effects, and the sensations that could be achieved with his increased mastery of light and colour. In 1906, back in Paris, the artist painted two snowscapes for the Salon (where he had exhibited regularly, in 1902, 1906 and 1907), works that were Canadian in subject but heavily influenced by the impressions and sensations that were evoked during the creation of this lot. Lacroix writes: “No doubt the painter’s brush was still being guided by his recollection of the winter he spent in Cernay.” Snow Effect has been exhibited under various titles - some linking it to Cernay - but others setting the subject in Quebec (Neige mouillée, coteaux d’Arthabaska) or eliminating locale altogether (Wet Snow, 1906). There may be a practical reason why this might be so, which may have something to do with the public’s preference of one subject over another. Suzor-Coté was aware that the primary market for his painting was in Quebec. Nonetheless, it is interesting to consider that locale increasingly had less to do with Suzor-Coté’s objectives than did sensation. While undoubtedly the works he painted in France were inspired by his Canadian roots, it is fascinating to think that the artist was less concerned - even ambivalent - about the where of the painting and its title, and more concerned about the what and the how of the painting itself. Lacroix writes: “He gives us not just specific geography but also the spirit of the place.” Prakash also writes of Suzor-Coté’s work as speaking of “a truth far surpassing the realistic efforts of any of his contemporaries” noting further that “He was the first to discover the realm of poetic sensuality in landscape, and it was this realm that he exploited all his life.” The first step on that journey of exploration begins with or around the time of this lot. By 1907 Suzor-Coté had returned to Canada where he remained permanently, with the exception of short journeys abroad, until 1929 when he moved to the United States to enjoy the milder climate. Anne Newlands writes: “At the time of his death in 1937, a Montreal Daily Star art critic wrote: “...as painter of snow and the reflections of light in ice, he was unparalleled.”
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
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58 MARC-AURÈLE FORTIN, A.R.C.A. VILLAGE ON THE ST. LAWRENCE RIVER oil on panel signed 9.75 ins x 12 ins; 24.1 cms x 30.5 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Ontario $10,000–15,000 Marc-Aurèle Fortin (1888-1970) was a prolific painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He studied art in Montreal, then at the Art Institute of Chicago, returning to Montreal in 1914. The works he first exhibited were rural scenes around Montreal, Saint-Rose (his hometown) as well as Quebec City, Charlevoix and Ile d’Orléans where he travelled in summer. Trips to France in 1920 and again from 1934-35 had a significant impact on his art. In the late 1930s he began using pure colour under the influence of the Fauve artists Matisse, Braque and Dufy. The graphic quality of the etchings he began producing in 1930 had an impact on his painting: in this sketch from c. 1938-9, (he didn’t date his work), Fortin has outlined the simplified forms in blue, reminiscent of the Fauves. He also experimented with different techniques and amalgamated what he learned from other artists into his own art. The result was an individual interpretation of the Quebec landscape.
59 RANDOLPH STANLEY HEWTON, R.C.A. QUEBEC VILLAGE, AUTUMN
oil on canvas signed; with estate stamp on the reverse 20 ins x 24 ins; 50 cms x 60 cms
provenance:
Estate of the artist
exhibited:
Modern Colours: The Art of Randolph Stanley Hewton, 1888-1960, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, 19 January - 31 March, 2002, no.36. $5,000–7,000
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
60 ALFRED JOSEPH CASSON, O.S.A., P.R.C.A. ROCKY HILLSIDE - SEPT - 1970
oil on board signed; also signed and inscribed “On the Minden Road - 1970” on the reverse 12 ins x 15 ins; 30.5 cms x 38.1 cms
provenance:
Roberts Gallery Limited, Toronto Private Collection, Toronto $15,000–18,000
A.J. Casson’s (1898-1992) desire to focus full-time on his painting career had led to his retirement in 1958. Casson decided to seek representation from a permanent dealer soon after. Paul Duval notes: “Until 1958, he had shown and sold his work through art societies and by consignment to various galleries in Toronto and Montreal. Now he felt the need for a stable gallery relationship. He wanted someone to take over the problems of exhibiting and marketing his pictures, removing him from the details which interfered with his creative concentration. After carefully surveying the available galleries, he decided upon Roberts Gallery on Toronto’s Yonge Street.” Like many Casson collectors, the owners of this painting would have recalled the crowds and mood outside the downtown gallery whenever a Casson show was about to open and the fury with which red sold dots appeared beside the fresh sketches that the artist had produced. Nearly 50 years later, the demand for Casson works has not abated.
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61 CORNELIUS KRIEGHOFF CROSSING THE ICE WITH THE ROYAL MAIL, QUEBEC (CIRCA 1862) oil on canvas, mounted to canvas signed 17.75 ins x 30.25 ins; 45.7 cms x 76.8 cms
provenance:
Private Collection
literature:
Marius Barbeau, Cornelius Krieghoff: Pioneer Painter of North America, MacMillan Company of Canada Limited, Toronto, 1934, pages 129-130. J. Russell Harper, Krieghoff, Key Porter Books Limited, Toronto, 1999, pages 88-89, page 59, cover illustration for closely related painting of the same subject (detail), and page xv, colour plate 5, for the cover work (probably of a slightly later date than our lot), reproduced in its entirety. Dennis Reid, Krieghoff: Images of Canada, Douglas & McIntyre / Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 1999, page 71 and page 142, plate 82 for the print of this subject, reproduced in colour. $225,000–275,000
In 1853, Cornelius Krieghoff (1815-1872) relocated to Quebec City in search of a fresh market for his paintings. As Dennis Reid reminds us, at that time Quebec was a bustling city: “Almost as large as Montreal at a population of some 58,000, close to 40 per cent anglophone (as opposed to the then slightly more than 50 per cent anglophone component of the Montreal population) it was the military headquarters for British North America, the centre of the all-important timber trade with Britain, the location of the burgeoning new ship building industry and since October 1851, had been the seat of the government for the province of Canada, a position it would retain until the capital moved again to Toronto in 1855.” According to J. Russell Harper, the decade or so Krieghoff spent in Quebec City were years of fulfillment for the artist and among his most productive. This lot, depicting a trepidacious winter crossing between Quebec City, whose citadel and ramparts are silhouetted in the distance, and Lévis on the opposite side of the mighty St. Lawrence River, dates to that happy and productive period. Harper writes: “Passengers between Quebec and Lévis on the other side of the St. Lawrence travelled during the winter months aboard special Royal Mail canoes. The boatmen or canotiers who operated these were a hardy breed who jumped out on the ice floes which impeded their progress and hauled the wooden canoes over the obstacles. Some passengers who gave them a hand received a reduction in their passage money. It was an adventurous trip for the uninitiated, and one of the experiences remembered by visitors to Quebec in the winter months.” Our canoe bears the responsibility of safe passage for eleven people - including one woman, seated on a thick bear skin rug, and a black dog. It is fair to imagine that this is not their first crossing for none seems particularly alarmed by what appears to be an experience that could have an uncertain outcome. Marius Barbeau, Krieghoff’s early biographer, lists six known versions of this subject as well as one print which was produced by Kell brothers, in 1860. At over 17 by 30 inches, this canvas would be the largest known version of the subject.
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
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62 ALBERT JACQUES FRANCK, A.R.C.A. BACK OF ROBERT STREET
oil on masonite signed and dated ‘69 24 ins x 20 ins; 61 cms x 50.8 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $8,000–12,000
63 CAROLINE HELENA ARMINGTON LES SAPINS, PRÈS DE BIZY
oil on panel signed and dated 1923; also signed and titled on the reverse 12.75 ins x 15.75 ins; 32.4 cms x 40 cms $3,500–5,000
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
64 ADRIEN HÉBERT, R.C.A. LE VIEUX PORT, MONTRÉAL, 1926 oil on canvas signed and dated 25 ins x 36 ins; 63.5 cms x 91.4 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto
Harbours and ports were among a handful of subjects preferred by artist, Adrien Hébert (1890-1967). After several years in France, Hébert returned to Montreal in 1924, painting a small number of port scenes such as this lot and lot 25. In contrast to many of his compatriots who viewed urban centres and commerical hubs like the Port of Montreal as a source of “doom and perdition”, Hébert celebrated the city’s “modernity, vitality and optimism”. Hébert was a cultivated, liberal intellectual who took a global view of the role Montreal could (and would) play.
literature:
Yves Lacasse and John R. Porter (General Editors), A History of Art in Quebec, The Collection of the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Quebec, 2004, page 98. $15,000–20,000
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65 MOLLY LAMB BOBAK, R.C.A. CAFE, PARIS (WITH UMBRELLAS) oil on board signed and dated ‘51 31.25 ins x 23.25 ins; 79.4 cms x 59.1 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Etobicoke
literature:
Cindy Richmond, Molly Lamb Bobak: A Retrospective (catalogue), Mackenzie Art Gallery, Regina, 1993, page 38. $8,000–12,000 In 1950, Molly Lamb Bobak’s (1922-2014) work came to the attention of Vatican Ambassador to the U.S., Jacques Maritain. Maritain arranged a scholarship for her which allowed her to spend time in France. Cindy Richmond writes that the visit to France “... lead to a series of paintings in the early fifties (this lot dates to 1951) which are important for the development of her mature style.”
66 STANLEY MOREL COSGROVE, R.C.A. FORÊT EN AUTUMNE
oil on board signed 10 ins x 12 ins; 24.5 cms x 30.5 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal $2,000–2,500
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
67 JOHN GOODWIN LYMAN LA SOUFRIÉRE, SAINTE LUCIE
oil on canvas signed; also signed and titled on the reverse 28 ins x 20 ins; 71.1 cms x 50.8 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $8,000–10,000
John Lyman (1886-1967) leads the long list of anglophone Quebeckers who championed the attributes of the School of Paris and French subjective colour. He studied in Paris in 1907 at the Académie Julian, befriended J. W. Morrice and enrolled in 1909 at the Académie Matisse. Fauvism and Matisse, with whom he maintained a correspondence, were Lyman’s touchstones. He returned to Montreal in an attempt to introduce modernism to Quebec, however, Lyman’s art was ridiculed by the media and he departed for a 28 year residence and sojourn through France, Spain, and North Africa. The depression brought him back to Quebec where in 1939 Lyman formed the Contemporary Art Society (CAS) to exhibit and promote modern art. By 1948 there was serious dissension within its ranks. Borduas and the Automatistes split off to pen the Refus Global and Alfred Pellan issued his manifesto: Prisme d’Yeux. Lyman’s commitment to modernist figuration was out of step with the prevailing spirit of abstraction; the CAS disbanded that year. Nevertheless, Lyman’s subjective colour left an indelible impression upon the art of Quebec. Throughout his long, productive career, Lyman sought exotic lands which allowed him full reign to employ extravagant Fauvist colour combinations. La Soufriére, Sainte Lucie is a fine example of Lyman’s major aesthetic interests.
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68 GUIDO MOLINARI, R.C.A. RED QUANTIFIER
oil on canvas signed and dated 7/87 on the reverse 48 ins x 36 ins; 121.9 cms x 91.4 cms
provenance:
Paul Kuhn Gallery, Calgary Private Collection, Toronto $35,000–45,000 For decades, Guido Molinari (1933-2004) was the seminal driving force in Quebec abstract art. In 1956 he joined the Non-Figurative Artists Association of Montreal and was a founder of Les Plasticiens. They were dedicated to a cool, rational non-expressionistic aesthetic with special affection shown towards the example and achievements of the striped paintings of American, Barnett Newman. Molinari’s signature style featured primarily vertical stripes. The optical vibration at the intersection of the adjoining bands of colour caused uncanny perceptual quandaries for the viewer. Intellectually, one could discern the governing system of the placement of colours, yet perceptually the effect alluded our ability to hold the result into a stable gestalt. These optical paintings were the mainstay of his early career and generated many exhibitions wordwide. Yet by the 1970s he began to experiment with taming down the jarring effect of placing vastly different hue stripes adjacent to one another. Instead, he gravitated towards near monochromes, where each stripe was initially virtually indistinguishable from its neighboring hue. These celebrated minimalistic offerings are referred to as his Quantifier paintings. His near monochromes remain relevant and celebrated to this day; one was showcased in Entangled: Two Views of Contemporary Canadian Painting (Vancouver Art Gallery, December 2017). It was presented as a continuing inspiration to a new generation of Quebec geometric painters. Molinari was the dominant force in Quebec abstraction through his art, his theoretical writings and his exemplary impact upon generations of young artists as a professor at Concordia University. His works are almost always on view in the permanent collection installations of Canada’s leading art museums. Key art historical texts devote extensive sections to chronicle his impact. His works have been avidly acquired by discerning private and corporate collectors and are included in the collections of every significant art museum in Canada and elsewhere.
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
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69 JOHN KASYN, O.S.A. VIEW FROM HEWARD STREET LANE oil on panel signed; also signed and titled on the reverse 16 ins x 22 ins; 40.6 cms x 55.9 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, British Columbia $8,000–12,000
Igniting the entire sky with reds, oranges and yellows, and illuminating the city in a final fiery burst, a winter sunset can be a magnificent and rare experience; the sun’s appearance is only fleeting during the winter months in Toronto. John Kasyn (1926-2008) seems to understand the value of this phenomenon, and has rendered it here with celebratory exuberance. Despite the absence of figures, Kasyn evokes their presence by the careful depiction of a well-trodden footpath in the snow, from laneway to back door. This scene is full of latent activity, as it is a common Canadian practice to enter through the backdoor in the winter, where we can divest ourselves of our winter clothing and escape into the warmth of the house. Situated between Carlaw and Jones between Queen Street and Eastern Avenue, Heward Street Lane is now part of the prosperous and lively Leslieville community and home to the filmmaking company, Filmport Studio.
