HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
CANADIAN POST~WAR & CONTEMPORARY ART
CANADIAN POST~WAR & CONTEMPORARY ART
NOVEMBER 28, 2013
V ISIT
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
www.heffel.com VANCOUVER
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TORONTO
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MONTREAL
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
ISBN 978~1~927031~10~0
SALE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2013, TORONTO
OTTAWA
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10/7/2013, 9:48 AM
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10/7/2013, 9:48 AM
CANADIAN POST~WAR & CONTEMPORARY ART
AUCTION THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2013 4 PM, CANADIAN POST~WAR & CONTEMPORARY ART 7 PM, FINE CANADIAN ART PARK HYATT HOTEL, QUEEN’S PARK BALLROOM 4 AVENUE ROAD, TORONTO PREVIEW AT HEFFEL GALLERY, VANCOUVER 2247 GRANVILLE STREET SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2 THROUGH TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 10 AM TO 6 PM PREVIEW AT GALERIE HEFFEL, MONTREAL 1840 RUE SHERBROOKE OUEST THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14 THROUGH SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 10 AM TO 6 PM PREVIEW AT UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO ART CENTRE 15 KING’S COLLEGE CIRCLE SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23 THROUGH WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 10 AM TO 6 PM THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 10 AM TO 12 PM HEFFEL GALLERY, TORONTO 13 HAZELTON AVENUE, TORONTO ONTARIO, CANADA M5R 2E1 TELEPHONE 416 961~6505, FAX 416 961~4245 TOLL FREE 1 800 528~9608 WWW.HEFFEL.COM
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE VANCOUVER
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TORONTO
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O T TAWA
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MONTREAL
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE A Division of Heffel Gallery Inc. T ORONTO 13 Hazelton Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5R 2E1 Telephone 416 961~6505, Fax 416 961~4245 E~mail: mail@heffel.com, Internet: www.heffel.com M ONTREAL 1840 rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Montreal, Quebec H3H 1E4 Telephone 514 939~6505, Fax 514 939~1100 VANCOUVER 2247 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC V6H 3G1 Telephone 604 732~6505, Fax 604 732~4245 OTTAWA 451 Daly Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6H6 Telephone 613 230~6505, Fax 613 230~8884 C ALGARY Telephone 403 238~6505 C ORPORATE BANK Royal Bank of Canada, 2 Bloor Street East Toronto, Ontario M4W 1A8 Telephone 604 665~5710, 800 769~2520 Account #06702 003: 109 127 1 Swift Code: ROYccat2 Incoming wires are required to be sent in Canadian funds and must include: Heffel Gallery Inc., 13 Hazelton Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5R 2E1 as beneficiary. BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chairman In Memoriam ~ Kenneth Grant Heffel President ~ David Kenneth John Heffel Auctioneer License T83~3364318 and V13~155938 Vice~President ~ Robert Campbell Scott Heffel Auctioneer License T83~3365303 and V13~155937
HEFFEL.COM DEPARTMENTS F INE CANADIAN ART canadianart@heffel.com APPRAISALS appraisals@heffel.com ABSENTEE AND TELEPHONE BIDDING bids@heffel.com SHIPPING shipping@heffel.com SUBSCRIPTIONS subscriptions@heffel.com
CATALOGUE SUBSCRIPTIONS Heffel Fine Art Auction House and Heffel Gallery Inc. regularly publish a variety of materials beneficial to the art collector. An Annual Subscription entitles you to receive our Auction Catalogues and Auction Result Sheets. Our Annual Subscription Form can be found on page 92 of this catalogue. AUCTION PERSONNEL Audra Branigan and François Hudon ~ Client Services Lisa Christensen ~ Calgary Representative Kate Galicz ~ Director of Appraisal Services Andrew Gibbs ~ Ottawa Representative Brian Goble ~ Director of Digital Imaging Patsy Kim Heffel ~ Director of Accounting Lindsay Jackson ~ Manager of Toronto Office Lauren Kratzer ~ Director of Client Services Bobby Ma, John Maclean and Anders Oinonen ~ Internal Logistics Alison Meredith ~ Director of Consignments Jill Meredith ~ Director of Online Auctions Max Meyer ~ Digital Imaging, Photography Specialist Jamey Petty ~ Director of Shipping and Framing Kirbi Pitt ~ Director of Marketing Tania Poggione ~ Director of Montreal Office Olivia Ragoussis ~ Manager of Montreal Office Judith Scolnik ~ Director of Toronto Office Rosalin Te Omra ~ Director of Fine Canadian Art Research Goran Urosevic ~ Director of Information Services Clara Wong ~ Administrative Assistant C ATALOGUE PRODUCTION Dr. Mark Cheetham, Lisa Christensen, Dr. François~Marc Gagnon, Andrew Gibbs, François Hudon, Lindsay Jackson, Lauren Kratzer, Judith Scolnik, Dr. Sarah Stanners, and Rosalin Te Omra ~ Essay Contributors Brian Goble ~ Director of Digital Imaging Kate Galicz, David Heffel, Robert Heffel, Naomi Pauls, Iris Schindel and Rosalin Te Omra ~ Text Editing, Catalogue Production Jasmin D’Aigle and Max Meyer ~ Digital Imaging Jill Meredith and Kirbi Pitt ~ Catalogue Layout and Production C OPYRIGHT No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval systems or transmitted in any form or by any means, digital, photocopy, electronic, mechanical, recorded or otherwise, without the prior written consent of Heffel Gallery Inc. Follow us @HeffelAuction:
P RINTING Generation Printing, Vancouver ISBN 978~1~927031~10~0
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MAP OF PREVIEW AND AUCTION LOCATIONS
NEW PREVIEW LOCATION
AUCTION
University of Toronto Art Centre
Park Hyatt Hotel
15 King’s College Circle, Toronto
Queen’s Park Ballroom
Telephone 416 961~6505
4 Avenue Road, Toronto
Fax 416 961~4245
Hotel Telephone 416 925~1234
Toll Free 1 800 528~9608
Saleroom Cell 1 888 418~6505
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
TABLE OF CONTENTS 5
S ELLING
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B UYING
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G ENERAL BIDDING INCREMENTS
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FRAMING, CONSERVATION
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W RITTEN VALUATIONS
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CANADIAN POST~W AR & CONTEMPORARY ART CATALOGUE H EFFEL SPECIALISTS
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N OTICES
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T ERMS
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CATALOGUE ABBREVIATIONS
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CATALOGUE TERMS
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H EFFEL’S CODE OF BUSINESS CONDUCT, E THICS AND PRACTICES
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ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION FORM
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COLLECTOR PROFILE F ORM
93
S HIPPING FORM
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ABSENTEE BID FORM
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I NDEX
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AUCTION AUCTION AND
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SHIPPING
APPRAISALS
COLLECTORS
CONDITIONS
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ARTISTS
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BUSINESS AND
PURCHASES
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HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
SELLING AT AUCTION Heffel Fine Art Auction House is a division of Heffel Gallery Inc. Together, our offices offer individuals, collectors, corporations and public entities a full~service firm for the successful de~acquisition of their artworks. Interested parties should contact us to arrange for a private and confidential appointment to discuss their preferred method of disposition and to analyse preliminary auction estimates, pre~sale reserves and consignment procedures. This service is offered free of charge. If you are from out of town or are unable to visit us at our premises, we would be pleased to assess the saleability of your artworks by mail, courier or e~mail. Please provide us with photographic or digital reproductions of the artworks and information pertaining to title, artist, medium, size, date, provenance, etc. Representatives of our firm travel regularly to major Canadian cities to meet with Prospective Sellers. It is recommended that property for inclusion in our sale arrive at Heffel Fine Art Auction House at least 90 days prior to our auction. This allows time to photograph, research, catalogue, promote and complete any required work such as re~framing, cleaning or restoration. All property is stored free of charge until the auction; however, insurance is the Consignor’s expense. Consignors will receive, for completion, a Consignment Agreement and Consignment Receipt, which set forth the terms and fees for our services. The Seller’s Commission rates charged by Heffel Fine Art Auction House are as follows: 10% of the successful Hammer Price for each Lot sold for $7,500 and over; 15% for Lots sold for $2,500 to $7,499; and 25% for Lots sold for less than $2,500. Consignors are entitled to set a mutually agreed Reserve or minimum selling price on their artworks. Heffel Fine Art Auction House charges no Seller’s penalties for artworks that do not achieve their Reserve price.
BUYING AT AUCTION All items that are offered and sold by Heffel Fine Art Auction House are subject to our published Terms and Conditions of Business, our Catalogue Terms and any oral announcements made during the course of our sale. Heffel Fine Art Auction House charges a Buyer’s Premium calculated at seventeen percent (17%) of the Hammer Price of each Lot, plus applicable federal and provincial taxes. If you are unable to attend our auction in person, you can bid by completing the Absentee Bid Form found on page 94 of this catalogue. Please note that all Absentee Bid Forms should be received by Heffel Fine Art Auction House at least 24 hours prior to the commencement of the sale. Bidding by telephone, although limited, is available. Please make arrangements for this service well in advance of the sale. Telephone lines are assigned in order of the sequence in which requests are received. We also recommend that you leave an Absentee Bid amount that we will execute on your behalf in the event we are unable to reach you by telephone.
