THRILL COLLECTORS DURING SPRING LIVE AUCTION SEASON
MARCELLE FERRON
Arbre du Ténéré, 1962
Price Realized: $960,000
The Spring Season in Review
J.E.H. MACDONALD
Lake O’Hara, 1925
Price Realized: $216,000
LIONEL LEMOINE FITZGERALD
Unttled (Broken Tree in Landscape)
Price Realized: $168,000
LAWREN HARRIS
Unttled (Abstract Paintng #173)
Price Realized: $504,000
Cowley Abbot was delighted to have showcased an impressive selecton of artworks during our major Spring Live Aucton, featuring signifcant work by renowned Canadian and internatonal artsts. Over the past decade, our frm has experienced remarkable growth and success within the highly compettve aucton industry, and we are grateful for the tremendous response to the recent twosession Live Aucton. The enthusiastc partcipaton of our consignors, bidders, buyers, and collectors played a crucial role in ensuring the evening event was a resounding success, with many works of art surpassing their pre-sale estmate, at tmes doubling or tripling their opening bids.
Our skilled team of art professionals was thrilled to have the opportunity to share the season’s oferings, interactng with clients during our lively previews and collector events in Winnipeg and Toronto, and building upon the strong relatonships we have cultvated over decades of combined experience within the industry. As one of the only natonal houses stll holding live auctons, the packed gallery at Toronto’s Globe & Mail Centre during the May 30th aucton was a testament to the vibrant art community gathered to appreciate these exceptonal artworks during an evening of acton and spectacle.
It is a privilege for our team to facilitate the transiton of these masterpieces to new homes, connectng them with art enthusiasts who will cherish and enjoy them for years to come. With 30% of lots from Session 1 and 43% of lots from Session 2 reaching or exceeding the high end of the aucton estmate, we were thrilled to witness such notable results, including the outstanding Marcelle Ferron oil Arbre du Ténéré, achieving $960,000, well beyond its pre-sale estmate of $300,000-$500,000. Session 2 saw solid results, with Lake O’Hara by J.E.H. MacDonald exceeding its pre-sale value of $70,000-$90,000, fetching $216,000. Notably, Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald’s Unttled (Broken Tree in Landscape) far surpassed its estmate of $30,000-$40,000, matching the artst’s aucton record of $168,000 set by Cowley Abbot in 2022.
Cowley Abbot’s Stellar Success in Representng Collectons
Since our incepton more than a decade ago, Cowley Abbot has had the privilege to be entrusted with important collectons from noteworthy private, public, retail and corporate collectons with record-setng results. Past notable collectons we have represented include artwork from Rothmans, Benson & Hedges, TC Energy (TransCanada Pipelines Limited) and the Art Gallery of Ontario, to name a few. We were entrusted with a prestgious Toronto private collecton in the summer of 2022, featuring masterpieces by Canadian historical artsts, including celebrated work by Paul Kane, Emily Carr, J.W. Morrice, the Group of Seven, Clarence Gagnon, David Milne and many others. Across three live aucton seasons and a staggering twenty-nine records smashed, this important collecton grossed over $36 million, an aucton record for the sale of a private collecton in Canada.
Cowley Abbot’s most recent season showcased important Canadian and internatonal art from three Canadian collectons, featured in a separate printed catalogue which presented the second session of the May 30th Spring Live Aucton. The curated catalogue’s cover lot was Brazeau Snowfeld, Jasper Park. Mountain Paintng XII a stunning canvas by Lawren Harris, on consignment from a major Western Canadian private collecton. The Harris masterwork was ofered with over twenty prime historical artworks, including rare work by the Group of Seven, Cornelius Krieghof, A.H. Robinson and Ethel Seath.
Additonally, the “Collecton Session” consisted of artwork from two prominent Canadian public insttutons, startng with an ofering of fourteen works deaccessioned by the Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq (WAG). Cowley Abbot began its spring season previewing at Mayberry Fine Art in Winnipeg, debutng the WAG artwork to its community frst through public and private collector events. The live aucton witnessed success for each of the WAG artworks, grossing $765,000 and exceeding the grouping’s pre-sale estmate of $500,000-$700,000. The proceeds beneft the gallery’s legacy fund at The Winnipeg Foundaton, supportng the future acquisiton of contemporary Canadian artworks. Cowley Abbot proudly donated the selling commission to the fund. Through close collaboraton with WAG-Qaumajuq, Cowley Abbot created careful, positve public messaging which focused on the artwork and the insttuton’s strategy of deaccession and future acquisiton.