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
70 JOHN LITTLE, R.C.A HIVER - RUE HENRI JULIEN oil on canvas signed; also signed, titled and dated ‘77 on the stretcher 24 ins x 30 ins; 61 cms x 76.2 cms
provenance:
Continental Galleries Inc., Montreal Private Collection, Timmins $15,000–20,000
There is little use trying to resist the paintings of John Little (b.1928) and certainly there must be few who have experienced Montreal who do not succumb to the degree to which the painter evokes the very heart of the place. The precise perspectival lines and attentive handling of architectural elements evidence Little’s academic training and time spent working at his father’s architecture firm. His favourite subjects are the winter scenes of working class neighbourhoods, which he records with a practiced familiarity. While there isn’t a season that Little hasn’t mastered, in some way the joys of winter are something quite particular to the Montréalais, making Hiver - Rue Henri Julien (the street is named after the well-known Montreal painter) quite special.
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71 MARY PRATT, R.C.A. SWIMMING UP TO THE SUN oil on canvas signed and dated ‘98 24 ins x 36 ins; 61 cms x 91.4 cms
provenance:
Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto Private Collection, Toronto $35,000–50,000
Mary Pratt (b.1935) attended school in a unique place. Mount Allison University in the 1950s and early 1960s was perhaps the only major art school anywhere that was dedicated solely to representational art. The principal instructors, Lawren P. Harris, Alex Colville and Ted Pulford were exemplary practitioners of realism. Commercial galleries of the region and The Beaverbrook collection were also skewed in favour of conventional academic rendering. So, during a period rife with aesthetic invention, experimentation and abstract explorations, New Brunswick was a complete anomaly, a place where it seemed perfectly natural that the foundation of art practice was founded upon recreating images borne from observation of existing forms. At Mount A., she met and married Christopher Pratt. Mary recounts that in her early stages she was most drawn to the ‘impressionistic’ touch of the cross-hatched textural application of Colville’s paintings. Christopher had established his own artistic voice, Mary was still trying to find her way. Mary was building her works by hand-drawn studies from nature. Her breakthrough occurred in 1969 when Christopher snapped for Mary a colour slide of a scene to act as an aide-mémoire for the fleeting light conditions of a desired painting subject. She projected the image and traced its outlines, thus unwittingly entering into a dialogue with the cadre of international artists referred to as photo-realists and chronicled by the 1970 Whitney Museum exhibition: TwentyTwo Realists. By the early 1970s photo-realism was a ubiquitous part of every university art department worldwide. But understanding how she might paint only solved half the riddle. There was still the question of what to paint. For Mary Pratt, the answer to that seemed to require the addition of visual complexity: multiple reflections, refractions, shadows, translucency and ‘difficult substances’ such as crinkled foil or saran wrap. Pratt managed to equate her domesticity to ‘womanhood’. Her images of women and domestic subjects were viewed as her attempt to establish selfhood amidst struggles (her marriage would end) and societal injustice towards women. What then is to be said about the intention or reading of this lot: Swimming Up to the Sun? Is the subject submerging or as the title implies emerging? The facial expression appears as determined, resolute. We are invited to form our own impressions on the subject’s internal dialogues. Mary Pratt was named Companion of the Order of Canada in 1997 and her works have been exhibited and collected by the nation’s most prestigious private and public collections.
72
Canadian Fine Art Auction
MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018
73
72 SOREL ETROG, R.C.A. HOMAGE TO DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, 1967-68 bronze signed and numbered 1/7 on the base including base 18.25 ins x 13.75 ins x 4.5 ins; 45.7 cms x 35.6 cms x 11.43 cms
provenance:
Estate of the artist The Friends of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg
literature:
Carlo L. Ragghianti, Sorel Etrog: 1958-1968, Centro di edizione, Firenze, 1968, cat. no. 46, for Homage to Dr. Martin Luther King, reproduced. Carlo L. Ragghianti, Sorel Etrog, Centro di edizione, Firenze, 1968, page 60, for Homage to Dr. Martin Luther King, reproduced. Alan Toff, Sorel Etrog: One Decade, (catalogue), Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 1968, cat. no. 34, for Homage to Dr. Martin Luther King, reproduced. The Cult of the Head: Sculptures by Sorel Etrog, (catalogue), Singapore Art Museum, National Heritage Board, Singapore, 1997, page 15 and cat. no.4, Homage to Dr. Martin Luther King, reproduced. Pierre Restany, Sorel Etrog, Prestel, Munich, London, New York, 2001, page 85, for Homage to Louis, 1969, reproduced. $25,000–35,000
74
Canadian Fine Art Auction
On April 4, 1968 Civil Rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King was shot by James Earl Ray while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. King had been in Memphis in support of striking African American sanitation workers and it was there that he delivered his final speech which has become known as the “Mountain Top” speech: “I’ve been to the mountain top... and I’ve seen the promised Land.” Many viewed the speech as prophetic; King had received death threats before and worried privately that he, too, might be targeted by a mad man as had President Kennedy before him and as Bobby Kennedy would be barely a month later. In hospital shortly after being shot, King succumbed to his wounds. When news of his death was made public, the world held its breath. Soon after, the demonstrations and rioting began. Sorel Etrog (1933-2014) received news of the assassination while working on the creation of a bronze head. The artist reacted to it by deciding to name the work in honour of Dr. King. Etrog has produced other homages to individuals he admired, among them the thirteenth century Italian painter Cimabue; the Hungarian linguist, philosopher and composer Zoltan Kodaly; the Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa; musician Louis Armstrong; dancer and choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky; Pablo Picasso, and Romanian avant-garde poet Tristan Tzara. Here, as in the Homage to Louis, 1969, with which it shares the closest affinity, dense knots or links intertwine to form a totemic and enduring portrait, made all the more poignant as this year marks the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s passing. This work is being sold to benefit the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg.
MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018
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73 ROBERT VANDERHORST AN OPEN DOORWAY IN GREECE oil on canvas signed 36 ins x 24 ins; 91.4 cms x 61 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Ontario $8,000–10,000
76
Canadian Fine Art Auction
Robert Vanderhorst (b.1951) is a surrealist. Emigrating from Holland to Canada in 1951, his work has been influenced by a wide variety of sources, from Dalí and Magritte, to Escher and Vermeer. With an attention to fine detail and visual cohesion, his highly introspective works carry an undercurrent of quiet unrest and implicit tension. An Open Doorway in Greece is one of his more subtle paintings, discarding the bizarre for the familiar. On first glance, the painting could be a postcard: an open door leads outside to a wide, sunny Mediterranean seascape. However, closer reflection reveals an uncertain scene. The bold red flowers outside are somehow also growing inside the building, collapsing the distinction between exterior and interior. The open door is highly polished, reflecting the outside terrace and appearing almost translucent - further complicating the transition outdoors - while appearing to be at odds with the crumbling masonry of the building. In the words of his friend George Romero, Vanderhorst’s paintings are "telling stories of what might be… if only he can prompt the viewer to see things differently."
74 MIKE BAYNE CHEAPER SUPER
oil on wood panel 6 ins x 4 ins; 15.2 cms x 10.2 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $7,000–9,000
Mike Bayne’s (b.1977) pictures show a continued interest in scrutinising everyday experience. He focuses on points of interest encountered on the side of the (typically Canadian) street that are characterised by their banality: motels and bungalows, overgrown trees and dying businesses, telephone poles and busted signage are all subjects which Bayne treats with secular reverence. Cheaper Super is an excellent example of his approach, taking its title from the hastily arranged advertisement that it depicts. Dominated by a white sky and evacuated of people, the space is filled by the text; disconnected from the unseen gas station, we are left to contemplate their significance ourselves. The diminutive size of the panel demonstrates his remarkable use of detail: it’s only on closer inspection that the brush strokes are discernible. By reproducing vernacular subjects with such painstaking acuity, he carefully elevates these ignored subjects with a sense of immediacy and realness. Precise and highly finished, Bayne’s paintings render fleeting landscapes that are on the decline but perennially relatable.
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75 WILLIAM RONALD, R.C.A. FOUR WORKS FROM THE PRIME MINISTERS SERIES: MACKENZIE, ABBOTT, BOWELL AND TUPPER
all four oil on canvas all signed but ‘Mackenzie’,‘Tupper’ signed with initials; all but ‘Mackenzie’ dated ‘79, ‘78 and ‘79, respectively; all titled on the reverse, all but ‘Abbott’ also signed and dated on the reverse each 20 ins x 20 ins; 50.8 cms x 50.8 cms
literature:
William Ronald, The Prime Ministers, Exile Editions Limited, Toronto, 1983, page 17. Robert Belton, The Theatre of the Self: The Life and Art of William Ronald, University of Calgary Press, Calgary, 1999, pages 82-87. $20,000–30,000 Standing in stark contrast to the typical political portraits of recognizable figures, the works in this lot were created by William Ronald (1926-1998) with the intention of capturing the personalities and political decisions of each leader. While formal portraits instill a sense of authority, grandeur and leadership through a direct, though often detached gaze, the intention of these portraits was to describe the impression made by each PM during his term in office. The shift from Modernism to Post-Modernism in the early 1970s saw William Ronald’s art world star diminish slightly, and his “bad boy” reputation and Beat generation self-indulgence clashed with a new era of art criticism as young contemporary artists emerged on the scene. Painted between 1977 and 1984, the Prime Minister series is a lone political statement within Ronald’s oeuvre. The series was inspired by Ronald’s interest in what caused certain individuals to defy their humble beginnings to seek out and attain power. Writing about the paintings, he stated: “I’ve looked at the world with a small town wonder, the large world of men on a stage, taking hold of their own destinies by the scruff of the neck. I love men and women who take hold of their destinies. So, a few years ago, I decided to paint the portraits of sixteen such men”. The accompanying catalogue, written in collaboration with professor of history, John Saywell, juxtaposes in concise but informative passages the history of each political leader with Ronald’s own “impressionistic musings” on the paintings themselves and what makes the prime ministers so interesting (see lot 147). Ronald’s paintings are notoriously filled with colour, and here it is at its most purposeful and connotative. This is evident in “Mackenzie”, where the striking blend of colour conveys the anguish and struggle of his leadership term in a period of gradual and oftentimes reluctant separation from Britain. The swirling mass of blue, grey and white that constitutes “Sir John Abbott”, illustrates in abstraction the first Canadian born PM’s reluctance and abhorrence of the political power game, but his dedication to the new Canadian Pacific Railway. The muted central square of paint in “Bowell” evidences his general inability to face the rigours of politics, particularly at a moment of extreme crisis with the Manitoba Schools Question in the late 19th century. While he was certainly the wrong man for the job, he accepted an already condemned role at a moment of heightened religious confrontation and is now an integral part of Canadian history. The stark minimalism of “Tupper” evokes his decisive role in the Quebec and Charlottetown Conferences, where he was the lone Nova Scotian voice in favour of Confederacy. It is this blend of abstraction, and precise historical detail that has made the Prime Ministers series so enduring.