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Payment must be made by: a) Bank Wire direct to our account, b) Certified Cheque or Bank Draft, unless otherwise arranged in advance with the Auction House, or c) a cheque accompanied by a current Letter of Credit from the Buyer’s bank which will guarantee the amount of the cheque. A cheque not guaranteed by a Letter of Credit must be cleared by the bank prior to purchases being released. We honour payment by VISA or MasterCard for purchases. Credit card payments are subject to our acceptance and approval and to a maximum of $5,000 if you are providing your credit card details by fax or to a maximum of $25,000 if the card is presented in person with valid identification. Bank Wire payments should be made to the Royal Bank of Canada as per the account transit details provided on page 2.
GENERAL BIDDING INCREMENTS Bidding typically begins below the low estimate and generally advances in the following bid increments: $100 ~ 2,000 .............................. $100 INCREMENTS $2,000 ~ 5,000 ........................... $250 $5,000 ~ 10,000 ........................ $500 $10,000 ~ 20,000 ................... $1,000 $20,000 ~ 50,000 ................... $2,500 $50,000 ~ 100,000 ................. $5,000 $100,000 ~ 300,000 ............. $10,000 $300,000 ~ 1,000,000 .......... $25,000 $1,000,000 ~ 2,000,000 ....... $50,000 $2,000,000 ~ 5,000,000 ..... $100,000
FRAMING, CONSERVATION AND SHIPPING As a Consignor, it may be advantageous for you to have your artwork re~framed and/or cleaned and restored to enhance its saleability. As a Buyer, your recently acquired artwork may demand a frame complementary to your collection. As a full~service organization, we offer guidance and in~house expertise to facilitate these needs. Buyers who acquire items that require local delivery or out~of~town shipping should refer to our Shipping Form for Purchases on page 93 of this publication. Please feel free to contact us to assist you in all of your requirements or to answer any of your related questions. Full completion of our Shipping Form is required prior to purchases being released by Heffel.
WRITTEN VALUATIONS AND APPRAISALS Written valuations and appraisals for probate, insurance, family division and other purposes can be carried out in our offices or at your premises. Appraisal fees vary according to circumstances. If, within five years of the appraisal, valued or appraised artwork is consigned and sold through either Heffel Fine Art Auction House or Heffel Gallery Inc., the client will be refunded the appraisal fee, less incurred “out of pocket” expenses.
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE VANCOUVER
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TORONTO
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MONTREAL
The Buyer and the Consignor are hereby advised to read fully the Terms and Conditions of Business and Catalogue Terms, which set out and establish the rights and obligations of the Auction House, the Buyer and the Consignor, and the terms by which the Auction House shall conduct the sale and handle other related matters. This information appears on pages 84 through 91 of this publication. All Lots can be viewed on our Internet site at: http://www.heffel.com Please consult our online catalogue for information specifying which works will be present in each of our preview locations at: http://www.heffel.com/auction If you are unable to attend our auction, we produce a live webcast of our sale commencing at 3:50 PM EST. We do not offer real~time Internet bidding for our live auctions, but we do accept absentee and prearranged telephone bids. Information on absentee and telephone bidding appears on pages 5 and 94 of this publication. We recommend that you test your streaming video setup prior to our sale at: http://www.heffel.tv Our Estimates are in Canadian funds. Exchange values are subject to change and are provided for guidance only. Buying 1.00 Canadian dollar will cost approximately 0.95 US dollar, 0.70 Euro, 0.59 British pound, 93 Japanese yen or 7.33 Hong Kong dollars as of our publication date.
CANADIAN POST~WAR & CONTEMPORARY ART
CATALOGUE
SALE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2013, 4:00 PM, TORONTO
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
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WILLIAM KURELEK ARCA OC OSA
1927 ~ 1977
Children Making Snow Angels mixed media on board, initialed and dated 1967 6 3/4 x 9 in, 17.1 x 22.9 cm P ROVENANCE : Acquired directly from the Artist by the present Private Collector, Toronto William Kurelek’s works depict the landscape and seasons of Canada, and in that vast and varied landscape in all its changing seasons, the lengthy Canadian winter figures prominently. Kurelek recalls, in his vivid winter works, such themes as the aurora borealis at night, children sledding on snow~covered haystacks, and the games of a childhood lived on the snow~laden prairie: tag on a snow wheel and the making of snow angels. In Children Making Snow Angels, Kurelek deals with the delightful subject of the simple, universal winter game of making angel patterns in the snow with classic Kurelek compositional panache and style. The curving line of
boot tracks in the snow dances lyrically across the expanse of white, while the fence provides an orderly and contrasting straight line. The distant buildings and single red barn speak to the expanse and austerity of the Canadian Prairies, all caught under a brilliant blue sky. The boot of the child exiting the picture is especially charming, perhaps indicative of the child’s (and Kurelek’s?) desire to leap from the angel imprint without marring its perfect floating winter form.
E STIMATE: $18,000 ~ 22,000
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WILLIAM KURELEK ARCA OC OSA
1927 ~ 1977
Rink Making mixed media on board, initialed and dated 1971 13 3/8 x 13 1/4 in, 34 x 33.7 cm P ROVENANCE : Acquired directly from the Artist By descent to the present Private Collection, Ontario
L ITERATURE : William Kurelek, A Prairie Boy’s Winter, 1973, a second version of this painting reproduced, unpaginated This fine William Kurelek painting depicts the making of an outdoor ice hockey rink. The figures are hard at work pouring out buckets of water pumped from the well and pounding in goalposts. They are nearing
completion of their job, and the tracks made by the sled foreshadow work turning into play as the ice takes form. The vapour rising from the water as it floods onto the ice is a touch that speaks of Kurelek’s experiences of winter on the Prairies in Manitoba. His treatment of the surface of the ice is especially fine, with varying blues showing in the ice mounding below the spout of the pump, forming ice balls nearby and turning to a fine sheet at the end of the rink. The play of lines is evidence of Kurelek’s endless patience with detail: the barn siding, the fence lines, the lines in the snow left by the sled, and the patterns of the shingles on the roof repeat and play off each other nicely. The first collectors of this work and lot 10 were also Ukrainian and were strong supporters of Kurelek’s work. This painting is in the original frame made by Kurelek.
E STIMATE: $35,000 ~ 45,000
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
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RITA LETENDRE ARCA OC QMG
1928 ~
Le rêve oil on canvas, signed and dated 1961 and on verso signed, titled and dated 12 1/4 x 14 in, 31.1 x 35.6 cm P ROVENANCE : Galerie Simon Blais, Montreal Private Collection, Montreal
L ITERATURE : Sandra Paikowsky, Rita Letendre: The Montreal Years, 1953 ~ 1963, Concordia Art Gallery, 1989, pages 23 and 30 Montreal Automatist Paul~Émile Borduas was an important early influence for Rita Letendre, and under his mentoring her work evolved from figurative painting to bold expressionist abstractions. Visits to New
York and exposure to the American Abstract Expressionist movement increased her awareness of the power of the gesture in paint. Although Letendre’s work is non~figurative, she stated that her work of the early 1960s came from a need to “express the force of living nature, the expansion of natural growth.” Mysterious dark backgrounds are often seen during this period, across which play gusting tatters of bright forms, here in orange, white and gold. Close~up viewing reveals the beauty of the paint itself ~ heavily layered on with a spatula, it is lush and heavily textured, with its slashes expressing vitality. In reviewing a 1959 show, writer Pierre Saucier exclaimed, “Letendre seduces us with her disquieting mobility and her violent and sinuous lyricism.” This pronouncement could certainly apply to this sensual work, which seizes our attention with its vibrant, expressive gestures, and our imagination with its title Le rêve (The Dream).
E STIMATE: $10,000 ~ 15,000
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
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ALEXANDRA LUKE CGP CSPWC OSA P11
1901 ~ 1967
Untitled oil on board, signed, circa 1953 ~ 1955 20 1/2 x 39 1/2 in, 52.1 x 100.3 cm P ROVENANCE : Private Collection, Toronto Alexandra Luke played a significant role in the development of abstract art in Canada. Luke was from a wealthy family and was known as a supporter of modernism in Oshawa. In 1952, aware that abstract art lacked exposure, she became a leading organizer of the first Canadian Abstract Exhibition. It was at Luke’s lakeshore studio at Oshawa in 1953 that the important modernist group Painters Eleven was founded. In her own painting, a turning point occurred during a 1938 trip to New Mexico, where the vibrant art communities of Santa Fe and Taos were the base for the abstractionist Transcendental Painting Group. By 1943, Luke was transitioning to abstraction. Around 1945 she experimented with automatic drawing, then in 1947 enrolled in the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts in Massachusetts, further accelerating her development under this influential teacher. Luke was known for her rich impasto, seen here in Untitled, which also includes strong contrasts between dark and light. This striking painting radiates vitality, its colour planes criss~crossed by streaks and daubs of paint, which activate a sensation of force.