A pair of beautfully contrastng works of art from the collecton of Art Windsor-Essex (AWE) were next featured in the spring’s second session. Leading to the live aucton, President Rob Cowley partcipated in a public panel on the practce of deaccessioning at Art Windsor-Essex in May, playing a key role in the communicaton and messaging directly with the AWE’s team. A colourful portrait of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky by Andy Warhol fetched $33,600, while a rare circa 1855 canvas enttled Party of Indians in Two Canoes on Mountain Lake by early Canadian artst Paul Kane achieved $720,000. The sale raised $628,000 for a new endowment fund to support the care and diversifcaton of the gallery’s collecton, with Cowley Abbot donatng the selling commission to further beneft the fund.
During the past year, Cowley Abbot has also presented art belonging to notable estates through our live and online auctons, including Canadian art historians Ken Carpenter and Dennis Reid, as well as Painters Eleven artst William Ronald. Our frm’s strategies related to collectons vary, like the consignors and artwork themselves. However, each opportunity involves a close collaboraton that caters to the client, involving valuaton days, art talks, panel discussions, as well as various media segments, providing the most advantageous opportunity for the artwork’s successful sale. We are fortunate to have handled such a diverse range of artwork and are excited to share new collectons with you soon.
LAWREN HARRIS
Brazeau Snowfeld, Jasper Park. Mountain Paintng XII
Price Realized: $1,800,000
TOM THOMSON Spring, Algonquin Park
Price Realized: $720,000
PAUL KANE
Party of Indians in Two Canoes on Mountain Lake Price Realized: $720,000
DAVID MILNE Bare Trees in Snow (New York) Price Realized: $192,000
May 30th Live Aucton at the Globe & Mail Centre
New Heights for Internatonal Art in Canada
Two stunning canvases by Sayed Haider Raza were the showstoppers of the Internatonal Art porton of the Cowley Abbot May live aucton, capturing global atenton and inspiring vigorous bidding by telephone, online and in the packed saleroom. The pair’s provenance played a key role in the record results, both having been in the same private collecton since the late 1950s. These two works surpassed previous aucton results in Canada, with Temple Protestant setng a new Canadian aucton record for the artst, fetching $960,000. L’église du village achieved $432,000—more than doubling its high estmate. These extraordinary results solidify Raza’s positon and the other artsts from the Bombay Progressive Artsts’ Group in the internatonal aucton marketplace.
In recent years, we have had the privilege to ofer a number of prints by the internatonally acclaimed artst, Andy Warhol. Our frm has atained strong results for this iconic fgure in the Pop art movement. During our recent spring aucton a black and silver screenprint of the Rolling Stones frontman, Mick Jagger, sold for $180,000, highlightng our success in marketng and selling the artst’s work to actve collectors and leading Warhol dealers worldwide.
The growth of the Internatonal Art department, including two live auctons and our ever-growing curated online sales, has given Cowley Abbot the privilege to be entrusted with rare and outstanding artworks, many of which have made their aucton debut with our frm. Collectors, both natonally and internatonally, recognize a strong market in Canada for celebrated internatonal artsts and, more importantly, our frm’s expertse in marketng to prospectve buyers of an ever-expanding roster of artsts. During the May 30th aucton, 69% of the internatonal art buyers were from abroad: nearly half from the United States, including a worldrenowned New York-based gallery, and the remaining from India, the United Kingdom, and Asia. Our robust marketng strategy consists of targeted messaging to an internatonal audience, regular natonal advertsing, and promotonal campaigns via leading art market platorms and avenues which reach tens of millions of collectors around the globe each year.
Other internatonal art highlights from the spring live aucton include:
• A charcoal drawing by William Kentridge for the flm Medicine Chest, selling for $84,000, and a bronze sculpture from Procession, fetching more than $19,000.
• A unique paintng by Shepard Fairey, ttled Obey Giant Star, which sold for $72,000.
• A hanging scroll by the father of modern Chinese paintng, Liu Guosong, achieved $66,000.
• A voluptuous female fgure by Fernando Botero, hammering down at $38,400.
• A lithograph by Marc Chagall from his Circus series, selling for $26,400.
SAYED HAIDER RAZA L’église du village, 1958 Price Realized: $432,000
In 2018, afer 30 plus years as a principal at one of the top historical retail art galleries in Canada, I lef the business to become a private dealer. The changing historical art market meant I no longer needed expensive gallery space, just access to great art and the trust of collectors, which I had already earned.