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
MACKENZIE
ABBOTT
BOWELL
TUPPER
MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018
79
76 ULYSSE COMTOIS RED
acrylic on (shaped) panel, unframed signed and dated ‘90-91; also signed, titled and dated on the reverse diameter 23.5 ins; 59.7 cms
provenance:
Waddington & Gorce Inc., Montreal Private Collection, Montreal $3,500–5,000
77 ALEX WYSE NOAH’S ARK, 1979-80
mixed media on board 18.5 ins x 66 ins; 47 cms x 167.6 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal
exhibited:
A Certain Amount of Joy: Recent Work by Alex Wyse, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, 16 November, 1986 - 11 January, 1987, no. 1.
literature:
Dorothy Farr, A Certain Amount of Joy: Recent Work by Alex Wyse, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’s University, Kingston, 1986, cat. no.1. $5,000–7,000
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
78 MICHAEL ADAMSON A MARINER BORN
oil on eight attached canvases signed, titled and dated 2000 on the reverse overall 66 ins x 72 ins; 167.6 cms x 182.9 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto
A painter devoted to the pursuit of pure beauty, Michael Adamson’s (b.1971) practice is rooted in the past: “I’m interested in older painting,’ he says, ‘my palette and composition were really informed by religious painting from the 16th and 17th centuries. There is a full spectrum in the renaissance… The fullness of the pallet reflects not just art history, or following guidelines, but some kind of living experience.” Frequently taking the grid as a starting point, Adamson’s lyrical abstractions probe the expressive possibilities of the language of painting through interplays of colour, texture, and structure. In A Mariner Born, an underlying red field serves as a backdrop for wide blocks of bold colour which jostle for position, skirting the line between abstraction and landscape. The composition is sustained by dots and buttons of bright pigment, which seem to pin the blocks of colour in place.
literature:
http://www.michaeladamson.ca/ press9.html $7,000–9,000
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81
79 BRIAN KIPPING TORONTO STOCK EXCHANGE
oil on board signed; also signed, titled and dated 1981 on the reverse 6 ins x 7.5 ins; 15.2 cms x 19.1 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $1,500–2,000
80 JACK LEONARD SHADBOLT, R.C.A. OWL
mixed media collage 8 ins x 10.25 ins; 20.3 cms x 26 cms
provenance:
Equinox Gallery, Vancouver Private Collection, Montreal $1,000–1,500
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
81 HAROLD KLUNDER, R.C.A. UNTITLED
oil on canvas, unframed signed, titled and dated 2002 on the overflap 32 ins x 28 ins; 81.3 cms x 71.1 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal
literature:
Cliff Eyland, Harold Klunder, University of Manitoba Press, Winnipeg, 1999, page 4. $6,000–8,000
Time is as much an element of the paintings of Harold Klunder (b.1943) as subject or medium. While his watercolours are completed quickly, his oil paintings are often done over a number of years and in this way his own lived experience and changing sensibilities are contained in the work. Klunder attended Toronto’s Central Technical School under the tutelage of Canadian painting legend, Doris McCarthy. Towing the line between figurative imagery, abstraction and expressionism, over his extensive career, Klunder has seen many modes, trends and iterations of abstraction come and go. Since the duration of time is so critical to his artistic practice, a single painting can illustrate a multitude of aesthetic changes, ultimately making his work so compelling and challenging to categorise. Klunder has said that “I am influenced by everything; what I find on the street, what I see in stores, on TV, etc. I love the look of things and what the look hides. I love the idiosyncratic, the boring, banal everyday stuff, the things that fill our every moment, moment-to-moment...everything at once all the time...” His fascination with the ephemeral is captured through his own particular abstracted lens, paradoxically cementing this brevity in a dynamic but ultimately fixed image on the canvas. Everything has to end at some point, and what we see in Klunder’s paintings is the recognition, confrontation and ultimate concession to the indiscriminate passage of time. MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018
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82 ALEXANDRA LUKE UNTITLED COMPOSITION, 1957 oil on board signed 20 ins x 24 ins; 50.8 cms x 61 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Whitby $5,000–7,000 Alexandra Luke (1901-1967) was one of two women artist members of the Painters 11. Factually, her contribution was eclipsed by the more flamboyant male members of the group but the consistently high quality of her work as evidenced by this Untitled Composition from 1957 suggests a reassessment is due.
84
Canadian Fine Art Auction
Luke was on the ground floor of many of the significant developments in the history of Abstract painting in Canada. She studied with Jock Macdonald at the Banff School of Fine Arts in 1945. It was at that time that Macdonald was experimenting with his exquisite abstracted watercolours motivated by the technique of Automatic Surrealism. Essentially the idea was to commence mark-making without forethought concerning either subject matter or pre-planned compositions. Each successive stroke called forth a countervailing, complementary, offsetting reaction until the work was, intuitively, judged complete. Luke employed this progressive new technique. From 1947 to 1951, she attended summer courses at the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts in Provincetown, Massachusetts. In 1952, she organized the Canadian Abstract Exhibition and was invited to participate in the groundbreaking fall 1953 exhibition Abstracts at Home at the Simpson’s downtown store in Toronto. In October 1953, she banded together with this core group of exhibitors along with others to form Painters 11. In 1953 she had the honour of exhibiting at the prestigious Martha Jackson Gallery, NY (who exhibited Borduas commencing that year until his death). Naturally, Luke participated in all the major Painters 11 exhibitions: Roberts Gallery 1954, Riverside Art Museum, NY 1956 and Park Gallery 1957. She was a driving force in the push to establish abstraction in Toronto.
83 DENNIS EUGENE NORMAN BURTON DEEP BLUE DREAM, 1962
oil on canvas signed, titled, dated on the stretcher, and inscribed “1-25-1962” on the overflap 48 ins x 48 ins; 121.9 cms x 121.9 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, California
exhibited:
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, California, n.d. $6,000–8,000
Avant-gardist, Dadaist, saxophone player for the Artist’s Jazz Band, Toronto, painter and exemplary draughtsman, Dennis Burton (1933-2013) was a precocious, diversely talented artist. Along with Gordon Rayner and Robert Markle he was one of the youngest members in the renowned Isaacs Group of artists active in Toronto. It is likely that Burton saw the first Painters 11 exhibition in February 1954 at Roberts Gallery and through this developed a great admiration for the work of William Ronald. Burton’s education commenced at the University of Southern California (1955). Both his life and Rayner's were altered immeasurably upon seeing a January 1955 exhibition of the work of Michael Snow and Graham Coughtry held at Hart House, University of Toronto. He continued studies at the Ontario College of Art (graduating in 1956) and worked at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Toronto as a senior graphic designer from 1957 to 1960. He would have seen the 1957 Painters 11 exhibition held at Park Gallery, Toronto, too. Having metabolised all these formative influences, Burton declared that he was dedicated to painting solely abstract paintings. He stayed true to this pledge through 1962, the year of this exquisite abstraction. Its size, 48 by 48 inches, was his preferred square format and about the largest work that he made 1958-62. It reflects his awareness and appreciation for the work of Robert Motherwell, Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning and members of second generation Abstract Expressionism.
MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018
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84 CAROL WAINIO DROPPED FROM THE CALENDAR / EXPERIENCE AND SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS
acrylic on canvas signed, titled and dated /84 on the reverse 60 ins x 81 ins; 152.4 cms x 205.7 cms
provenance:
Acquired directly from the artist Private Collection, Massachusetts
literature:
http://www.paulpetro.com/ exhibitions/423-Dropped-From-The-Calendar $10,000–15,000
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
Carol Wainio (b.1955) is interested in Walter Benjamin’s concept of experience: for him, “Experience was what occurred in slower times when sensory matter slipped, un-registered, into memory… Benjamin saw this kind of experience overtaken by a kind of self-consciousness resulting from the “shocks” of industrialism, urbanism, technology, and the sudden speeding up of life.” Rather than the slowness of experience, which allowed an individual’s memory to merge with a collective history, modern life demanded a self-conscious readiness - an anticipatory awareness of new technologies and the new speeds of life. These are registered as a shock, a disenchantment, and constant self-reflection. From her early career, Experience and Self-Consciousness demonstrates Wainio’s early interest in exploring these competing ideas with dramatic flair. Bodies emerge from the painting: tall figures resembling female forms or ancient philosophers are stitched together, woven with broad strokes of colour which function as promenades for smaller, evidently historical figures. These tall figures are perhaps structural pillars, as the right hand of the painting dissolves into a quasi-interior. Throughout there is a sense of velocity and action: sweeping brushstrokes and blurs of colour merge and collide, while promenaders dawdle across the indistinct planes. A woman’s face peers out at us, curious, perhaps looking for our input in explaining what’s going on. Rather than providing a resolution, Experience and Self-Consciousness demands that we question our place between these two modes of knowledge, and how we can understand them through the ongoing relationship between modernity and our own lived experience.
MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018
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85 REG HOLMES UNTITLED
oil on shaped canvas, unframed 78 ins x 78.75 ins; 198.1 cms x 200.7 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto
literature:
Judith M. Nasby, The University of Guelph Art Collection: A Catalogue of Paintings, Drawing, Prints and Sculpture, The University of Guelph, Guelph, 1980, page 164. Roald Nasgaard, Abstract Painting in Canada, Douglas & McIntyre Ltd., Vancouver and Nova Scotia, 2007, pages 212-213 and 221. $8,000–12,000
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
Modern painters in the mid-20th century challenged the definition and parameters of painting by emphasizing the flatness of the picture plane, thereby shattering the art form as a realist escape by calling attention to the act of painting itself and the materiality of the medium. Reg Holmes (b.1934) takes this radicalism many steps further by entirely refiguring the canvas, as seen here in this lot. A shaped canvas forces the viewer to redefine our notion of what a painting is or can be. Massive in scale, the adjacent geometric cells are rendered in characteristic flatness but paradoxically create an impressive optical illusion. Rendered with sharp lines and contrasting colours, the work removes all notion of the natural world. Holmes attended the Vancouver School of Art in the mid-1950s, where he later taught painting and silkscreening. He moved to New York in 1967 where he lived and painted until returning to Canada in 1975. A colleague of renowned Abstract Expressionist, Jack Shadbolt, Holmes was part of the new generation of Vancouver artists experimenting with themes in contemporary art in the early 1960s, bringing radical ideas of colour, abstraction, and form to the public eye at the same time that Vancouver was becoming a burgeoning artistic centre.
86 BENJAMIN CHEE CHEE BUFFALO SERIES
oil on canvas signed and dated ‘73 29.5 ins x 24.75 ins; 74.9 cms x 62.9 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Teeswater, Ontario $9,000–12,000
A critical food source for Indigenous people throughout history, the buffalo also plays a central role in many oral histories as both a physical and spiritual force. A symbol of honour, strength, endurance and generosity, the buffalo and the buffalo hunt are common themes in both indigenous and settler paintings. Benjamin Chee Chee (1944-1977) inverts this typical representation by creating an abstract, non-figurative imagining of the buffalo in a swirling, brightly coloured geometric design. After a troubled youth of alcohol-related crimes, time in prison and a burdensome search for his own identity, Chee Chee moved to Montreal from his hometown of Temagami, where his interest and talent for art was fostered by the prominent portrait artist Dorothy Watt. His time in Montreal proved extremely influential, and by the time he moved to Ottawa in the early 1970s, it was clear that his star was already on the rise. Painted in 1973, when Chee Chee’s style was still largely geometric and inspired by current trends in modern abstraction, Buffalo Series is a clear example of his early work using block print motifs. Chee Chee did not want to be confined to any one particular style, group or movement. He sought his own individual voice and aesthetic above all else which was perhaps his way of filling the void of detachment and bereavement he felt after a childhood growing up without parents and a tenuous relationship with his cultural heritage. After a life filled with wild highs and devastating lows, fueled by alcoholism, Chee Chee committed suicide at the age of 32, at the height of his career, leaving the art world and Canadian public reeling. MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018
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87 EDWARD BURTYNSKY MAKRANA MARBLE QUARRIES #12, RAJASTHAN, INDIA, 2000 chromogenic print signed, titled, dated and numbered 4/12 30 ins x 38 ins; 76.2 cms x 96.5 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $8,000–12,000
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
The photography of Edward Burtynsky (b.1955) is best known for highly saturated explorations of industrial work within the natural landscape. Taken in Rajasthan, India, the Makrana series documents quarries which provided the marble for the Taj Mahal and the Dilwara and Ranakpur temples. Turning the earth inside out one massive block at a time, deep gouges and geometric marks are left on the marble, skillfully creating an inverted architecture of voids and vacancies. Discarded tires and ropes litter the base of the quarry, evidence of their raw fabrication; while a pool of rainwater and thin layers of dust suggest the slow beginnings of a reclamation by nature. The inclusion of workmen - unusual for the artist puts a human scale on the expansive image. Both organic and intricately patterned, Burtynsky’s quarry photos demonstrate the grandeur and sublimity of these altered landscapes, while testifying to the physical and moral violences inherent in the relationships between man and the environment.
88 TOM DEAN EXCERPTS FROM A DESCRIPTION OF THE UNIVERSE, 1985 cast iron sculpture this lot is one of three total castings in existence and is part of a three-sectioned installation by the same title assembled 23 ins x 10.75 ins; 58.4 cms x 27.3 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Massachusetts $10,000–15,000
Tom Dean’s (b.1947) work is evasive, with a deeply conceptual practice that has included painting, collage, video, performance, and installations. Since the 1970s he has deliberately destabilised the expected hierarchies of artistic media and technique. It is his bronze sculptures which have proven to be his most enduring works. Excerpts from a Description of the Universe is an extended serial sculpture produced at the end of the 1980s, comprised of a series of heavy steel tables filled with a myriad of natural and unnatural forms. Enigmatic objects made of porcelain and wood, bronze and hair, cotton and clay comprise an arcane and tactile inventory of the cosmos, with sections of the work held by the AGO, the National Gallery of Canada, and the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal. The bronze section here is emblematic of the larger work: made of cast iron, the heaviness of the material is offset by the sensuousness of the arrangement, as geometric order gives way to a liquid, amoeba-like flow. Dean’s objects address ideas of transience, evolution, and bodily desire with playful tactility, subverting our expectations of matter in order to expand the tensions between the ordinary and the mythical.
MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018
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89 MARCELLA MALTAIS SANS TITRE
oil on canvas signed and dated ‘66 23.5 ins x 23.5 ins; 59.7 cms x 59.7 cms $5,000–7,000
Marcella Maltais (b.1933) is one of the unsung achievers in the story of Canadian abstraction. Her principal contributions were to Abstract Expressionist works arising from the legacy of the Automatistes. While paintings such as Sans Titre, 1966, display great vigour, strength and flair, Maltais had a crisis in confidence in abstraction in 1967 and all but gave up painting. After a period of residence in Greece she re-invented herself as a figurative artist making this lot all the more rare. It is essentially from the last year of her devotion to abstraction. Maltais studied at the École des beaux-arts de Québec from 1949 to 1954 and thereafter travelled to Paris and Europe. She held her first solo show in 1955 in Quebec, then debuted in Toronto in 1956, exhibited at the Musée des beaux-arts in 1957 and the Musée du Québec in 1968. She was included in the Paris Biennial in 1964, Musée d’Art Contemporain in Montreal in 1965 and several international shows in Czechoslovakia, Italy and New York City. Currently Maltais maintains residences and studios at Hydra, Greece and Quebec City.