E STIMATE: $18,000 ~ 24,000
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BERTRAM CHARLES (B.C.) BINNING BCSFA CGP CSGA OC RAIC RCA
1909 ~ 1976
Happy Harbour oil on burlap, signed and on verso signed and titled, circa 1955 12 1/4 x 14 1/2 in, 31.1 x 36.8 cm P ROVENANCE : Acquired directly from the Artist By descent to the present Private Collection, Vancouver
L ITERATURE : Doreen E. Walker, B.C. Binning: A Classical Spirit, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 1986, unpaginated B.C. Binning was a pioneer West Coast modernist. Through his important contributions to the University of British Columbia ~ he first taught in the School of Architecture, then founded the Department of Fine Arts ~ he
fostered a sense of artistic community that transcended boundaries. As an artist, he was a modernist with an expansive viewpoint ~ formatively, he studied in England with Henry Moore, traveled through Europe viewing art and architecture, then moved on to New York, where he was influenced by the modernist exhibition Art in Our Time. He often exhibited internationally. Happy Harbour, with its abstracted nautical motifs of flags, pennants, navigation devices and sails, is an absolutely classic Binning. It is very gay and bright, yet perfectly balanced formally, reflecting his dual artistic preoccupations ~ what he called “the business of serious joy”, balanced with “a classic sense”. Binning loved the sea, which he explored in a sailboat, and felt that the imagery he absorbed along the British Columbia coast “had to be interpreted with some sort of ‘joie de vivre’.” Binning’s use of abstracted motifs codified this joie de vivre into a consummate and universal visual language of the sea.
E STIMATE: $20,000 ~ 30,000
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
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GORDON APPELBE SMITH BCSFA CGP CPE OC RCA
1919 ~
Untitled oil on canvas, signed, circa 1961 27 3/4 x 34 4/3 in, 70.5 x 89.7 cm P ROVENANCE : A gift from J. Ron Longstaffe to the present Private Collector, Toronto
L ITERATURE : Ian M. Thom and Andrew Hunter, Gordon Smith: The Act of Painting, Vancouver Art Gallery, 1997, a similar 1961 oil entitled Pacific Landscape, collection of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, reproduced page 78 The early 1960s were a time of breakthrough for Gordon Smith in the recognition of his work. In 1960, he was chosen to represent Canada at the SĂŁo Paulo Bienal, and the work selected included some of his most
experimental up to that time. A Canada Council fellowship allowed him to take a year off from teaching at the University of British Columbia to travel and paint, and his first show at a commercial gallery, the ground~breaking New Design Gallery in Vancouver, took place in 1961. This work, which appears to be an abstracted harbour, is dominated by deep tonalities of blue, its planes of cobalt and turquoise shifting moodily like weather. The central, horizontal congregation of shapes floats in these blue tonalities, suggesting buildings and a freighter, and drawing our eye with their bright white, red and yellow accents. Smith’s treatment of brushwork is fluid and expressionist, and his rich surface makes the viewer delight in the sheer physicality of paint. J. Ron Longstaffe, who gave this work as a gift to the present owner, was a prominent and discriminating Vancouver collector and philanthropist, who donated over 800 works of art to the Vancouver Art Gallery.
E STIMATE: $20,000 ~ 30,000
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P ROVENANCE : Acquired directly from the Artist in a poker game By descent to the present Private Collection, Toronto
E XHIBITED : The Ontario Society of Artists 82nd Annual Exhibition, March 1954 Oscar Cahén’s distinctive palette of dense blacks, candy~floss pink, sunny orange and sky blue make Growth an outstanding example of the energetic, fertile images he produced throughout the 1950s. The history of ownership of this work reminds us that a factor common to most of the artists associated with Painters Eleven was their outstanding skill as graphic artists. Steady employment in that field not only paid the bills but also provided them with a workplace sympathetic to their aspirations as exhibiting artists beyond the commercial sphere of advertising and publishing. His work as an illustrator introduced Cahén to his peers ~ Walter Yarwood, Harold Town and Ray Mead among them ~ who became devoted friends and fellow members of Painters Eleven. Cahén also met people like the first owner of Growth, who was then the art director at the ad firm Vickers & Benson. It was after one of their regular poker nights that Cahén, short of cash, offered to pay with a painting. The art director only knew Cahén as a very successful illustrator but, having viewed a selection of his artwork, was delighted to accept!
E STIMATE: $25,000 ~ 35,000
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OSCAR CAHÉN CGP CSGA CSPWC OSA P11
1915 ~ 1956
Growth watercolour, ink and pastel on illustration board, signed and on verso titled and dated 1954 on the exhibition label 37 x 25 3/4 in, 94 x 65.4 cm
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
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JEAN~PAUL RIOPELLE AUTO CAS OC QMG RCA SCA
1923 ~ 2002
Sans titre watercolour and ink on paper, signed and dated 1954 and on verso inscribed ST 3114 and PM 10 3/8 x 25 1/8 in, 26.3 x 63.8 cm P ROVENANCE : Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York Acquired from the above by Milton Shulman By descent to the present Private Collection, British Columbia
L ITERATURE : Yseult Riopelle, Jean~Paul Riopelle Catalogue RaisonnĂŠ, Volume II, 1954 ~ 1959, 2004, reproduced page 352, catalogue #1954.019P.1954 The early to mid 1950s were an exciting period for Jean~Paul Riopelle. He was living in Paris, and his watercolours from this period reflect the
energy and stimulus of its thriving artistic environment. The composition of these watercolours is a fine balance of structure and intuition, which allows the lines, daubs of black ink and washes of colour to hint at something rather than state it. In this vibrant work, Riopelle employs a horizontal format and a rainbow of colours to create a particularly rhythmical and attractive dance. This work was originally acquired by Milton Shulman, a distinguished theatre and film critic. Shulman was born in Toronto and, after serving in the Second World War, spent most of his adult life in London. In 1948, fellow Canadian Lord Beaverbook hired Shulman at the London Evening Standard and he became its theatre critic, a position he held for almost four decades. Shulman was also passionate about international art ~ his collection included works by Alexander Calder, Marc Chagall and Yaacov Agam, among others ~ and this fine work has stayed within his family until its consignment to Heffel.
E STIMATE: $20,000 ~ 30,000
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
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WILLIAM KURELEK ARCA OC OSA
1927 ~ 1977
Children Dancing in the Manitoba Rain mixed media on board, initialed and dated 1962 and on verso titled, dated and inscribed William Kurelek 28 x 24 in, 71.1 x 61 cm P ROVENANCE : Loch Mayberry Fine Art Inc., Winnipeg Private Collection, Saskatoon William Kurelek often drew on memories of his Manitoba childhood for source material for his paintings depicting Prairie life. Feeding pigs, harvesting corn, gathering eggs and other typical farm chores are often subjects. His depictions of children engaged in simple play are especially charming. They sled on frozen haystacks, tunnel through drifts of winter snow, and dance under a starry sky. Here, three children delight in a
Prairie downpour as the vast, cloud~filled sky unleashes rain and soaks the flat land, which puddles with water before it is absorbed or drains away. One boy opens his shirt and dances, arms outstretched, head down, while another raises his face and hands to the sky. A girl in the distance hoists up her dress while she stands ankle deep in water. It is a charming scene of children delighting in the cooling rain that comes with a summer storm, painted with exacting Kurelek precision and carefully balanced colour. The distant buildings, which echo the colours of the children’s clothing, stand as if in silent, stoic witness to the scene.
E STIMATE: $50,000 ~ 70,000
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
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WILLIAM KURELEK ARCA OC OSA
1927 ~ 1977
Calling Pigs to Feed mixed media on board, initialed and dated indistinctly 197[?] 13 1/4 x 13 3/8 in, 33.7 x 34 cm P ROVENANCE : Acquired directly from the Artist By descent to the present Private Collection, Ontario
L ITERATURE : William Kurelek, A Prairie Boy’s Winter, 1973, a second version of this painting reproduced, unpaginated William Kurelek’s depictions of the Canadian land and its rural people are often based on recollections from his youth. Raised with a typical slate of farm chores, such as milking cows, feeding chickens and gathering eggs,
he was used to being around farm animals. Calling Pigs to Feed elicits, in anyone who has ever fed pigs, a shared understanding of this unique experience. Pigs are very eager feeders, and the sound of a certain whistle, a particular call or the clanging of a feed bucket will get their attention long before the feed hits the trough. Strong and determined, they jostle noisily to be the first at the meal. In this scene, Kurelek conveys the mix of fascination and fear that the child likely feels by positioning the youngster behind a fence post, which acts as a barricade to the eager pigs while still allowing a close view of the frenzy. The child’s mother (we presume) wisely watches the bolting pigs as she dumps their corn, anticipating an imminent assault on the trough. It is a quintessential Kurelek farming image, finely detailed and filled with humour. This painting is in the original frame made by Kurelek.