Joining Cowley Abbot in 2022 was an obvious evoluton of my career. In recent years, more and more, the market for historical art had moved into the hands of the aucton houses. Combining my experience and knowledge gained in the retail and private art dealing business with Cowley Abbot has allowed me to ofer the broadest range of services available in Canada. Working with both buyers and sellers, I can provide private sales that are confdental and fexible, with personalized marketng strategies to connect clients to my network of collectors, ensuring discreet and valuable transactons.
peter@cowleyabbot.ca | 437-232-9183
Recently Sold Private Sale Artwork
Private Sale Summer Exhibiton
Peter is currently hostng a Summer Exhibiton of artwork available for immediate sale. Visit the Private Sale secton of our website and return regularly, as new artworks will be added throughout the summer months!
EMILY CARR
B.C. Coast Landscape, circa 1935
ARTHUR LISMER Georgian Bay, 1944
A.Y. JACKSON Road to St. Simon, Quebec, 1929
P.C. SHEPPARD Storefront, In the Ward, circa 1929
J.E.H. MACDONALD Early Autumn, Montreal River, Algoma, circa 1919
HELEN MCNICOLL Wash Day, circa 1911
JOCK MACDONALD Friendly Cove, Nootka, BC, 1935
LAWRENCE PAUL YUXWELUPTUN Natve Claims
PAUL ÉMILE BORDUAS Sans ttre, 1956
JEAN PAUL RIOPELLE Sans ttre, 1953
JACK BUSH Nice Picture, 1968
RITA LETENDRE Mandragore, 1960
Select Exceptonal Aucton Results
Notes from the Partners
On behalf of our team, I wish to thank our friends and colleagues who helped ensure another successful season at Cowley Abbot this past spring. We are privileged to have the opportunity to represent collectons of all sizes, public and private. Over more than a decade, we have approached these opportunites with excitement, respect and a true sense of collaboraton, working closely with those who assembled the collectons, telling their story while we present their artwork. During the live aucton, I will ofen hammer down an artwork in 30 seconds. However, that moment follows hundreds of hours of our teams’ travel, consultaton, research and preparaton, ensuring that that moment at the rostrum is the most advantageous for our consignor and the most compelling for our bidders.
As I write, we are already deep into preparatons for our fall season, which will lead toward our major live aucton in late November. One of the most enjoyable aspects of my work over the past twenty-fve years contnues to be travelling across our country to see the artwork and hear the stories of collectors who are considering our services. This summer will have me personally visitng St. John’s, Victoria and many locales in between with our specialists and I hope to see you during our travels. Thank you for invitng us into your collectons and trustng us to share your story and that of your artwork.
Appraisals & Valuatons
A highlight of our careers has been the relatonships we have developed with collectors, insttutons, art dealers and artsts. This year, I had the tremendous opportunity to be on the Advisory Board of Ydessa Hendeles: Grand Hotel, a major site-responsive exhibiton by Hendeles held in Venice at Spazio Berlendis in the district of Cannaregio. Hendeles’s exhibiton explores critcal themes of displacement, intergeneratonal trauma and loss linking the past to the present. I atended the pre-opening week of the 60th Internatonal Art Exhibiton – La Biennale di Venezia in mid-April. Canada is well-represented in Venice this year with Trinket, a remarkable installaton by Kapwani Kiwanga at the Canada Pavilion, as well as Beat Pacifci: The Disasters of War and the Hope for Internatonal Peace at the Church of San Samuele, curated by Canadian collector Bruce Bailey. I am pleased to represent Cowley Abbot on the internatonal stage, atending a variety of major exhibitons and fairs this year. I hope to see you during my travels!
As a student at McGill University two decades ago, I had dreamed of becoming an art history professor. Though my path took me into the art aucton industry early in my career, I had the privilege of developing a course enttled The Business of Art, which I presented to third-year undergraduate students at the University of Toronto this past fall. As an Adjunct Professor in Art History since summer 2023, it has been an incredibly fulflling role to share the knowledge that I have with university students who are keen to learn about the art world. You might fnd me on campus once again this fall!
Cowley Abbot provides Appraisals & Valuatons to private collectors, Family Ofce, advisors and corporatons. We write formal appraisals for Insurance, Tax Estate Planning, Donaton and Family Division. We work closely with collectors and advisors who are actvely building collectons as well as with benefciaries or fduciaries of Estates. Our team of fne art specialists and appraisers have decades of relevant art market experience. Each member of the Appraisals & Valuaton Department has completed the Internatonal Society of Appraisers Core Course ISA training. Founded in 1979, the Internatonal Society of Appraisers is the leading professional personal property appraisal associaton, representng the most highly trained and rigorously tested independent appraisers in Canada and the United States.
Beyond appraisals, Cowley Abbot provides Art Collecton Management Services to private collectors, insttutons and corporatons.
Please contact the Appraisals & Valuatons Department at appraisals@cowleyabbot.ca.