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
90 RON MOPPETT ARTIST AND MODEL
oil on board signed, titled and dated 1983 on the reverse 30 ins x 24 ins; 76.2 cms x 61 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $5,000–7,000
Ron Moppett (b.1957) has for decades been a mainstay of exhibitions in western Canada. Born in England, Moppett attended the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary from 1963 to 1967, and the Instituto de Allende in Mexico in 1968. He was Director of the Art Gallery at the Alberta College of Art, Calgary and has taught there since the late 1960s. His influence upon subsequent generations of artists in the western region has been enormous. Early on, his work reflected admiration for colour compositional formats and the use of iconography by the British artist, R. B. Kitaj. However, this downplays the complexity of interests shown by Moppett through his work. He channeled Antoni Tàpies as well as Marcel Duchamp and that master’s propensity to include his own image within compositions. For the most part, Moppett’s work employed the methodology of collage, patching together often seemingly disparate parts and obscure personal icons to compose his pictures. In this work, Artist and Model he seems instead to have left the door more directly open, leading us back to an abstracted version of one of Picasso’s recurring themes.
MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018
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91 SOREL ETROG, R.C.A. BIAFRA
oil on canvas signed 76 ins x 45 ins; 196.9 cms x 114.3 cms
provenance:
Estate of the artist The Friends of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg
literature:
Pierre Restany, Sorel Etrog, Prestel, Munich, London, New York, 2001, page 21. Joyce Zemans (intro.), Sorel Etrog, Painting and Drawings 1963-1971, Simon Fraser University Gallery/ Buschlen Mowatt Gallery, B.C., 2008, page 35, for Biafra, reproduced in colour. Ihor Holubizky (ed.), Sorel Etrog: Five Decades, Art Gallery of Ontario, 2013, for Biafra, reproduced in colour. $30,000–50,000
The title of this extraordinary 1968 painting by Sorel Etrog (1933-2014), unambiguously positions it as a response to what is among the greatest humanitarian crises of the twentieth century - the Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafran War. While the Nigerian Civil War, like all wars, had its share of atrocities: pogroms, property loss and mass displacement, the images that are indelibly etched in the minds of a generation of people who grew up in the sixties is that of starving little children with distended bellies who appeared on the nightly news. History now views the forced starvation of Biafrans (using land and sea blockades) during the civil war as a genocide. This was not Etrog’s first foray into the subject of extreme suffering caused by a shortage of food. It was also a subject with which he may have had personal experience as a child in Romania during the second World War. As Pierre Restany notes, “the first painting (Etrog) did in Israel in the early 1950s depicts a young mother, her face emaciated, in a refugee tent holding her child in her arms. Where her stomach should be lies a gaping hole...” The Biafran War lasted from 1967 to 1970. There had been an element of religious strife to it: Biafrans were largely Christian and the Nigerian federal government was largely controlled by Muslim leaders. This may have stirred up memories for Etrog from his own past. But contemporaneously, Canada was having its own experience of minority groups seeking self-determination. Quebec separatists had rioted in Montreal on St. Jean Baptiste Day in June 1968. And in August 1968, after Warsaw pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia, thousands sought refugee status from Canada. Yet, in the face of deep despair, Etrog’s Biafra is a message of hope. It may symbolize the pride and courage of an ethnic minority group (shown here standing shoulder to shoulder in solidarity) who sought the right to self determination. It also reminds us of the religious, private and non-governmental organizations who rallied to support the Biafrans, airlifting in food, aid workers, and medical supplies to support the beleagured civilian population. And perhaps the great lasting outcome of this war was the formation of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) which grew out of the experience of front line French medical personnel who had been disillusioned by the weak or disorganized response they had witnessed from certain agencies during the war. The need for MSF or Doctors Without Borders would, unfortunately, only increase in the following decades. Biafra, 1968 falls within Etrog’s so-called Links period which dates from 1963 to 1971. Links paintings appear only very rarely on the auction market; the artist is more widely recognized for his painted constructions and composites (see lot 146) and bronze sculptures (see lot 31 and lot 72). This work is being sold to benefit the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg.
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92 JACK HAMILTON BUSH, O.S.A., A.R.C.A. SUITE OF FIVE WORKS FROM THE LOOP SERIES (1971): 1. LOW SUN 2. YELLOW MARK 3. THREE & BLUE LOOP 4. GREEN LOOP 5. RED M
colour silkscreens on paper, the first two framed all signed with the stamped signature and inscribed “P.P” in pencil in the lower margin, edition size of 100 33.25 ins x 25 ins; 84.5 cms x 63.5 cms
provenance:
GE Collection, U.S.A. Private Collection, Toronto $9,000–12,000
In 1953 Jack Bush (1909-1977) and associates formed Painters 11 as a mechanism to promote exhibitions exclusively dedicated to abstract art. Throughout the late 1950s and into 1962 the art of Bush and the Painters 11 could be characterized as second generation Abstract Expressionism. Bush initially produced works in the spirit of international colour field painting. However, many would consider that his most unique personal work commenced in about 1970, roughly concurrent with the dates of this exemplary Loop series. This set from the edition is inscribed as the coveted P.P (Printer’s Proof). These works re-introduce a dramatic figure/ground relationship that contrasts a floating central shape or gestural marks in strong hues set upon a backdrop of muted tertiary colours: tans, browns, and in this case, chromatic grays. The colour palette is vintage Bush. It was his practice to establish colour chords which initially seem close to the primary triad of red, yellow, blue. However, there is inevitably a twist in this expectation. In these prints he elects to orchestrate three ‘near’ primaries with an additional unexpected green counterpoint. The Loop series pays homage to School of Paris-type painters among them: Bonnard, Matisse, Miro and Calder. Bush was a gracious supporter of other modernists post 1970, notably: David Bolduc, Paul Fournier, K.M. Graham, Alex Cameron and Joseph Drapell. His exhibition record is international in scope including: the Robert Elkon Gallery, NY, group exhibitions at The Tate Gallery, London, the Museum of Modern Art, N.Y. (1963), and the prestigious exhibition, Post-Painterly Abstraction, at The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which was also seen at The Art Gallery of Toronto. His works have been avidly collected by some of the most astute, discerning international private collectors and corporations and are in every major Canadian public collection as well as the Tate Gallery, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Albright-Knox Art Gallery, among others. He was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1976.
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93 GREGORY RICHARD CURNOE CAPITOL
ink on paper signed and dated ‘May 7/67’ 8.25 ins x 9 ins; 21 cms x 22.9 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, London $2,000–3,000
94 GREGORY RICHARD CURNOE CAUGHT BY THE EYES
stamp pad ink and gouache on paper dated ‘62 10.75 ins x 9.5 ins; 27.3 cms x 24.1 cms
provenance:
Thielsen Galleries Inc., Toronto Private Collection, London
exhibited:
Greg Curnoe, Musée des beaux-arts, Montreal, 17 April to 31 May 1981, no. 36. $2,000–3,000
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95 BRIAN KIPPING ARTIST’S PARTY
oil on canvas signed, titled and dated 1999 on the reverse 24 ins x 36 ins; 61 cms x 91.4 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $6,000–8,000
As a painter, Brian Kipping (1953-2007) is best known for his urban landscapes, with evacuated night cities - in particular, downtown Toronto - illuminated by the chiaroscuro glow of street lights. Artist’s Party presents a much more intimate perspective: the inside of a large room, filled with light and people. Despite the clamour of the party, the figures remain obscured and indistinct; much of the focus is given to the space above, echoing the vacancies of his street paintings. The image vibrates with a bleary energy, and the whole room seems to double and animate with activity that is immediately felt rather than seen. The image radiates with a mesmerising glow, the room filling with the buzz of half-remembered conversations and warm after images. Absent of recognisable figures, Kipping brings attention to a moment in time that is general rather than specific, and speaks to his belief of ‘paintings as painting,’ art free of function.
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96 MAUD LEWIS SANDY COVE
oil on board signed 9 ins x 12 ins; 22.9 cms x 30.5 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Waterloo $9,000–12,000
97 JOHN WILLIAM BEATTY, O.S.A., R.C.A. EDGE OF THE FIELD
oil on board signed 8.75 ins x 10.5 ins; 22.2 cms x 26.7 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $5,000–7,000 J.W. Beatty (1869-1941) painted his fair share of Jack pines, larches and tamaracks. However, he was keenly aware that the wilds were not the totality of our visual experience or identity. After all, in Canada our daily life is surrounded by the trees that line our city streets, parks, meadows and agricultural lands. The emblem of our nation is not a conifer, but the deciduous Maple. Edge of the Field straddles this awareness. The lush, verdant agrarian scene is framed by an escarpment bluff in the near distance, the conjoining of two realities. Its format, 8 by 10 inches on board was one of the most favoured in its day. It permitted a wet oil painting to be slipped into a carrying slot in a portable sketch box. Thereby allowing the artist to undertake numerous quick field studies. This also encouraged a more spontaneous, freer painting approach. Edge of the Field is painted in Beatty’s characteristic Post-Impressionist style.
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98 PETER CLAPHAM SHEPPARD, O.S.A., R.C.A. HOUSE BY THE RIVER
oil on board signed; with an unfinished sketch on the reverse 13.25 ins x 16.25 ins; 33.7 cms x 41.3 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Ontario $4,000–5,000
99 ALBERT HENRY ROBINSON, R.C.A. OLD BARN NEAR KNOWLTON, CA. 1930 oil on canvas signed 17.5 ins x 21.5 ins; 44.5 cms x 54.6 cms
provenance:
Roberts Gallery Limited, Toronto Jerrold Morris Gallery, Toronto Cooper Campbell Collection Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., Montreal Mayberry Fine Art, Winnipeg Private Collection, Toronto
exhibited:
Albert H. Robinson, University of Guelph, March 3-31, 1968; Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, April 5-21, 1968.
literature:
Jennifer C. Watson, Albert H. Robinson: The Mature Years, Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, 1982, page 16. $12,000–15,000
Jennifer Watson notes that from the late 1920s onward, the paintings of Albert Robinson (1881-1956) shift toward more dramatic points of view and begin exhibiting a marked increase in rhythm. She continues: “A calmer mood sets in finally around 1930 with a group of farm scenes, although the ploughed fields (as seen in this lot) recall earlier rhythms.” Old Barn Near Knowlton has been dated to circa 1930. Only two years earlier Robinson had been awarded the Jessie Dow Prize at the Art Association of Montreal’s spring exhibition. Exhibition lists and critical reviews from this period link this work to other closely related paintings such as Farm in the Hills, Knowlton and Haytime near Knowlton, both exhibited at the National Gallery of Canada in 1932.
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100 PEGI NICOL MACLEOD THE ARTIST’S DAUGHTER PLAYING WITH A DOLL oil on canvas 28 ins x 20 ins; 71.1 cms x 50.8 cms
provenance:
Joyner Fine Art, Toronto, November 1995 (Lot 153) Private Collection, Toronto $5,000–7,000
101 NORA COLLYER POPPY, LAKE WONISH
oil on panel signed; also signed, titled and dated 1946 on the reverse 14 ins x 12 ins; 35.6 cms x 30.5 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $8,000–12,000 Beaver Hall Group member, Anne Savage, had a cottage on Lake Wonish to which she often invited her painter friends, one of whom was Nora Collyer (1898-1979).
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102 FRANKLIN MILTON ARMINGTON MIDNIGHT SUN OF ABISKO, SWEDEN
oil on canvas signed; also signed and titled on the reverse 28.5 ins x 36 ins; 72.4 cms x 91.4 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, California
literature:
Janet Braide and Nancy Parke-Taylor, Caroline and Frank Armington: Canadian Painter-Etchers in Paris, Art Gallery of Peel, 1990, pages xii and 59. $8,000–10,000
Despite surprisingly limited success in Canada, Frank Armington’s (1876-1941) work was enormously popular with American buyers, many of whom he met while living in Paris, which after World War I was a very popular destination for American travellers wanting to experience the thrill of Europe. The American dollar was strong against the French currency and even a limited budget stretched far and afforded an enriched experience. Armington and his wife, Caroline, also exhibited widely in the U.S. while, according to Janet Braide, “Canadian tax law regarding the importation of artworks effectively discouraged the sale of their work in their native land.” It is not surprising, therefore, that this work was found in a private collection in California. The Armingtons travelled extensively while in Europe, including a visit to Sweden in 1928. Abisko, whose enchanting landscape is depicted in this lot, is a small, remote village in northern Sweden’s Lappland province, located within the Arctic Circle. The area is mountainous and only sparsely inhabited. Abisko is accessible by train from Stockholm and attracts hikers and other visitors as it is known to be an excellent place to view the Northern Lights.
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103 NORA COLLYER EASTERN TOWNSHIPS LANDSCAPE oil on board signed 11.75 ins x 14 ins; 35.6 cms x 58.4 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto
literature:
Barbara Meadowcroft, Painting Friends: The Beaver Hall Women Painters, Vehiculé Press, Montreal, 1999, page 109. $8,000–12,000 In July 1950, Nora Collyer (1898-1979) purchased a lot overlooking Lake Memphremagog in the Eastern Townships of Quebec where she spent summers sketching. The cottage was sold in 1967.