E STIMATE: $30,000 ~ 40,000
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
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JEAN~PAUL RIOPELLE AUTO CAS OC QMG RCA SCA
1923 ~ 2002
Sans titre oil on canvas, signed and on verso signed and inscribed No. 11 and 78 twice, 1954 28 5/8 x 39 5/8 in, 72.7 x 100.6 cm P ROVENANCE : Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York Sold sale of Post~War and Contemporary Art, Sotheby’s London, April 5, 1990, lot 617 Private Collection, Montreal
L ITERATURE : Yseult Riopelle, Jean~Paul Riopelle Catalogue Raisonné, Volume II, 1954 ~ 1959, 2004, reproduced page 187, catalogue #1954.079H.1954 As we have long been accustomed to figurative art, we often assume that even abstract art must have some connection with nature. In the dark spreading out of Jean~Paul Riopelle’s Sans titre, we could imagine some mysterious movements of unseen objects or the ripple of water on the sea at night. We are told that with an abstract painting each viewer is free to imagine what he wants. But is that so? Could I be permitted to borrow from philosophy to clarify the problem a little? The relation to nature we are looking for when confronted by abstract art is coherent with the idea that our relation to the world is that of a subject (a self) in front of an object. This relationship could be defined as contemplative, detached, at a certain distance from reality. This is the attitude of the figurative painter pretending to “imitate” what he sees, to “copy” nature. But this is not the only place we could occupy in the world. The German philosopher Martin Heidegger gave the example of a craftsman in his workshop using his tools to produce something. He thought of a shoemaker ~ and in that case, the craftsman is not contemplating anything already there, but is producing something new, which could be useful or beautiful, or both.
Jean~Paul Riopelle, 1953 Denise Colomb (1902 ~ 2004) © Denise Colomb ~ RMN Photo credit: Ministère de la Culture / Médiathèque du Patrimoine Dist. RMN / Art Resource, NY
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Jean~Paul Riopelle in his Paris studio, 1956 © Robert Doisneau / Gamma ~ Rapho
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21 But it strikes me that the situation Heidegger describes is very similar to the one of an artist in his studio. The painter also has his tools ~ in the case of Riopelle, his famous painting knives and decapitated paint tubes ~ and he is absorbed in what he does, forgetting the world around him, to produce something ~ a painting. In this case, one could say that the painter is not painting the world as he saw it, but producing a world ~ his own world. This is also like the craftsman, who, by producing something he could sell, advertise, improve, etc. is also creating his own world and a network of communication, different from any other. In fact, in an artwork, we are not looking at the exterior world more or less transposed by the painter, but his inner world. We are invited to share his taste for the colour black, for an impetuous composition full of gyratory movements, for an all~over overcoming of the picture’s surface, for texture and impastos, for the juxtaposition of coloured surfaces left by the painting knife that led to Riopelle’s paintings of the 1950s being described as mosaics. By looking at his painting, we are invited to share the creative process of the painter, to share something of the innumerable decisions he had to make to organize its surface as it is. We are, therefore, not detached or at a distance. The presence of the painter is close at hand ~ in each stroke, in each trace he has left on the canvas.
detail 11
Perceived from that point of view, Sans titre from 1954 becomes an extraordinary painting, able to give much pleasure to the onlooker. It is what we mean when we say: “This painting has a real presence on the wall.” Such is almost always the case with Riopelle’s paintings ~ they attract attention, as if their creator were there. And in fact, is that not also true of great figurative painting? How could we not feel the same about that, as in the “mute poetry”, as he described it, of Nicolas Poussin’s great masterpieces, even if he claimed that they were “imitating” nature? We thank François~Marc Gagnon of the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute of Studies in Canadian Art, Concordia University, recent recipient of the medal of the Académie des lettres du Québec for his lifetime achievement, for contributing the above essay.
E STIMATE: $500,000 ~ 700,000
detail 11
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GORDON APPELBE SMITH BCSFA CGP CPE OC RCA
1919 ~
Untitled oil on canvas, signed, circa 1960 28 x 35 in, 71.1 x 88.9 cm P ROVENANCE : Private Collection, Toronto
L ITERATURE : Ian M. Thom and Andrew Hunter, Gordon Smith: The Act of Painting, Vancouver Art Gallery, 1997, pages 1 and 49 Gordon Smith stated, “My feelings and themes are largely derived from nature, the sea, rocks, trees; the things I live with…Painting should be a re~creation of an experience rather than an illustration of an experience.”
This brilliant painting, while abstracted, resembles an azure summer seascape, with a strong vertical form in the foreground that could read as bleached driftwood. Its mood is dreamy, and the palette of greens and blues is rich and full of light. As important as the physical origin of the subject of this painting is Smith’s manipulation of paint ~ the intent of which he describes as “welding the image with paint, so the paint becomes the image and the image becomes the paint.” Expressionist brush~strokes softly define planes and forms, and the transparent veil of white in the upper part of the work gives the impression of drifting clouds. Physicality of place and of paint meld into one, as Smith’s masterly treatment of the abstract qualities of space, colour, mood and light clearly shows why he is considered an important early Canadian modernist.
E STIMATE: $20,000 ~ 30,000
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GORDON APPELBE SMITH BCSFA CGP CPE OC RCA
1919 ~
Photo Van Dusen Gardens acrylic on canvas, signed and on verso titled and dated March 2013 22 x 48 in, 55.9 x 121.9 cm P ROVENANCE : A gift from the Artist to the present Private Collector, Vancouver Since the mid~1990s, Gordon Smith has been painting ponds as subjects. He works from both memories and photographs, as evidenced by the title of this stunning painting. In these works, Smith is fascinated by shifting fields of space, and in the interplay between landscape elements and abstraction. Water, trees, sky and branches are also pattern, light, lines and planes. The pond reflects what is above and at its perimeter in a softly shifting, wavering reflection, reading as both negative and positive space. From a dense criss~crossing entanglement at the water’s edge, graceful thin, wavy branches emerge, making delicate patterns against the pale centre that holds the reflection of the sky. Smith is always aware of paint itself and, on close viewing, in the density of branches are many strokes of luscious colours, such as mauve, green and blue. In this visual poem, the viewer feels delight in how the senses read space first one way and then another, and in how nature’s patterns of growth, seemingly random, have their own innate balance and beauty.
E STIMATE: $10,000 ~ 15,000
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JACK HAMILTON BUSH ARCA CGP CSGA CSPWC OSA P11
1909 ~ 1977
Off Green acrylic on canvas, on verso signed, titled, dated October 1968 and inscribed acrylic polymer W.B. and P~6 on a label 91 x 39 1/2 in, 231.1 x 100.3 cm P ROVENANCE : David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto Dr. Charles Best, Toronto, circa 1972 By descent to the present Private Collection, Toronto New York, Boston, Miami, London, Paris, Geneva, Jerusalem, Singapore, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, and on and on ~ this is just a sampling of cities where Jack Bush’s paintings reside today. Beginning around 1956, Bush began to have serious aspirations to be a successful artist within an international arena. In his diary entry for May 28, 1956, Bush recalls that he bumped into Arthur Lismer at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. There was a Pablo Picasso show on, and Lismer took Bush by the arm into the gallery to tell him that this was where he ought to be. For decades up to that point, Bush had followed the best practices of Canada’s finest artists, belonging to groups such as the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour, the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and even the Group of Seven’s more inclusive outgrowth, the Canadian Group of Painters. Bush played the part of the artist, but he had not yet found his best stride as a painter. His skills as an abstractionist gained momentum during his time with the Painters Eleven (1953 ~ 1960), and by the fall of 1960, according to the unpublished Bush diary held at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Clement Greenberg was calling Bush a “world painter”. In the September 24, 1966 Saturday issue of The Telegram, Harry Malcolmson held a mirror up to the then relatively provincial Toronto art scene with a generous spread on Bush, which aptly pointed to the artist as holding “the international reputation that’s the best~kept secret in Toronto.” By 1964 Bush had sold out shows with the André Emmerich Gallery in New York. Emmerich was one of the best dealers in North America, whose gallery served as a veritable Top Gun training ground for the most formidable players in the American art market today. He had also secured a solid place on the roster of Leslie Waddington’s gallery on Cork Street in London in the early 1960s. Waddington’s was the point of purchase for three of the stunning Bush paintings that recently emerged on the market from the Estate of Andy Williams. Between 1964 and 1966, Bush consciously held out on regular showings of his work in Toronto, believing that success in New York and London would precipitate his great success back home in Canada ~ and he was right. Vincent Melzac, the avid Washington, DC~based art collector and board member of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, put Bush on a retainer in order to collect his work in bulk year~to~year. Lord Alistair McAlpine saw Bush’s work in London and felt it worthy to purchase two paintings as part of a select group of six major abstract paintings that would found the first collection of art at the University of Warwick, which opened in 1965.
25 As the Jack Bush catalogue raisonné of paintings is now being compiled, the provenance research on more than 50 years of art production shows that Bush’s paintings have been purchased by some of the world’s most prominent individuals and most reputable art collectors. Bush’s Off Green (October 1968) is a great case in point for the distinguished provenance tied to so many of his paintings. Along with several other works, including Cut Off (November 1968), in the collection of the Canada Council Art Bank, and Red, Blue #2, which now hangs at the Canadian High Commission in London, UK, Off Green was first sent to the David Mirvish Gallery in Toronto on July 8, 1969. As was the case with all of Bush’s key dealers, it was common for many paintings to be sent to a gallery at one time, either to form an exhibition, or to be shown selectively to choice collectors. In pursuit of building long~term success for the artist, the aim was to thoughtfully place artworks in collections rather than liquidate an inventory. Around 1972, Dr. Charles Best, son of the great co~discoverer of insulin, Dr. Charles H. Best, purchased Off Green from the David Mirvish Gallery. The painting stayed with the family for yet another generation, transferring by descent to the collector’s son. The provenance for Bush paintings is characteristically rock~solid. Once a person buys a Bush painting, they often keep it. It is the reason that we do not see large numbers of Bush paintings coming onto the market at any one time. Off Green is almost 50 years old now, but it looks as sharp as ever. As one collector in her nineties once told me about her late~1960s Bush painting, “It’s never let me down!” We thank Dr. Sarah Stanners for contributing the above essay. Stanners is an independent art historian currently directing the Jack Bush catalogue raisonné project. She is also a guest curator with the National Gallery of Canada, where she is co~curating a major Bush retrospective exhibition with the gallery’s director, Marc Mayer, which is scheduled to be on view from October 31, 2014 to January 15, 2015. Stanners regularly teaches Canadian art history at the university level and is now affiliated with the Department of Art at the University of Toronto. Off Green will be included in the forthcoming Jack Bush Paintings: A Catalogue Raisonné. For more information on this project, or to submit details of a painting, please go to http://www.jackbush.org
E STIMATE: $100,000 ~ 150,000
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JEAN PAUL LEMIEUX CC QMG RCA
1904 ~ 1990
L’évêque en noir oil on canvas, signed and dated 1963 and on verso titled 40 1/8 x 30 7/8 in, 101.9 x 78.4 cm P ROVENANCE : Galerie Agnès Lefort, Montreal An Important Private Collection, USA This was not the first time that Jean Paul Lemieux had been attracted by religious subject matter, as he was in L’évêque en noir. He had painted a famous portrait of Cardinal Léger, and even one of Pope John Paul II. In this work, however, we are not dealing with a portrait, but rather with a type, a generalized figure of ecclesiastical authority, accompanied by two altar boys. Even the yellow ornament that the bishop wears on his chest is difficult to identify as a cross. We are left with only the face to unravel this haunting figure, who stands contrasted with the innocence of the two boys. As is often seen in Lemieux’s paintings of religious figures, the faces have very few details. We have already seen, in Heffel’s fall 2010 art auction, a good example of that in a 1966 painting entitled L’Apôtre. Lemieux has kept just enough detail in L’évêque en noir to communicate the imposing presence of the bishop. In the early 1960s when this painting was produced, a huge movement of secularization, of detachment from the Catholic Church, was just beginning in Quebec. It was the end of the “survivance” mentality, in which the French presence in North America was seen almost as a miracle. It was also the end of the attempt to use religion, and the French language, as the criteria of French~Canadian identity. Soon, the control the Church had on the Quebec population for so many years began to loosen, and the churches became deserted. These monuments, which had been landmarks everywhere in Quebec, were emptied, destroyed or transformed into something else (including condos!). Quebec became a pluralist society, where it was possible to have many religious beliefs side~by~side, or none whatsoever, and to remain tolerant of one another. In this context the bishop in Lemieux’s L’évêque en noir could be seen as a poignant figure who did not understand exactly what was going on, but was determined not to lose power. I see this bishop’s black cloak ~ which is, by the way, traditional for the liturgy of Good Friday and for the Mass for the deceased ~ as a sign of death: death not of an individual, but of an ideology, of the belief through which he had found his pre~eminent place in society, a place he was about to lose. The composition of the painting is rigorously symmetrical ~ the bishop occupies the centre of the painting, with the similarly dressed altar boys on either side. It is not that symmetry is associated in particular with death, but certainly with an absence of movement, with frontality and a kind of permanence of the representation. Asymmetrical figures, on the contrary, suggest more dynamism, intentionality and life. When Lemieux depicted his people ~ even frontally, as in Julie et l’univers, 1963, a painting of the same year as our L’évêque en noir ~ on the side of the composition,
Jean Paul Lemieux working on a painting © Library and Archives Canada. Photo credit: Rosemary Gilliat Eaton fonds/e010950637
he created a dynamism between the background and the figure that we do not have here. As a matter of fact, you could say here that the localization of the figures in space is sacrificed to convey the idea of their permanence in time. It is only in memory, unconnected with a specific space, that the figures can be truly permanent, as archetypes. In Lemieux’s work we do not find a direct confrontation of religion such as exists in Paul~Émile Borduas’s manifesto Refus global, but rather an ironic point of view or a reflection on a vanishing world. There is certainly an element of nostalgia in Lemieux’s approach, but also of realism in regard to the evolution of thought in Quebec. We thank François~Marc Gagnon of the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute of Studies in Canadian Art, Concordia University, recent recipient of the medal of the Académie des lettres du Québec for his lifetime achievement, for contributing the above essay.
E STIMATE: $350,000 ~ 450,000
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JEAN~PAUL RIOPELLE AUTO CAS OC QMG RCA SCA
1923 ~ 2002
Iceberg IV oil on canvas, on verso titled Iceberg No. 4 and dated 1977 on a label and inscribed twice with the Galerie Maeght inventory number W 2044 78 3/4 x 110 1/4 in, 200 x 280 cm P ROVENANCE : Private Collection
L ITERATURE : Thomas B. Hess, Derrière le miroir, Riopelle: Icebergs, Galerie Maeght, Paris, 1979, reproduced, unpaginated, catalogue #232 Michael Greenwood, “Jean~Paul Riopelle: Icebergs”, artscanada, May/ June 1979, pages 50 ~ 52
Claude Fournet, L’espace abstrait: O. Debré, H. Hartung, B. Olson, J~P. Riopelle, Sonderborg, Espace niçois d’art et de culture (ENAC) et Palais des congrès Acropolis, 1986, reproduced, unpaginated Lise Gauvin, Thomas B. Hess, Pierre Boudreau and Franco Russoli, Riopelle, Museo Ibercaja Camón Aznar ~ Centro de exposiciones y congresos, 1991, listed page 59 Gérard Guillot~Chêne, Pierre Schneider and Guy Viau, Riopelle: parcours 1963 ~ 1993, Musée d’Évreux ~ Ancien évêché d’Évreux, 1993, reproduced page 25 Gilbert Lascaux, Riopelle, Couvent des Cordeliers, 1993, listed, unpaginated Gilbert Érouart, translator Donald Winkler, Riopelle in Conversation, 1995, page 13
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Jean~Paul Riopelle in the Arctic, July 1977 Photo credit: Claude Duthuit, 1977 ~ Rights Reserved
E XHIBITED : Galerie Maeght, Paris, Riopelle: Icebergs, 1979 Musée de Nice, France, L’espace abstrait: O. Debré, H. Hartung, B. Olson, J~P. Riopelle, Sonderborg, Palais des congrès Acropolis, Nice, June 25 ~ July 27, 1986 and Espace niçois d’art et de culture (ENAC), Nice, June 12 ~ September 30, 1986 Museo Ibercaja Camón Aznar ~ Centro de exposiciones y congresos, Zaragoza, Spain, Riopelle, October 18 ~ November 22, 1991 Musée d’Évreux ~ Ancien évêché d’Évreux, France, Riopelle: parcours 1963 ~ 1993, July 3 ~ September 30, 1993 Couvent des Cordeliers, Châteauroux, France, Riopelle, 1993, catalogue #1 G8 Summit, Huntsville, Ontario, June 25 ~ 26, 2010
Jean~Paul Riopelle traveled to the Canadian Arctic in 1977. The fact that the charming photograph of the artist surrounded by icebergs reproduced here was taken by Claude Duthuit (1931 ~ 2011), an underwater archaeologist and grandson of Henri Matisse, alerts us to the complexity and indeed profundity of Riopelle’s Iceberg series, which he began shortly after this trip. The genius of the Icebergs is that they extend Riopelle’s lifelong conversation between European modernism and his home, and between abstraction and figuration. The series evokes both natural forces and the artist’s ongoing connections to avant~garde European painting. The Icebergs are figurative, though in a way closely allied to his longstanding abstract practices. Iceberg IV, as a prime example of Riopelle’s work at this time, is thus both courageously new and continuous with his reputation as one of the twentieth century’s most accomplished abstract painters.