104 WALTER JOSEPH PHILLIPS, R.C.A. BOW RIVER, BANFF
watercolour on paper signed and dated ‘45 15.5 ins x 22.5 ins; 36.8 cms x 53.3 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Saskatoon $9,000–12,000
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105 FRANK HANS JOHNSTON, O.S.A., A.R.C.A. A FRIENDLY ROAD
oil on masonite signed; also signed and titled on the reverse 20 ins x 24 ins; 50.8 cms x 61 cms
provenance:
Galerie Bernard Desroches, Montreal Pagurian Press Limited, Toronto Private Collection, Toronto $10,000–15,000
106 ALLEN SAPP, R.C.A. THRESHING FOR WHITE PEOPLE acrylic on canvas signed; titled on the stretcher 24 ins x 36 ins; 61 cms x 91.4 cms
provenance:
Galerie de Bellefeuille, Westmount Private Collection, Montreal $4,000–5,000
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107 JOHN HERBERT CADDY THREE WORKS RELATING TO THE NIAGARA RIVER: CANADIAN FALLS OF NIAGARA AND RAPIDS; QUEENSTON HEIGHTS FROM ROAD TO NIAGARA; AND STREETS ISLAND - RAPIDS ABOVE FALLS, NIAGARA watercolours sight 11.5 ins x 17.5 ins; 29.2 cms x 44.4 cms; 9 ins x 12.25 ins; 22.9 cms x 31.1 cms; 10.25 ins x 8.75 ins; 29.2 cms x 44.5 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $4,000–6,000
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Like many other Canadian topographical painters of renown, John Herbert Caddy (1801-1883) received his training in topographical sketching while pursuing a military education. He attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, England.
108 ALFRED JOSEPH CASSON, O.S.A., P.R.C.A. BLUE MORNING, OXTONGUE LAKE, 1979 oil on board signed; also signed, titled and dated on the reverse 12 ins x 15 ins; 30.5 cms x 38.1 cms
provenance:
Canadian Fine Arts, Toronto Private Collection, Maple, Ontario $15,000–18,000
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109 JOHN WILLIAM BEATTY, O.S.A., R.C.A. John William Beatty (1869-1941) was central to the establishment of a ALGONQUIN PARK
oil on canvas signed 28 ins x 36 ins; 69.9 cms x 91.4 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Barrie, Ontario $25,000–40,000
distinctly Canadian approach to painting. He was a leading figure during the incipient years of the formation of Canada’s national school of painting - the Algonquin School. As was the custom at that time, Beatty studied art at the academies in Europe. He returned to Canada in 1909, roughly concurrent with A.Y. Jackson and Lawren Harris, who also studied abroad. The idea of a national approach to painting was still nascent. Eric Brown, director of the National Gallery wrote that he looked to Beatty and C. W. Jefferys to lead the way for the younger artists. At the insistence of the artist, Brown convinced the National Gallery to exchange a Dutch scene in their collection by Beatty for a newly completed picture, The Evening Cloud of the Northland (1910), thus establishing his credentials as a proponent of Canadian subject matter. This work and Algonquin Park forge a distinct approach. The elements of the composition are aligned horizontally, parallel to the picture plane, a screen of trees framing the view. Both paintings are grounded by a calm, underspoken majesty of nature, the fleeting effects of changing weather captured using Post-Impressionist technique. To that date, few painters had braved a painting of such a remote locale. It was a beacon to the aspiring new movement; it also became the standard format for Thomson paintings. In 1912 Beatty became president of the Arts and Letters Club, the second home to the future members of the Group of Seven. In 1914, he was invited to take one of the six studios in the newly constructed Studio Building, alongside Harris, MacDonald, Jackson and Thomson. Beatty and JEH MacDonald went to Algonquin Park in March of 1914 and met up with Jackson, who had travelled there that year for the first time, a full four years after Beatty. It is presumed that Beatty also made sketching trips with Thomson to Algonquin. (Following Thomson’s untimely death, Beatty designed the stonework and Macdonald provided the plaque for the cairn they erected at Canoe Lake in memory of Thomson.) Rather surprisingly, Beatty was not invited to be a member of the Group of Seven or to exhibit in their inaugural Group of Seven exhibition held at the Art Gallery of Toronto in May 1920. Throughout the remainder of his career Beatty returned to the tenets of Post-Impressionism and a rugged naturalism such as Algonquin Park.
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110 CLARENCE ALPHONSE GAGNON, R.C.A. PONT DE L’ARCHE - STREET SCENE watercolour signed and dated ‘09; titled on the reverse 12.75 ins x 9.75 ins; 32.4 cms x 24.1 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Ontario $4,000–5,000
111 STANLEY MOREL COSGROVE, R.C.A. THE PENSIVE GIRL
oil on canvas signed 20 ins x 16 ins; 50.8 cms x 40.6 cms
provenance:
Dominion Gallery, Montreal Private Collection, Montreal $3,000–4,000
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112 JOHN WILLIAM BEATTY, O.S.A., R.C.A. SAILING OFF FRENCH COAST
oil on board signed and dated 08; also signed on the reverse 6.5 ins x 9 ins; 16.5 cms x 22.9 cms
provenance:
Kaspar Gallery, Toronto Private Collection, Toronto $5,000–7,000 J.W. Beatty (1869-1941) travelled throughout Holland, Belgium, Italy and Spain from 19051909 where he was apprised of the most advanced aesthetic views of his day. The road towards the modern was rocky for many turn of the century Canadians. In the quest to evolve from academic naturalism, many embraced the subjective colour and brushwork of the French Barbizon artists. Particularly noteworthy were the subtle harmonies of chromatic greys popularized by the Tonalist paintings by James Abbott McNeill Whistler. At the time their subdued, restrained palette was not considered dull, or lifeless, instead they were regarded as elegant, refined and sophisticated. Sailing Off French Coast bears all these hallmarks.
113 FREDERICK SIMPSON COBURN, R.C.A. HAULING LOGS, EASTERN TOWNSHIPS oil on canvas signed and dated ‘27 14.25 ins x 21.5 ins; 35.6 cms x 54.6 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $8,000–10,000
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114 ALEXANDER YOUNG JACKSON, O.S.A., R.C.A. EUROPEAN STREET SCENE
oil on board signed 7.25 ins x 9.5 ins; 18.4 cms x 24.1 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $12,000–15,000
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115 ROBERT WAKEHAM PILOT, P.R.C.A. MULLET RIVER, LAURENTIANS oil on canvas signed 20 ins x 24 ins; 48.3 cms x 61 cms
provenance:
Walter Klinkhoff Gallery, Montreal Private Collection, Collingwood
exhibited:
Robert W. Pilot Exhibition, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, November 1 - December 6, 1968, (also exhibited at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa and the Art Gallery of Hamilton), no. 33.
Robert Pilot (1898-1967) was a Canadian Impressionist painter whose chief influences were his stepfather Maurice Cullen, with whom he painted as a young man, and James Wilson Morrice, whose work he greatly admired. After studying at the Art Association of Montreal with William Brymner, he attended the Académie Julian in Paris from 1920 to 1922. Back in Canada, Pilot was elected an associate of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1925. His diploma work, deposited with the RCA in 1935, is entitled Twilight, Lévis, 1933. Pilot’s most characteristic works were moody winter landscapes in Quebec (see also lot 49). Mullet River was painted north of Montreal in the Laurentians, an area he knew well. Using a restricted palette of white, blue and silvery brown, Pilot captured the atmosphere of the spring thaw with the rush of running water and the distant trees awakening with new growth when winter finally releases its icy grip on the land.
$15,000–20,000
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116 ALFRED LALIBERTÉ, R.C.A. LA TRAVAILLEUSE CANADIENNE OÙ LA FEMME AU SEAU bronze signed and titled 19.5 ins x 8 ins x 8 ins; 49.5 cms x 20.3 cms x 20.3 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $3,000–4,000
117 ALFRED LALIBERTÉ, R.C.A. LA COUTURIÈRE DE VILLAGE bronze signed and titled 19 ins x 11.5 ins x 15 ins; 48.3 cms x 29.2 cms x 38.1 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $4,000–5,000
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118 FREDERICK ARTHUR VERNER, O.S.A., A.R.C.A. FISHING BY MOONLIGHT
watercolour signed and dated 1875 11.75 ins x 18.75 ins; 30.5 cms x 45.7 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto
literature:
Joan Murray, The Last Buffalo, The Story of Frederick Arthur Verner, Painter of the Canadian West, Pagurian Press, Toronto, 1984, page 63. $9,000–12,000
It is common knowledge among people who fish that certain times of the day or phases of the moon produce a more plentiful catch of larger fish than other times of the day. Solunar charts exist to help sportsmen time their best opportunity. Sunrise and sunset, when fish are hungry and may be inclined to nibble at just about anything tempting, are notoriously good times to bait your hook. But in 1875, when this work was executed, such charts did not yet exist. One learnt when and where to fish by experience. F.A. Verner (1836-1928) was impressed by the depth of knowledge and skill Canada’s First Nations people possessed when it came to living off the land. There are many examples of paintings by him which record scenes of setting and breaking camp, canoeing and hunting - people expertly going about their daily tasks. In this lot, four figures have gathered at sunset, to fish under the emerging stars. By 1875, Verner’s own star was rising and he was now devoting all his time to painting as a result of the increasing popularity of his work. Joan Murray notes that “(B)y the spring of 1875 (Verner) had produced a surprising amount of new work.” She continues: “Among his paintings were his first subjects of evening or night scenes”, such as this lot.
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119 ROBERT HARRIS, O.S.A., P.R.C.A. PORTRAIT OF ROBERT HAMILTON oil on canvas signed 30 ins x 24 ins; 67.3 cms x 52.1 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $8,000–12,000
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Robert Harris (1849-1919), a founding member of the Royal Canadian Academy (1880) and its president (1893), was the most highly-respected portrait painter in Canada from the 1880s to the 1910s. After travelling abroad to study and develop his art, Harris settled in Montreal. From early in his career, he had aspired to become a portrait painter, and by the time of his death, he had painted more than 200 portraits of the major political, business and social figures of his day. He was best known for his large work, Meeting of the Delegates of British North America to Settle Terms of Confederation, Quebec, October 1864 which he completed in 1883. It was lost in the fire that destroyed the Parliament Buildings in 1916. This portrait of Robert Hamilton dates to the 1890s. Hamilton (1822-1898), eldest son of timber baron George Hamilton, carried on the successful business along with his two brothers after the death of their father. Residing in New Liverpool, Lévis, Quebec, he was also a large shareholder in the Bank of Montreal and a trustee of Bishop’s College University (now Bishop’s University) from 1871 to 1898. Characteristic of Harris’s portraits of distinguished male sitters, the dark-suited figure emerges out of the background, with emphasis on the skillfully-painted head. Gold-framed spectacles and a watch fob and chain stand out against Hamilton’s waistcoat.
120 CHARLES-ERNEST DE BELLE, A.R.C.A. FIVE YOUNG GIRLS
pastel signed with monogram sight 28 ins x 31 ins; 50.8 cms x 61 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Oakville (by descent from the artist) $5,000–7,000
Pastel is a challenging medium. It has been described as straddling the world of painting and drawing yet unlike both of these methods, it is very difficult to return to an earlier stage of the work to improve it. Using pastels requires both decisiveness and a deft touch. It has been described by one artist familiar with the medium as “working without a net”. Essentially, there is no room for error but when it has been done well, painting with pastel can result in magical works that seem woven from light and air. Charles-Ernest de Belle (1873-1939) was a master of this medium, acutely aware of the level of skill the medium demands. Biographer Colin MacDonald notes “when ill health deprived him of the control in his hand so necessary in pastel work”, de Belle switched permanently to oil painting. Given its demands, a large-scale work such as this lot might be a fool-hardy undertaking in the hands of an artist any less competent than de Belle. But here experience and rare skill result in success. It is perhaps unsurprising that this work has remained in the artist’s family’s possession until now.
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121 WILLIAM HENRY CLAPP, A.R.C.A. TWO WOMEN RECLINING, 1918 oil on divided panel signed 12 ins x 9 ins; 30.5 cms x 22.9 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $4,000–5,000
122 WILLIAM HENRY CLAPP, A.R.C.A. THE ABDUCTION, 1918
oil on divided panel signed 9 ins x 12 ins; 22.9 cms x 30.5 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $3,000–4,000
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123 KENNETH CAMPBELL LOCHHEAD, R.C.A. PINK BAY
enamel on board signed and dated ‘63 26 ins x 20 ins; 66 cms x 50.8 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal $3,000–5,000 It is difficult to imagine a more perfect art historically significant work by Kenneth Lochhead (1926-2006) than Pink Bay, 1963. It is in its stylistic attributes and date an extremely fine example of his work drawn from the most celebrated aspect of his career: Post-Painterly Abstraction. Works of this type and date were selected by Clement Greenberg for his 1964 “Post-Painterly Abstraction” exhibition organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art which travelled to the Art Gallery of Toronto. This exhibition defined the movement Colour Field Abstraction and launched Lochhead into major recognition. Lochhead was the director of the School of Art, Regina, a member of the Regina Five, and established the Emma Lake Artist’s Workshops. Through his pioneering efforts, artists particularly in western Canada became uniquely familiar with important abstract artists of the period, among them Helen Frankenthaler, Josef Albers, Barnett Newman, Kenneth Noland, Morris Louis and Frank Stella. He influenced the trajectory of many Canadian abstractionists notably Jack Bush and William Perehudoff. Lochhead was awarded the Order of Canada in 1971 and a Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts in 2006.