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Jean~Paul Riopelle’s studio at Saint~Cyr~en~Arthies (France), showing Iceberg IV Photo credit: Jacqueline Hyde, Archives Yseult Riopelle
No other Canadian artist of his generation achieved Riopelle’s reputation internationally. With an impeccably avant~garde pedigree from Montreal ~ studies with Paul~Émile Borduas, membership in Les Automatistes from the 1940s, a signatory to the liberatory cultural manifesto Refus global of 1948 ~ when he moved to Paris in 1947, Riopelle attracted the attention of Surrealist leader André Breton and became central in the revitalization of post~World War II French abstraction. Riopelle returned to Quebec in 1972 ~ although he continued to move back and forth between Canada and France until finally settling in Quebec in 1990. As Duthuit’s 1977 photograph of Riopelle with the iceberg powerfully records, Riopelle was closely engaged with Canada’s remote landscapes and elemental natural forces. Another key documentary photograph included here underscores that some of the Iceberg paintings, including Iceberg IV, were executed in France in Riopelle’s Saint-Cyr-en-Arthies studio. Other works from this series were produced in Quebec, at Estérel in the Laurentians. There are many ways to frame an understanding of this magisterial painting. If we start from the experience of the large, boldly articulated surface that confronts us, we are struck by Riopelle’s use of only black and white rather than the mosaic, prismatic colour typical of his earlier work. While we do not see icebergs here in any literal sense, Riopelle’s hand powerfully demarcates white shapes. We may read these as ice forms in
the lower area of the canvas; in the upper portions of the image, by subtle contrast, white suggests the luminosity of the sky, thanks to Riopelle’s angling of his palette knife’s marks in a delicate arc moving outwards from the frame in the top right and left. The artist’s approach to whiteness is key to this work. “If I dared to paint my series of icebergs in the 1970s,” he said in an interview, “it’s because the colour white doesn’t exist in nature…If snow were white, I wouldn’t have taken the chance.” What does he mean, “wouldn’t have taken the chance”? One interpretation is that he is not painting what he sees, the whiteness and shape of ice, but rather its almost geological mobility. For Riopelle, such “abstract” elements within the frame are closely akin to “natural” forces beyond it. Both are architectonic. As the documentary photograph suggests too, Riopelle is right in the middle of such transmutations, immersed in the landscape as he was in the painting. Riopelle presents primary forces: the elemental nature of the environment and the act of painting are more than analogues, they are one. To convey the fundamental transformations of land and ice that we see in Duthuit’s photograph, Riopelle needed a simple, muscular palette, only black and white. Areas where one is not mixed with the other are rare in this canvas, as they are on the ground in areas where icebergs are formed. Crucial is the interaction of forces and materials, the inevitable mixing of earth and ice and of pigments that we see across the assertive armature of Iceberg IV.
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Jean~Paul Riopelle’s studio at Saint~Cyr~en~Arthies (France), 1977 Photo credit: Jacqueline Hyde, Archives Yseult Riopelle
We can think of this painting as an abstraction from landscape, not a representation but an evocation of primal forces. In technique and passion, it remains close to Riopelle’s earlier, “European” mode. Yet the painting and the series in which it belongs also stand in the company of some of Canada’s most innovative aesthetic responses to the North. Reviewing an exhibition of the Iceberg paintings in 1979, Michael Greenwood observed that “despite the conscious aspiration of Lawren Harris and others to endow their work with a mystic Canadian identity, no other painter since Tom Thomson has come closer to achieving that goal with the same degree of unforced inner conviction than Riopelle.” Not transcendent in the manner of Lawren Harris’s Arctic images ~ though like his, I would add, in bringing the North into the orbit of southern culture as a cleansing force ~ in its direct and evocative response to an ultimately alien terrain, Iceberg IV is affiliated with Paterson Ewen’s “phenomenascapes” and Michael Snow’s film La région centrale (1971, where the artist placed a specially designed camera in northern Quebec and let it film the landscape from all imaginable angles, unbidden by the artist).
nature ~ that artists are often tacitly expected to find a signature style and never deviate from it. This is especially the case with abstract painting, which was a powerful creed in mid~century western culture. Artists who went against what had become doctrine by painting figuratively in their later careers ~ most notoriously, Willem de Kooning and Philip Guston ~ were seen by some as traitors. Riopelle was so dedicated to painting that he changed his approach when he was moved to change, in this case by the Arctic environment. Iceberg IV is as central to his remarkable legacy as any work he produced during his long and storied career.
To gain a broader perspective on the immediate effects of Iceberg IV, it is worth remarking that one dimension of Riopelle’s courage in his series of Iceberg works from the 1970s was the brush with figuration that their titles and forms suggest. It is a quirk of art history ~ or perhaps of human
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We thank Mark Cheetham, Professor of Art History at the University of Toronto, for contributing the above essay. Please note: this work will be included in an advance preview in Vancouver October 9 to 25 only, and then will be included in the Montreal and Toronto previews. This work is accompanied by a photograph certificate of authenticity from Yseult Riopelle and will be included in the forthcoming Volume V catalogue raisonné on the artist’s work, catalogue #1977.151H.
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JEAN ALBERT MCEWEN AANFM RCA
1923 ~ 1999
Verticale nocturne oil on canvas, signed twice and on verso signed and dated 1961 and 10~5~61 59 7/8 x 39 in, 152.1 x 99 cm P ROVENANCE : Galerie Simon Blais, Montreal Private Collection, Montreal
L ITERATURE : Constance Naubert~Riser, Jean McEwen, Colour in Depth: Paintings and Works on Paper, 1951 ~ 1987, The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1987, reproduced page 75
E XHIBITED : The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Jean McEwen, Colour in Depth: Paintings and Works on Paper, 1951 ~ 1987, December 11, 1987 ~ January 24, 1988, catalogue #24 One becomes aware of the originality of Jean McEwen’s painting ~ and Verticale nocturne is a splendid example of his production from the early sixties ~ when we attempt to associate it with one of the two main currents of the time: the post~Automatist painting of Rita Letendre, Lise Gervais and Jean Lefébure, or the Plasticiens’ aesthetic of rigorous geometry and thin layers of paint. On the one hand, McEwen was a master of the colour field and did not maintain the opposition of objects against a receding background. As art historian and author Constance Naubert~Riser has pointed out, McEwen maintains depth in his painting only through colour. In that sense he is closer to Sam Francis, whom he met in Paris, or to Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman or Clyfford Still than to the followers of Paul~Émile Borduas. On the other hand, even though he often adopted the vertical format, like the idea of “the zip”, as in Newman’s painting of a vertical passage between two masses, McEwen rejected the hard~edge presentation of the Plasticiens. There was no need of masking tape to get neat lines between the colours, as in Guido Molinari’s or Claude Tousignant’s painting. Not only did McEwen not use the roller brush to get a perfectly neutral layer of painting, but he painted directly on the canvas with his hands, obtaining a very peculiar kind of texture which has nothing to do with Jean~Paul Riopelle’s textural use of the painting knife, or with the heavy impastos of Borduas’s last period, the Black and White works that he painted in Paris. In the case of McEwen, the tool is more than an extension of the hand ~ it is the hand itself! Moreover, the colour in McEwen is never free of its emotional content ~ it is never just a way to denote different areas in the painting. On the contrary, as in Verticale nocturne, the black stripes on each side and in the middle are vibrating with some blue to justify the word “nocturne” in the title, and the red vertical planes are like a thin veil showing both blue and black in its small openings. We do circulate to a certain depth in this painting, but this va~et~vient (to~and~fro) happens in a rather narrow space, where background and surface are not very far apart. For McEwen, the title is never gratuitous. On the contrary, it is well thought out, as a small poem that refers directly to the emotional content
Poster for the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Exhibition, Jean McEwen, 1987
of the painting. Verticale nocturne indicates that it has something to do with the emotions of the night. One is reminded of the famous debate between the partisans of drawing like Philippe de Champaigne and the partisans of colour like Roger de Piles, in the seventeenth century. For the first group, only drawing could convey ideas, and it could have the dignity of a discourse. Colour from this perspective was just an ornament, a finishing touch to get closer to the appearances of things. For the “Rubenists”, as they were called, on the contrary, colour, which was specific to painting only, was a language of its own. The comparison was done with the rhetoric of an orator such as Cicero, and it was said, for instance, that a logical debate alone could not gain the conviction of a jury, without the emotional appeal of the speaker. This was the role of colour in painting: not to embellish the presentation, but to give it an appeal that went to the heart of the onlooker and gained his assent. Certainly, McEwen would have been in the Rubenists’ camp if he had lived in the seventeenth century! We thank François~Marc Gagnon of the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute of Studies in Canadian Art, Concordia University, recent recipient of the medal of the Académie des lettres du Québec for his lifetime achievement, for contributing the above essay. Please note: this work is reproduced on the poster for the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts exhibition, one of which accompanies this lot.
E STIMATE: $80,000 ~ 120,000
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JEAN~PAUL RIOPELLE AUTO CAS OC QMG RCA SCA
1923 ~ 2002
À claire~voie oil on canvas, signed and dated 1958 and on verso signed, titled, dated and inscribed PM 5 39 1/4 x 47 1/4 in, 99.7 x 120 cm P ROVENANCE : Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, stock #3724 Gallery Moos Ltd., Toronto Private Collection, Toronto
L ITERATURE : Yseult Riopelle, Jean~Paul Riopelle Catalogue Raisonné, Volume II, 1954 ~ 1959, 2004, reproduced page 292, catalogue #1958.043H.1958 Few Canadian artists have received such sustained and high praise from provincial, national and international institutions as Jean~Paul Riopelle did during his illustrious career. Riopelle enjoyed an abundance of national and international awards and exhibitions and witnessed the placement of his work in prominent private and public collections. He did “everything”. A pupil of Paul~Émile Borduas in Montreal in the 1940s, he was a signatory to the manifesto Refus global (1948), Canada’s most famous and influential proclamation of aesthetic and cultural liberty. He was a prominent member of the pivotal avant~garde group Les Automatistes before moving to France in 1947. There he became part of the Surrealist circle, and was the only Canadian to exhibit with them in a significant 1947 exhibition at the Galerie Maeght in Paris. Riopelle participated in the Venice Biennale in both 1954 and 1962. In 1990 he permanently settled in Quebec, where he remained active until his death in 2002. Though À claire~voie was part of this transatlantic competition ~ a strong statement of European vigour at a crucial time ~ its vitality comes from Riopelle’s signature emphasis within the arena of painting rather than art world politics. His bold application of pigment builds up an impasto surface that reflects light in myriad ways; its irrepressibly vibrant palette compels the eye. Riopelle was consciously inspired by Claude Monet’s late Water Lilies series, painted well into the twentieth century we should recall, and thus much closer chronologically to Riopelle’s efforts in
35 abstraction than we might think. What is more, Riopelle took up residence in Giverny, Monet’s fabled site for this work. “I lived where he lived,” Riopelle stated in an interview, “exactly.” Paintings such as À claire~voie made Riopelle’s reputation as a leading artist of French Lyrical Abstraction, of tachisme, and informel, all descriptions that opposed an expressive, unbridled freedom to the hard~edged, geometrical tendencies increasingly prevalent in both American Colour Field painting of the time and the generations of Montreal abstractionists known as the Plasticiens. Riopelle bridged the increasingly wide and fractious gap between post~World War II European and American abstract painting. Abroad, he was seen as much as a French and specifically Parisian artist as a Canadian, yet by showing with the famous Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York City from 1954 on, Riopelle underwrote that gallery’s explicit mandate to reintroduce what was then contemporary European art to an increasingly dominant American context. Categories and history aside, it is remarkable how immediate this painting looks today. As in the intimacies of Monet’s late works so admired by Riopelle, or the decorative patterns of Édouard Vuillard and Henri Matisse that he also cites as precedents, here too we can happily lose ourselves in the intricacies and surprising juxtapositions of hue, texture and gesture that enliven the surface of À claire~voie. While the painting remains assuredly abstract, individual passages to which the eye might be drawn provide nothing less than narratives of painterly passion. There are stories to see in the layers and movements of paint, in the striking juxtapositions of colour and in the emphatic deployment of stark black and white. Prolonged looking from a greater distance suggests that the welter of activity laid down by Riopelle’s palette knife is to a considerable extent controlled pictorially. The intense activity of a large central area is compressed, bounded by smoother, calmer forms around its perimeter. Painting is in fact framed by painting. We thank Mark Cheetham, Professor of Art History at the University of Toronto, for contributing the above essay.
E STIMATE: $200,000 ~ 300,000
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JACK HAMILTON BUSH ARCA CGP CSGA CSPWC OSA P11
1909 ~ 1977
November #20 (Oscar’s Death) gouache and watercolour on paper on artist board, signed and dated Nov. 27 / 1956 and on verso titled and dated 9 1/2 x 12 1/2 in, 24.1 x 31.7 cm P ROVENANCE : The Estate of Jack Bush Grace Borgenicht Gallery, New York Collection of David and Annette Raddock, Colorado Private Collection, Toronto It was during a Toronto visit to Jack Bush’s studio in the 1950s that American art critic Clement Greenberg recognized the power behind Bush’s works on paper. Greenberg was immediately impressed with the
directness and simplicity of his watercolours and gouaches. Bush’s works on paper clearly demonstrated his mastery of colour, depth and dexterity. It was also Greenberg who encouraged Bush to translate the qualities of his works on paper to his canvases. During this period, one can clearly see the influence of Colour Field painting in New York on Bush’s work and the beginnings of his own interpretation of this movement. Bush’s works on paper from this time rival those of his American contemporaries Helen Frankenthaler and Robert Motherwell. November #20 (Oscar’s Death) was painted at the time of the sudden death of Oscar Cahén, a fellow member of Painters Eleven, as Bush’s personal tribute to a seminal artist, colleague and friend. For both Cahén and Bush, works on paper were critical preliminary notations for their canvases. It was said among members of Painters Eleven that eventually Cahén’s influence would affect all of them, and this proved to be true for Bush.
E STIMATE: $10,000 ~ 15,000
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JEAN ALBERT MCEWEN AANFM RCA
1923 ~ 1999
La môme à l’eau de rose oil on canvas, signed and dated 1997 and on verso signed, titled, dated and inscribed Tableau au rose, Inv. #272 twice, 7500 and with two inscriptions crossed out 54 x 48 in, 137.1 x 121.9 cm P ROVENANCE : Private Collection, Vancouver When Jean McEwen returned to Montreal from Paris in 1953, he was full of the rich influence of post~war France. By 1955, he had begun to paint with his hands, mapping out geometric shapes and spaces with multiple layers of translucent colour and richness. He would explore such themes for the rest of his career, being endlessly fascinated with the potential of these seemingly simple techniques. Columnar and powerful, these
paintings sometimes respect the edges of the canvas and frame and remain contained therein, but often they vibrate and shimmer and threaten to escape up and off the surface of the work. McEwen gave his works evocative, intriguing titles. La môme à l’eau de rose translates roughly as Sentimental Young Girl, but might also refer to the World War II songstress Edith Piaf and her famous song “La vie en rose.” Piaf was nicknamed La Môme Piaf ~ The Little Sparrow. Her nervous energy, fine voice and dramatic life certainly had parallels with the work of McEwen, whose works have a nervous energy and fine voice of their own.
E STIMATE: $10,000 ~ 15,000
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JEAN~PAUL RIOPELLE AUTO CAS OC QMG RCA SCA
1923 ~ 2002
Sans titre oil on canvas, signed, 1955 35 x 45 3/8 in, 88.9 x 115.2 cm P ROVENANCE : Galerie Gilles Corbeil Collection Lavalin, Montreal Private Collection, Quebec
L ITERATURE : Roald Nasgaard, Abstract Painting in Canada, 2007, pages 81 and 82 Essay by François~Marc Gagnon, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, Canadian Post~War & Contemporary Art catalogue, May 15, 2013, page 50 Starting in 1951 and continuing for a period of two years, Jean~Paul Riopelle began experimenting with painting using his palette knife. He laid down large batches of colour, thick and rich and with areas of chromatically related consistency. Then on top of this carpet of paint he spurted and dribbled even more pigment, creating thin webs of lines and rays that dance and weave their way across the layers underneath, resulting in a vivid and complex surface. From considerations of texture alone, these works are fascinating. From the point of view of colour, they are remarkably astute, and lyrically, they are absolutely vivid. These years of experimentation in colour, texture and lyricism were refined in 1954, when Riopelle eliminated the second layer of paint ~ the thin lines and webs ~ and concentrated more fully on the knife~applied paint of the first layer. This marks his move to the “mosaics”, a critically important period in his work and the one from which this 1955 work, Sans titre, comes. At this time Riopelle also expanded the format of his works substantially, with larger canvases that allowed his mosaics to burgeon and explode. He became fully engrossed in the act of making each painting, working continuously at each in complete isolation until it was finished, sometimes 15 to 20 hours at a stretch. He used an amazing technique in which he held several tubes of paint in one hand like a bouquet, slicing off
39 their still~capped tops with one slash of his knife, held firmly in the other hand. The colours were then worked onto the canvas with what might seem to be a gut~instinct approach. But Riopelle had developed, through his earlier periods, an innate understanding of colour theory, mastering control of unmixed paint straight from the tube. Thus he was able to lay it on the canvas with an instinctual understanding of how each colour conveyed ideas of weight and depth, hot and cold, or its qualities of translucence and opacity. It was an intense, demanding method of working, and the results, as we can see in this work, can leave one speechless. Riopelle admired the late water lily works of Claude Monet. What interested him were not the ones wherein we can make out a pond and the flowers that dot it, but the ones purely concerned with colour and light, where the lily pond is revealed to us through light’s illumination of the things it touched. The pond itself was quite unimportant. While Riopelle’s works have nothing of the bucolic softness of Monet, they are interested in the same thing: pure colour and colour sensation. Roald Nasgaard writes, “The compositions are as always all~over, sprawling surfaces of strokes of paint in which pure colours, used straight out of the tube, are streaked into one another, atomizing for the eye into an endless myriad of colour sensations. Close up, individual colours appear merely accidentally related, the result of untrammelled automatism, but at a proper distance, they begin to gather and resolve into larger coherent and compositionally determined clusters, each defined by its predominant colour, red, green, blue or white.” As François~Marc Gagnon notes, “Technique is important, but it is not all. The result is the main issue.” And the result here is a painting that dances with exuberance, sparks and electrifies, that hums and sings and then absolutely shouts. This work is included as an addendum in Yseult Riopelle’s online catalogue raisonné on the artist’s work at http://www.riopelle.ca, catalogue #1955.079H.1955.