124 ANTHONY (TONY) MORSE URQUHART, A.R.C.A. THE KORDES PERFECTA TONDO
oil on board signed and dated 1966; also signed and titled on the reverse diameter 42 ins x 42 ins; 106.7 cms x 106.7 cms
provenance:
Readers Digest Collection Private Collection, Montreal $4,000–5,000
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125 WILLIAM HADD MCELCHERAN, R.C.A. WALKING BUSINESSMAN AND THREE ARCHES terracotta initialed, dated ‘81 and inscribed “AP” 28.5 ins x 35.5 ins x 3.7 ins; 73.7 cms x 90.2 cms x 9.5 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $6,000–8,000 William McElcheran (1927-1999) is well-known for his portly figures who appear numerously as single and group figures each bearing near identical likenesses. Of relevance to this lot is McElcheran’s celebrated project The Conversation (1981), sited at Stephen Avenue, in downtown Calgary, directly in front of The Hudson’s Bay department store. That building has a series of evenly-spaced columns supporting three-arches that define a loggia. Our businessman paces through the covered colonnade, partly obscured by a pillar. A classical Roman warrior statue points his way. Does it humorously quote a side reference to the forms of the annunciation pictures of Fra Angelico? Fashioned in the time-honoured material of terracotta Walking Businessman and Three Arches is a handsome traditional bas-relief, a conflation of the modern and ancient world.
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126 DAVID SORENSEN, R.C.A. CORNER SERIES 22A
oil on canvas signed, titled and dated ‘84 on the reverse 25 ins x 17 ins; 63.5 cms x 43.2 cms
provenance:
Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver Private Collection, Montreal $1,000–1,500
127 NORA FRANCES ELISABETH COLLYER FLORAL STILL LIFE
oil on panel signed 10.5 ins x 8.5 ins; 26.7 cms x 21.6 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $4,000–6,000
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128 MARY PRATT, R.C.A. GRAPES IN A COLANDER
mixed media on paper signed, titled and dated 2007 image 8 ins x 8.5 ins; 20.3 cms x 21.5 cms
provenance:
Equinox Gallery, Vancouver Private Collection, Montreal $3,000–4,000
129 MAUD LEWIS OXEN IN WINTER
oil on board signed 11.5 ins x 13.5 ins; 29.2 cms x 34.3 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, United Kingdom $7,000–9,000
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
130 ABA BAYEFSKY, A.R.C.A. KENSINGTON MARKET WOMAN oil on canvas signed and dated 2000 18 ins x 24 ins; 45.7 cms x 61 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto
literature:
Paul Duval (intro.), Aba Bayefsky in Kensington Market, Mosaic Press, Oakville, 1991, page 8. $3,000–4,000 Paul Duval writes: “Bayefsky’s paintings and drawings represent both a celebration and a requiem. Kensington, as Bayefsky has known it, is inexorably changing, even disappearing. Together, his market (subjects) compose both a vivid portrait of a vanishing place and a memorable creative statement. ”
131 ANNE MEREDITH BARRY, O.S.A., R.C.A. ON THE HOPE DALE RUN
mixed media on paper signed and dated 2002 29.75 ins x 44.25 ins; 76.2 cms x 111.8 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal $2,500–4,000
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132 JOHN SCOTT UNTITLED (TATTOOED JESUS)
collage and mixed media on paper 40 ins x 26.25 ins; 101.6 cms x 66.7 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $4,000–6,000
133 RICHARD BORTHWICK GORMAN, R.C.A. UNTITLED
watercolour signed and dated ‘77 21.5 ins x 30 ins; 54.6 cms x 73.7 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $2,000–2,500
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134 JOHN GRAHAM COUGHTRY UNTITLED - FIGURE(S) SET AMID FAUNA double-sided pastel and watercolour on paper both sides signed 59 ins x 43.5 ins; 147.3 cms x 109.2 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal $5,000–7,000
VERSO
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135 DOROTHY KNOWLES, R.C.A. FIRST YELLOW LEAVES, SPRUCE RIVER RESERVOIR
oil on canvas signed, titled, “dated Aug.15 ‘81” and inscribed “Oc-62-81” on the reverse 45.25 ins x 47.5 ins; 114.9 cms x 120.7 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal $8,000–10,000
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
136 MARY PRATT, R.C.A. SPLIT POMEGRANATE
mixed media signed and dated ‘91 22.5 ins x 30 ins; 57.2 cms x 76.2 cms
provenance:
Equinox Gallery, Vancouver Private Collection, Montreal $8,000–10,000
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137 FRANÇOISE SULLIVAN ROUGES-ESPACES V, 1998
oil on canvas, unframed signed, titled and dated on the reverse 14 ins x 12 ins; 35.6 cms x 30.5 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal $1,500–2,000
138 CLAUDE HERBERT BREEZE, R.C.A. CANADIAN ATLAS: PRAIRIE MIRAGE
acrylic on canvas signed and dated ‘73 42 ins x 51 ins; 106.7 cms x 129.5 cms
provenance:
Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto / Montreal Private Collection, Montreal $5,000–7,000
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139 THRUSH HOLMES UNTITLED, 2016
mixed media on canvas 82 ins x 60 ins; 208.3 cms x 152.4 cms
provenance:
Commissioned by a Private Collector, Toronto, 2016 $6,000–8,000
The work of Thrush Holmes (b.1979) is immediately characterised by its frenetic energy. Great blurs of colour are cut with fluorescent slashes, bouncing from one side of the canvas to the next in an electric frenzy. Working in both intimate and monumental scale, his works are diverse, combining traditional media of oils and pastels with spray paint, collage, and neon light to create eclectic images that appear caught in the act of forming and re-forming themselves. Untitled discards figuration altogether, settling in to an aesthetic of erratic movement which seems unable to coalesce into one form. Colours seethe across the canvas, bounce off the edges, collide with each other in a flurry of movement that threatens to burst out of the frame - yet retains a delicacy and muffled softness, as if all this energy is contained beneath frosted glass. Addressing themes from mythmaking to yearning, Holmes’ pieces are caught in a rhythm of reinvention, each canvas radiating with an impulsive, interior vibrancy.
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140 JOHN RICHARD FOX NATURE MORTE EN BLEU, 1970 acrylic on canvas signed 30 ins x 30 ins; 76.2 cms x 76.2 cms
provenance:
Galerie Agnès Lefort, Montreal Private Collection, Montreal $2,000–3,000
141 TOM HOPKINS CARGO
oil on linen signed, titled and dated 1990 on the reverse 38 ins x 55 ins; 96.5 cms x 139.7 cms
provenance:
Equinox Gallery, Vancouver Private Collection, Montreal $5,000–7,000
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
142 RONALD WILLIAM BOLT, P.R.C.A. SUNDANCE ATLANTIC
oil on canvas signed and dated ‘97; also signed, titled and dated 1997 on the reverse 60 ins x 66 ins; 152.4 cms x 167.6 cms
provenance:
Leslie Poole’s Studio, Toronto Private Collection, Toronto
literature:
Peter Lyon, “The Great Globe Itself: Continuity and Change”, in New Orientations: Essays in International Relations, Edited by E.F Penrose, Peter Lyon and Edith Penrose, Routledge, London and New York, 1970, page 15. $5,000–7,000
Canada’s impressive coasts have played a significant role in defining our history of settlement and economic development. The discovery of an abundant and seemingly endless supply of cod in the Atlantic ocean led to increased colonization, nation building [and destroying], trade wars and prosperity, and as with history the world over, “those who control the waves, control the world”. The paintings of Ron Bolt (b.1938) often use as their subject this impressive and mighty coastline. Born in Toronto, Bolt was immersed in the tradition of Canadian landscape painting that defined our artistic past, however, Bolt shifted the focus from the rugged hills and mountains favoured by the Group and their admirers to the wild and sacred riverways and oceans that carve their way through our country or surround it. While Sundance Atlantic is rendered in sharp detail, Bolt’s roots in abstraction and interest in photography are evident. Bolt also makes the decision not to include references to human geography and his rendition of the awesome force of the ocean is relative only to itself. An environmentalist, Bolt’s paintings of the ocean are a reminder of the awe-inspiring beauty of the planet, and are both an act of artistic and social intention.
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143 WILLIAM KURELEK, R.C.A. SNOWFALL ENDING ON QUEBEC ONTARIO BORDER
lithograph, printed in colours signed with initials in the print, also signed, titled and numbered 29/50 in pencil in the lower margin sight 16.25 ins x 22.5 ins; 41.3 cms x 57.2 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $2,500–4,000
144 MOLLY LAMB BOBAK, R.C.A. SOUVENIR OF PEI, 1982
oil on masonite signed, titled and dated /82 18 ins x 24 ins; 45.7 cms x 61 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal $6,000–8,000
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
145 DAVID A. THAUBERGER, R.C.A. RED BOAT, 2001
acrylic on canvas signed, titled and dated on the overflap 42 ins x 65 ins; 106.7 cms x 165.1 cms
provenance:
Equinox Gallery, Vancouver Private Collection, Montreal $5,000–7,000 David Thauberger (b.1948) has been the creator of some of the most compelling, memorable, iconic images of prairie Canada. Yet to obsess exclusively about his prairie roots would lead us to overlook a crucial ingredient in his character and background, thus misunderstanding the complexity of his career motivations and the foundations of this picture: Red Boat.
Thauberger’s art training was ‘cross-boundary’. His undergraduate was at the University of Saskatchewan, yet he holds a Master of Arts from California State University, Sacramento, 1972 and Master of Fine Arts, University of Montana, 1973. His path towards the artist we now know is quite unique. He commenced his work as a ceramic sculptor, not as a painter. Back in Regina he teamed with Joe Fafard, Victor Cicansky and David Gilhooly among many other notable contributors to forge a very special new art. Roughly concurrent with Thauberger’s California studies, a brash young British Pop artist was making waves while teaching at UC Berkely. David Hockney was pointing the way towards a new approach to picture-making with his images of suburban houses and portrayal of everyday southern California life. Thauberger personally collected his work. Hockney’s 1967 painting, A Bigger Splash and his 1971 series of lithographs Flowers Made of Paper and Black Ink emphatically demonstrated the axiom of Surrealist René Magritte: Ceci n’est pas une Pipe. All picture-making was a willful artifice. Thauberger made numerous “sketching trips” across western Canada to southern Alberta, BC, Banff, the Rockies and The Yukon. However, there would be no on-thespot painted wooden panels or field drawings. He foraged in search of calendar pictures, postcards, magazine and tourist brochure images. He looked for the quintessential standard view, the embodiments of the populist conception of the ‘beauty spot’. One could speculate that the site of Thaughberger’s Red Boat is Mount Bourgeau, Vermilion Lakes near Banff, AB. It was a popular view for turn of the century Canadian academic painters such as F.M. Bell-Smith. Red Boat is a picture-perfect example of Thauberger’s art.
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146 SOREL ETROG, R.C.A. COMPOSITE 15 - KRISTALLNACHT, 1997-98
acrylic, paint, wood, plastic and glass 12.5 ins x 21.5 ins x 1.5 ins; 31.8 cms x 54.6 cms x 3.8 cms
provenance:
Estate of the artist Christopher Cutts Gallery, Toronto The Friends of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg
literature:
Pierre Restany, Sorel Etrog, Prestel, Munich, London, New York, 2001, page 149. $9,000–12,000
After a gap of over forty years, in the mid-1990s Sorel Etrog (1933-2014) returned to making painted constructions. It began quite by accident while the artist was visiting a cousin in Florida, whose garage was overflowing with interesting tools that sparked the artist’s imagination. Etrog recalls: “On my return to Toronto I started to collect scraps of wood, plastic, milk boxes, rubber doormats, broken windows, propane bottles... It felt like I was back struggling and excited as if I were nineteen years old again.” In fact, when this work was created, Etrog was closer to the age of seniority than the age of majority but clearly felt the vigour of youthful enterprise as he embarked on this important series. Few, if any other, of the Composites from this period are titled beyond the number they bear. Here, Composite 15 is additionally titled Kristallnacht. Kristallnacht refers to the Night of Broken Glass, during which a wave of pogroms against Jewish homes, businesses and places of worship were orchestrated throughout Germany and Austria in 1938. Kristallnacht is considered a turning point in the normalization of radical Nazi policy. As the American Holocaust Memorial Museum contends: “..the passivity with which most German civilians responded to the violence signaled to the Nazi regime that the German public was prepared for more radical measures...” This lot may be a comment on the culpability that attaches itself to those among us who do not speak up, who act passively in the face of bigotry. The lesson of Kristallnacht is that one doesn’t have to be an actual perpetrator of a crime against humanity, to be an accessory to one. This work is being sold to benefit the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg.
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147 WILLIAM RONALD, R.C.A. TWO WORKS FROM THE PRIME MINISTERS SERIES: SKETCH FOR BORDEN AND SKETCH FOR PEARSON both oils on canvas the second signed; both titled on the reverse, and “Borden” inscribed “R-82” each 12 ins x 16 ins; 30.5 cms x 40.6 cms
literature:
Robert Belton, The Theatre of the Self: The Life and Art of William Ronald, University of Calgary Press, Calgary, 1999, pages xvi and 79. William Ronald, The Prime Ministers, Exile Editions Limited, Toronto, 1983, page 83. $7,000–9,000
Raised in Depression era hardship and deeply affected by the ramifications of wartime masculine identity, William Ronald (1926-1998) attended the Ontario College of Art, where his burgeoning avant-garde aesthetic was at times suppressed but ultimately fostered by teachers who were also resisting the predominance of traditionalism in Canadian art. His “rebel without a cause” personality fit the spirit of the times, and both his romantic bohemian lifestyle and his large, colourful and non-objective canvases found a receptive audience during the frenzied years of Abstract Expressionist celebrity in New York City. Ronald experimented with several different styles and methods of abstraction, ranging from hard-edge paintings to live performances, where he would travel from place to place, dressed in all white with music blaring and go-go girls dancing in the background. He explored the visceral qualities of paint and the objectness of the canvas itself in his “tube” paintings, where heavy layers of oil paint were applied directly from the tube onto the canvas, and later from a caulking gun. This libidinal energy contrasts with the rather more conservative subject matter of the Prime Ministers series that was to follow (see lot 75). Completed between 1977 and 1984, Ronald demonstrates, with both his life and paintings, “that Canadians - prime ministers and artists alike - are a intensely interesting lot if we just put down our preconceptions and look at them without flinching”. Ronald’s series speaks to the strengths and weaknesses of our leaders. “Borden” is depicted as a rush of blue, a central circular shape and a noticeably textured surface to evoke his initial political shortfalls, the difficulties of being a wartime Prime Minister and his lasting role in demanding greater autonomy for all nations of the Dominion. Ronald admitted that “Pearson” was a difficult one to paint, as he was a complex man that managed to see Canada through some of the most tense moments in recent history, mainly the Quebec nationalist movement, and introduced many of the tenets of what we now consider essential to being a Canadian: bilingualism, universal health care, a pension plan, NATO, mutually beneficial trade agreements with the United States and perhaps most significantly, the creation of the Canadian flag. The repeated flag motif stands out through a gradient colour scheme, subtle framing and sketch like lines. Ronald argued “the flag could not be ignored. When you see it flying away from home, it matters”.
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BORDEN
PEARSON
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148 WILLIAM GOODRIDGE ROBERTS, R.C.A COTTAGE INTERIOR
graphite on paper signed 14.5 ins x 16 ins; 35.6 cms x 40.6 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal $1,000–1,500
149 EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A. VIEW OF BAMBERTON BEACH, 1978 graphite on paper signed 11 ins x 13.75 ins; 27.9 cms x 34.9 cms
provenance:
Galerie Dominion, Montreal Private Collection, Montreal $3,000–4,000
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
150 EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A. SOOKE HARBOUR
graphite on paper signed 8.5 ins x 11.75 ins; 21.6 cms x 29.8 cms
provenance:
Heffel Fine Art, Vancouver, May 2004 (Lot 39) Private Collection, Montreal $3,000–4,000
151 EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A. COWICHAN BAY AND MOUNT PROVOST
graphite on paper signed, and with the artist’s colour notations 10.75 ins x 13.50 ins; 26 cms x 32.4 cms
provenance:
Equinox Gallery, Vancouver Private Collection, Montreal $3,000–4,000
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152 ANTHONY (TONY) MORSE URQUHART, A.R.C.A. RAILYARD
monoprint signed, titled and dated 1956 in pencil in the lower margin 22.25 ins x 12.75 ins; 56.5 cms x 32.4 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto $1,500–2,000
153 JACK LEONARD SHADBOLT, R.C.A. ALTERED REPRODUCTION 18 - SHIP OF FOOLS mixed media collage signed and dated ‘72; titled and dated on the reverse 12 ins x 10.5 ins; 31.1 cms x 26.7 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal $1,000–1,500
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
154 THOMAS DE VANY FORRESTALL, A.R.C.A. THE SECRET PLACE
egg tempera on board signed, titled and dated 1981 on the reverse 31 ins x 29 ins; 78.7 cms x 73.7 cms
provenance:
Glendon Gallery, Toronto Private Collection, Toronto
exhibited:
Canadian Cultural Centre, Rome, 1983 and Habemi Centre Gallery, Tel Aviv, 1984.
literature:
Tom Smart, Tom Forrestall: Paintings, Drawings, Writings, Key Porter Books, Toronto, 2008, page 21, 56, 69. $5,000–7,000
Thomas Forrestall (b.1936) has been described as an artist who “paints the Maritime soul”. His love and talent for the arts was fostered by creative parents from a young age. By 1954 Forrestall was enrolled in the fine arts programme at Mount Allison University where he was taught by Lawren P. Harris and Alex Colville. A successful watercolourist, he was introduced to the medium of egg tempera while at university and by 1968 this was his chosen medium and one that can be exceptionally demanding. The underdrawing and a clear understanding of how colours interact provide the critical backbone upon which small, careful and controlled brushstrokes are applied to create the finished work. Forrestall became so skilled in tempera that his work is often compared to photorealism, an association he disliked, however, as he attempted to evoke a feeling and mood beyond realist objectivity. See our website for additional information about this painting found in a letter from the artist to the late owner (1989).
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155 JANE ASH POITRAS EAGLE
mixed media on panel signed 24 ins x 12 ins; 61 cms x 29.8 cms
provenance:
Heffel Gallery Limited, Vancouver Private Collection, Montreal $2,000–3,000
156 GORDON APPELBE SMITH, R.C.A. RAINFOREST II
acrylic on paper signed image 21.5 ins x 21.5 ins; 54.6 cms x 54.6 cms
provenance:
Equinox Gallery, Vancouver Private Collection, Montreal $2,500–3,000
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157 GORDON APPELBE SMITH, R.C.A. COLLAGE #6, 2006
mixed media collage signed 8 ins x 12 ins; 20.3 cms x 30.5 cms
provenance:
Equinox Gallery, Vancouver Private Collection, Montreal $2,500–3,000
158 CHARLES FRASER COMFORT, O.S.A., P.R.C.A. HORIZONTAL EVENT #1 (NEWSPEAK SERIES)
oil on canvas signed and dated ‘67 24 ins x 40 ins; 62.2 cms x 102.9 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto
literature:
Mary Jo Hughes, Take Comfort, the Career of Charles Comfort, (exhibition catalogue), The Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, 2007, page, cat. no. 79 reproduced in colour. $2,500–4,000
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159 GINO LORCINI, A.R.C.A. ETUDE B.Y.V., 1966
polished aluminum on perspex signed, titled, dated ‘66 and numbered 5/5 on the reverse 7.75 ins x 17.75 ins; 19.7 cms x 45.1 cms
provenance:
Galerie Agnès Lefort, Montreal Private Collection, Montreal $600–800
160 GERSHON ISKOWITZ, R.C.A. UNTITLED - RUSHING WATER, AUTUMN
oil on board signed and dated 1955 17.75 ins x 24 ins; 43.2 cms x 58.4 cms
provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal $3,000–5,000
END OF SALE
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Notes:
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Artist Index A
E/F
Adamson, Michael (b.1971)...78
Etrog, Sorel (1933-2014)...31, 72, 91, 146
Armington, Caroline Helena (1875-1939)...63
FitzGerald, Lionel Lemoine (1890-1956)...29
Armington, Franklin Milton (1876-1941)...12, 102
Forrestall, Thomas de Vany (b. 1936)...154
B Barry, Anne Meredith (1932-2003)...131 Bayefsky, Aba (1923-2001)...130 Bayne, Mike (b. 1977)...74 Beatty, John William (1869-1941)...97, 109, 112 Bobak, Molly Lamb (1922-2014)...65, 144 Bolt, Ronald William (b. 1938)...142 Borenstein, Samuel (1908-1969)...35 Breeze, Claude Hebert (b. 1938)...138 Brooker, Bertram (1888-1955)...46 Burton, Dennis Eugene Norman (1933-2013 )...83 Burtynsky, Edward (b. 1955)...87 Bush, Jack Hamilton (1909-1977)...92 C Caddy, John Herbert (1801-1883)...107 Casson, Alfred Joseph (1898-1992)...8, 9, 15, 16, 20, 52, 60, 108 Chee Chee, Benjamin (1944-1977)...38, 86 Clapp, William Henry (1879-1954)...121, 122 Coburn, Frederick Simpson (1871-1960)...113 Collyer, Nora Frances Elisabeth (1898-1979)...101, 103, 127 Comfort, Charles Fraser (1900-1994)...158 Comtois, Ulysse (b. 1931)...3, 76 Cosgrove, Stanley Morel (1911-2002)...66, 111 Coughtry, John Graham (1931-1999)...32, 134 Cullen, Maurice Galbraith (1866-1934)...54 Curnoe, Gregory Richard (1936-1992)...93, 94 D De Belle, Charles-Ernest (1873-1939)...120 De Grandmaison, Nicholas (1892-1978)...28 De Tonnancour, Jacques Godefroy (1917-2005)...6 Dean, Tom (b. 1947)...88
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Canadian Fine Art Auction
Fortin, Marc-Aurèle (1888-1970)...7, 17, 21, 58 Fox, John Richard (1927-2008)...140 Franck, Albert Jacques (1899-1973)...22, 62 G Gagnon, Clarence Alphonse (1881-1942)...14, 110 Gorman, Richard Borthwick (b. 1935)...133 H Harris, Robert (1849-1919)...119 Harrison, Ted (b. 1926)...4 HÊbert, Adrien (1890-1967)...25, 64 Hewton, Randolph Stanley (1888-1960) ...10, 19, 59 Holgate, Edwin Headley (1892-1977)...56 Holmes, Reg (b. 1934)...85 Holmes, Thrush (b. 1979)...139 Hopkins, Tom (1944-2011)...141 Hugues, Edward John (1913-2007)...149, 150, 151 I Iskowitz, Gershon (1921-1988) ...160 J Jackson, Alexander Young (1882-1974)...48, 114 Johnston, Frank Hans (1888-1949)...41, 105 K Kasyn, John (1926-2008)...69 Kipping, Brian (b. 1953)...79, 95 Klunder, Harold (b. 1943)...81 Knowles, Dorothy (b. 1927)...135 Krieghoff, Cornelius (1815-1872)...27, 30, 61 Kurelek, William (1927-1977)...143
L
S
Laliberté, Alfred (1878-1953)...116, 117
Sapp, Allen (b. 1929)...106
Lemieux, Jean Paul (1904-1990)...18
Scott, John (b. 1950)...132
Lewis, Maud (1901-1970)...36, 37, 96, 129
Shadbolt, Jack Leonard (1909-1998)...80, 153
Little, John (b. 1928)...51, 70
Sheppard, Peter Clapham (1882-1965)...98
Lochhead, Kenneth Campbell (1926-2006)...123
Smith, Gordon Appelbe (b. 1919)...156, 157
Lorcini, Gino (b. 1923)...159
Smith, Marjorie (Jori) Elizabeth Thurston (1907-2005)...11
Luke, Alexandra (1901-1967)...82
Sorensen, David (1937-2011)...126
Lyall, Laura Adeline Muntz (1860-1930)...24
Sullivan, FranÇoise (b. 1928)...137
Lyman, John Goodwin (1886-1967)...67
Surrey, Philip Henry Howard (1910-1990)...2 Suzor-Coté, Marc-Aurèle de Foy (1869-1937)...26, 44, 57
M MacDonald, Manly Edward (1889-1971)...13
T
MacLeod, Pegi Nicol (1904-1949)...100
Thauberger, David A. (b. 1948)...145
Maltais, Marcella (b. 1933)...89 May, Henrietta Mabel (1884-1971)...55 McElcheran, William Hadd (1927-1999)...125 Molinari, Guido (1933-2004)...33, 68 Moppett, Ron (b. 1957)...90 Morrice, James Wilson (1865-1924)...53 P Pepper, Kathleen Frances Daly (1898-1994)...40 Phillips, Walter Joseph (1884-1963)...39, 104 Pilot, Robert Wakeham (1898-1967)...42, 43, 49, 50, 115 Poitras, Jane Ash (b. 1951)...155
U Urquhart, Anthony (Tony) Morse (b. 1934)...124, 152 V Vanderhorst, Robert (b. 1951)...73 Verner, Frederick Arthur (1836-1928)...118 W Wainio, Carol (b. 1955)...84 Whale, Robert Reginald (1805-1887)...23 Wyse, Alex (b. 1938)...77
Pratt, Christopher (b. 1935)...47 Pratt, Mary (b. 1935)...71, 128, 136 R Riopelle, Jean-Paul (1923-2002)...34, 45 Roberts, William Goodridge (1904-1974)...5, 148 Robinson, Albert Henry (1881-1956)...99 Rogers, Otto Donald (b. 1935)...1 Ronald, William (1926-1998)...75, 147
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Selling at Waddington’s waddington’s commission rates
insurance
Items selling for $2,501 to $7,500 15%
cites
Items selling for $7,501 or more 10%
Items selling for $251 to $2,500 20% Items selling for $250 or less 25% *There is a minimum handling charge of $20 per item
canadian art department commission rates Items selling for $7,500 or more 10% Items selling for $2,501 to $7,499 15% Items selling for $2,500 or less 20% *There is a minimum handling charge of $20 per item Paintings, drawings, prints, furniture, jewellery and all forms of decorative arts and collectibles may be brought to our Toronto office where we can provide you with preliminary auction estimates and consignment procedures. Please visit our website at www.waddingtons.ca for details on our various departments and how to contact the specialists. We also accept mailed and emailed requests for advice on the marketability of objects. A photograph and phone number must accompany a full description of each item. Our specialists regularly travel to major Canadian cities to meet with prospective consignors. For further information, or to arrange an appointment, please contact our Toronto office. Property normally arrives at Waddington’s at least three months before the sale in order to allow our specialists time to research, catalogue, photograph and promote the items. Consignors will receive a contract to sign, setting forth terms and fees for our services.
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Buying at Waddington's
All lots will be offered and sold subject to the Conditions of Sale which appear in this catalogue as well as any Glossary and posted or oral announcement. By bidding at auction, bidders are bound by those Conditions and Glossary, as amended by any oral announcement or posted notices, which together form the contract of sale between the successful bidder (buyer), Waddington’s™ and the consignor (seller) of the lot. Descriptions or photographs of lots are not warranties and each lot is sold “as is” in accordance with the Conditions of Sale.
condition of lots
All of the items are to be considered, unless otherwise noted in the description, in good condition. The definition of “good” when used in reference to condition, describes an object as having had no major damage or repair but as with the nature of the material, may show minor surface wear, discolouration etc., which indicates the acceptable wear that the piece may acquire with age. If you are particular about minor flaws, you should examine the pieces in person or have our staff answer any questions before bidding. Sizes are approximate. It is the sole responsibility of the bidder to inquire as to the condition of a lot before bidding. Condition reports are available upon request by phone, fax, email or in person. You are advised to make any requests well in advance of the sale.
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To bid in person at the auction, you must register for a bidding number by showing identification acceptable to the Auctioneer upon entering the salesroom. Your number will identify you if you are the successful bidder. You will be responsible for all lots purchased on your bidding number. Banking information may be requested by Waddington’s™. You may submit an Absentee Bid Form if you are unable to attend the sale. Bidding by telephone, in limited circumstances, can be arranged prior to the sale. While we are pleased to offer absentee and telephone bidding as a service to our clients, and take great care in their commission, the Auctioneer will not be responsible for technical difficulties, errors or failure to execute bids. The Auctioneer may also execute bids on behalf of the consignor to protect the reserve. The reserve is the confidential minimum price the seller is willing to accept for his or her property, below which it will not be sold.
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Frames on artwork are not included as part of purchase or condition.
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A premium of 20% of the successful bid price of each lot. Invaluable Live! clients will be charged a buyer’s premium of 25% of the successful bid price of each lot. A charge of 13% HST (Harmonized Sales Tax) is applicable on the hammer price and buyer’s premium, except for purchases exported from Canada. In the case where purchases are shipped out of the province of Ontario, the HST or GST is charged based on the tax status of that province.
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Payment for purchases must be by cash, INTERAC direct debit (Cdn clients in person only), certified cheque (U.S. & Overseas not applicable), travelers cheque, bank draft, electronic transfer (fee applies), VISA or Mastercard (up to $25,000). ALL PRICES IN CANADIAN FUNDS
905.470.6874 / 905.470.6875 / 416.293.8225
taurus@pakship.ca www.pakship.ca Envoy 416.299.3367, 416.299.9750 ph@envoy.ca www.envoypackandship.com Fero Transport 514.453.1462, 514.543.7585 www.ferotransport.ca
removal of purchases
Purchases must be paid for within 48 hours of the date of the sale, and removed from premises within 10 days of the date of sale (see Conditions of Sale, conditions 8 to 15). Clients are advised that packing and/or handling of purchased lots by our employees or agents is undertaken solely as a courtesy for the convenience of clients.
Conditions of Sale 1. All lots are sold “AS IS”. Any description issued by the auctioneer of an article to be sold is subject to variation to be posted or announced verbally in the auction room prior to the time of sale. While the auctioneer has endeavoured not to mislead in the description issued, and the utmost care is taken to ensure the correct cataloguing of each item, such descriptions are purely statements of opinion and are not intended to constitute a representation to the prospective purchasers and no warranty of the correctness of such description is made. An opportunity for inspection of each article is offered prior to the time of sale. No sale will be set aside on account of lack of correspondence of the article with its description or its reproduction, if any, whether colour or black & white. Some lots are of an age and/or nature which preclude their being in pristine condition and some catalogue descriptions make reference to damage and/or restoration. The lack of such a reference does not imply that a lot is free from defects nor does any reference to certain defects imply the absence of others. Frames on artwork are not included as part of purchase or condition. It is the responsibility of prospective purchasers to inspect or have inspected each lot upon which they wish to bid, relying upon their own advisers, and to bid accordingly. 2. Each lot sold is subject to a 20% buyers premium as part of the purchase price.
Invaluable Live! clients will be charged a buyer’s premium of 25% of the successful bid price of each lot. 3. Unless exempted by law, the buyer is required to pay Harmonized Sales Tax on the total purchase price including the buyer’s premium. For international buyers, taxes are not applicable when purchases are shipped out of country. Items shipped out of Ontario, the buyer is required to pay taxes as per the tax status of that province, whether it HST or GST (Goods and Services Tax). 4. The auctioneer reserves the right to withdraw any lot from sale at any time, to divide any lot or to combine any two or more lots at his sole discretion, all without notice. 5. The auctioneer has the right to refuse any bid and to advance the bidding at his absolute discretion. The auctioneer reserves the right not to accept and not to reject any bid. Without limitation, any bid which is not commensurate with the value of the article offered, or which is merely a nominal or fractional advance over the previous bid may not be recognized. 6. Each lot may be subject to an unpublished reserve which may be changed at any time by agreement between the auctioneer and the consignor. The auctioneer may bid, or direct an employee to bid, on behalf of the consignor as agreed between them. In addition, the auctioneer may accept and submit absentee and telephone bids, to be executed by an employee of the auctioneer, pursuant to the instructions of prospective purchasers not in attendance at the sale. 7. The highest bidder accepted by the auctioneer for any lot shall be the buyer and such buyer shall forthwith assume full risk and responsibility for the lot and must comply with such other Conditions of Sale as may be applicable. If any dispute should arise between bidders the auctioneer shall have the absolute discretion to designate the buyer or, at his option, to withdraw any disputed lot from the sale, or to re-offer it at the same or a subsequent sale. The auctioneer’s decision in all cases shall be final.
8. Immediately after the purchase of a lot, the buyer shall pay or undertake to the satisfaction of the auctioneer with respect to payment of the whole or any part of the purchase price requested by the auctioneer, failing which the auctioneer in his sole discretion may cancel the sale, with or without re-offering the item for sale. 9. The buyer shall pay for all lots within 48 hours from the date of the sale, after which a late charge of 2% per month on the total invoice may be incurred or the auctioneer, in his sole discretion, may cancel the sale. The buyer shall not become the owner of the lot until paid for in full. Items must be removed within 10 days from the date of sale, after which storage charges may be incurred. 10. Each lot purchased, unless the sale is cancelled as above, shall be held by the auctioneer at his premises or at a public warehouse at the sole risk of the buyer until fully paid for and taken away. 11. Notwithstanding condition no. 1, if the buyer, prior to removal of a lot, makes arrangements satisfactory to the auctioneer for the inspection of such lot by a fully qualified person acceptable to the auctioneer to determine the genuineness or authenticity of the lot, to be carried out promptly following the sale of the lot, and if, but only if, within a period of 14 days following the sale a written opinion of such person is presented to the auctioneer to the effect that the lot is not genuine or authentic, accompanied by a written request by the buyer for rescission of the sale, then the sale of the lot will be rescinded and the sale price refunded to the buyer. 12. Payment for purchases must be by cash, INTERAC direct debit (Cdn clients in person only), certified cheque (U.S. & Overseas not applicable), travelers cheque, bank draft, electronic transfer (fee applies), and VISA or Mastercard (up to $25,000). 13. In the event of failure to pay for or remove articles within the aforementioned time limit, the auctioneer, without limitation of the rights of the consignor and the auctioneer against the buyer, may resell any of the articles affected, and in such case the original buyer shall be responsible to the auctioneer and the consignor for: (a) any deficiency in price between the re-sale amount and the amount to have been paid by the original buyer; (b) any reasonable charge by the auctioneer for the storage of such articles until payment and removal by the subsequent buyer; and (c) the amount of commission which the auctioneer would have earned had payment been made in full by the original buyer. 14. It is the responsibility of the buyer to make all arrangements for insuring, packing and removing the property purchased and any assistance by the auctioneer or his servants, agents or contractors, in packing or removal shall be rendered as a courtesy and without any liability to them. 15. The auctioneer acts solely as agent for the consignor and makes no representation as to any attribute of, title to, or restriction affecting the articles consigned for sale. Without limitation, the buyer understands that any item bought may be affected by the provisions of the Cultural Property Export Act (Canada). 16. The auctioneer reserves the right to refuse admission to the sale or to refuse to recognize any or all bids from any particular person or persons at any auction.
CANADIAN MASTER SILVERSMITH at the National Gallery of Canada
AM I O T
OPENS 11 MAY
gallery.ca Reliquary-Monstrance of Saint Charles Borromeo (detail) c. 1823. Fabrique Saint-Charles-Borromée de Charlesbourg, Quebec City. Photo: NGC
Specialist Departments ASIAN ART
CONTEMPORARY ART
Austin Yuen
Stephen Ranger
416-847-6195
416-847-6194
ay@waddingtons.ca
skr@waddingtons.ca
Chih-En Chen Department Consultant cc@waddingtons.ca
FINE WINE & SPIRITS
Amelia Zhu
416-847-6194
416-847-6185
asianart@waddingtons.ca
Stephen Ranger
FINE PRINTS & PHOTOGRAPHY Kristin Vance Consignment Coordinator 416-847-6178 kv@waddingtons.ca
INUIT ART
skr@waddingtons.ca
Christa Ouimet
Joann Maplesden
co@waddingtons.ca
416-847-6184
416-847-6182
CANADIAN FINE ART
jmm@waddingtons.ca
Linda G. Rodeck canadianart@waddingtons.ca
Devin Hatfield
Anna Holmes Fine Art Administrator 416-504-5100
canadianart@waddingtons.ca Rochelle Konn Consignment Coordinator
416-847-6181
dh@waddingtons.ca
JEWELLERY, WATCHES & NUMISMATICS Don P. McLean 416-847-6170
dpm@waddingtons.ca INTERNATIONAL ART Susan Robertson 416-847-6179
sr@waddingtons.ca
416-847-6191
DECORATIVE ARTS Bill Kime Silver, Glass and Ceramics 416-847-6189
bk@waddingtons.ca Sean Quinn Sculpture, Decorations, Clocks & Lighting 416-847-6187
sq@waddingtons.ca Andrew Brandt Rugs & Carpets 416-847-6168
ab@waddingtons.ca Hayley Dawson Decorative Arts Administrator 416-504-9100 ext. 6220
“OFF THE WALL” FINE ART
hd@waddingtons.ca
Doug Payne 416-847-6180
dp@waddingtons.ca
rk@waddingtons.ca
Operational Staff PRESIDENT Duncan McLean 416-847-6183
adm@waddingtons.ca VICE PRESIDENT
DESIGN & PRODUCTION MANAGER
ONLINE AUCTION SUPPORT & ACCOUNTS
Julia Deo
Elda Pappada
416-847-6188
416-847-6177
jcd@waddingtons.ca
APPRAISALS & CONSIGNMENTS MANAGER Ellie Muir 416-847-6196
COMMUNICATIONS
em@waddingtons.ca
Tess McLean
CLIENT SERVICES
TECHNICAL SERVICES
Stephen Ranger skr@waddingtons.ca
Otto Lam ol@waddingtons.ca
VICE PRESIDENT OF FINE ART
Solomon Alaluf sa@waddingtons.ca
COLLINGWOOD
bbp@waddingtons.ca
Linda G. Rodeck canadianart@waddingtons.ca
PHOTOGRAPHER
Valerie Brown
Andrew Brandt
705-445-8811
416-847-6168
vb@waddingtons.ca
ab@waddingtons.ca
GENERAL MANAGER
416-847-6192
P.O. BOX 554 Collingwood ON L9Y 4B2
Alec Kerr
VANCOUVER
Nicole Schembre
Jacqui Dixon
ns@waddingtons.ca
416-847-6194
416-847-6171
tm@waddingtons.ca
Brittany Boyd-Pyman 416-847-6175
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das@waddingtons.ca
John Macdonald jm@waddingtons.ca ACCOUNTS Karen Sander 416-847-6173
ks@waddingtons.ca
778-837-4588 jd@waddingtons.ca
416-847-6166
ak@waddingtons.ca 416-504-9100
Canadian Fine Art canadianart.waddingtons.ca
Telephone: 416-504-5100 Fax: 416-504-6971 Toll Free: 1-877-504-5700
275 King Street East, Second Floor Toronto, Ontario Canada M5A 1K2