E STIMATE: $200,000 ~ 300,000
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JACK LEONARD SHADBOLT BCSFA CGP CSPWC OC RCA
1909 ~ 1998
White Field oil and lucite on canvas, signed and dated 1963 and on verso signed, titled and dated 53 x 48 in, 134.6 x 121.9 cm P ROVENANCE : Collection of Ledingham Design, Vancouver
L ITERATURE : Anthony Emery, Jack Shadbolt, Vancouver Art Gallery, 1969, listed Scott Watson, Jack Shadbolt, 1990, page 78
E XHIBITED : Vancouver Art Gallery, Jack Shadbolt Retrospective 1939 ~ 1969, October 15 ~ November 2, 1969, traveling in 1969 ~ 1970 to the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Memorial University of St. John’s, Newfoundland, Confederation Art Gallery, Charlottetown, Edmonton Art Gallery, Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Winnipeg Art Gallery and the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, catalogue #53
White Field relates to Jack Shadbolt’s hedonistic explorations in the realm of colour while on Mediterranean trips in 1956 and 1960. Scott Watson writes, “In his vivid descriptions of Mediterranean colour, he made the names of colour stimulate all the senses, not just the optical.” White Field glows with luminous lemon, warm ochre and sultry hot orange, giving the impression of summer heat. In the early 1960s, Shadbolt’s creative process involved a dynamic struggle between the intuitive openness of spontaneous gesture and his need to create structure in his compositions by the control of his will. In this beautiful painting, Shadbolt thickly layers his paint with gestural brush~strokes, creating a free and floating space for his predominantly white forms in the lower part of the canvas. By his title, Shadbolt indicated these white forms are a focal point, drawing our eye to their visual complexity and cool, incandescent light. This work is from the collection of Ledingham Design. Robert Ledingham (1942 ~ 2013) was a renowned Vancouver interior designer, who was known for his impeccable taste and his advocacy for the inclusion of art in his design work.
E STIMATE: $30,000 ~ 40,000
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JACK LEONARD SHADBOLT BCSFA CGP CSPWC OC RCA
1909 ~ 1998
Tapestry oil on canvas, on verso signed, titled and dated 1958 24 x 30 in, 61 x 76.2 cm P ROVENANCE : Laing Galleries, Toronto Private Collection, Toronto
L ITERATURE : Jack Shadbolt, The Canadian Architect, November 1959 Scott Watson, Jack Shadbolt: Act of Painting, Vancouver Art Gallery, 1985, page 9
E XHIBITED : Art Gallery of Hamilton, The Women’s Committee Fourth Biennial Sale of Fine Arts, 1961 (label on verso)
When he returned from spending 1957 in Europe, primarily in the South of France, Jack Shadbolt noted that he began to “fuse the new impacts of colour, light, surface and image~motifs with my former preoccupations here ~ the dark rituals of the cycle of growth, flowering and dying of natural forms, and their evocation in…earth colours, flashing lights and darks and the seething under~rhythms which express the blind pervasions of growth energy.” Although its composition is reminiscent of Shadbolt’s Mediterranean townscapes with their clusters of buildings surrounded by fields, Tapestry, with its darker, earthier colour palette and organic forms, reflects a return to his West Coast roots. In its richly woven imagery, it also includes intriguing symbols such as the heart form. Shadbolt revealed that his painterly gesture expressed an organic process “where things struggle to retain their form under the stress of ‘seething’, ‘disintegrating’ forces”. This sense of reaching for life produces a great sense of vitality, as in Tapestry, a classic abstracted organic work from this prominent early modernist.
E STIMATE: $20,000 ~ 30,000
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JACK LEONARD SHADBOLT BCSFA CGP CSPWC OC RCA
1909 ~ 1998
Butterfly Man oil on canvas triptych, signed and dated 1988 54 x 77 5/8 in, 137.1 x 197.1 cm P ROVENANCE : Private Collection, British Columbia Sold sale of Fine Canadian Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, May 9, 2001, lot 365 Private Collection, USA
L ITERATURE : Scott Watson, Jack Shadbolt, 1990, page 193 During the 1980s Jack Shadbolt continued to work with a fertile and iconic motif, the butterfly. He wrote that the butterfly motif contained “the maximum decorative richness beneath which, as in the primitive arts, a deeper message could be launched that slips in under the viewer’s guard.” The butterfly became a metaphor, which is clearly manifested in this work. Shadbolt was aware of novelist and lepidopterist Vladimir
Nabokov’s use of the butterfly as a metaphor for sexual pursuit and conquest and the accessing of imaginary realms. This transformational image of the man / butterfly is a powerful one ~ it hovers in the central panel like a prince of the invisible world flanked by two acolytes, exuding a primal vitality. A central theme of Shadbolt’s butterfly images is that of transformation ~ here reflecting humankind’s fascination with the properties of living creatures utterly different from themselves. In this fusion of man and butterfly, both draw a strange power from each other. Butterfly Man is a fascinating example of Shadbolt’s shaman~like channeling of the power of nature through transformational images.
E STIMATE: $30,000 ~ 40,000
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JACK HAMILTON BUSH ARCA CGP CSGA CSPWC OSA P11
1909 ~ 1977
Untitled oil on canvas, signed and dated 1959 20 x 18 in, 50.8 x 45.7 cm P ROVENANCE : Private Collection, Toronto
L ITERATURE : Iris Nowell, Painters Eleven: The Wild Ones of Canadian Art, 2010, page 32 In 1957 the art critic Clement Greenberg arrived in Toronto expressly to see work by the members of Painters Eleven. He visited Jack Bush’s home, where he and Bush discussed the latter’s work, the New York art scene, and the state of abstract painting at that time. In Bush’s diary, the comments Greenberg made are recorded. “Don’t be taken in by surface jazz…,” the critic advised, “go your own way. Don’t pay any attention to artists; they ball you up. They ball themselves up in New York. Talk, talk, talk, trying to please one another…You’re a colourist ~ you don’t need those blacks that you’re so afraid of.” In the next few years, Bush would
increasingly concentrate on the relationships of colour, exploring colour as form, colour as rhythm, colour as idea, all with a sense of freedom and joyousness not seen before in Canadian art. Untitled is one of Bush’s last works in oil before he turned to acrylic and one of his last works in this particular abstract style, where he draws elegantly in paint, blending colours harmoniously on the surface of the work.
E STIMATE: $20,000 ~ 30,000
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JEAN~PAUL RIOPELLE AUTO CAS OC QMG RCA SCA
1923 ~ 2002
St. Nicolas oil on canvas, signed and dated 1958 and on verso titled and inscribed 5306 / 1 23 1/2 x 28 3/4 in, 59.7 x 73 cm P ROVENANCE : Galerie Jacques Dubourg, Paris Gallery Arthur Tooth and Sons Ltd., London, England Roberts Gallery, Toronto Private Collection, Florida In 1951 Jean~Paul Riopelle saw the paintings of Claude Monet in Paris. He was impressed above all by Monet’s use of a single depth of field. There was, in many of Monet’s works, no foreground, middle ground or distance ~ all was instead presented on a single, level plane. Riopelle’s interest in
depth of field, or, more accurately, his complete reassessment of its painterly usefulness and subsequent disregard for any hitherto~followed rules about it, is of paramount consideration in his works. Like Monet, his interests are instead in conveying things through the paint itself, not the forms that the brush~strokes (or knife~strokes) take. In 1958 Riopelle was exploring other concepts within a singular plane of depth. There is structure, here and there, a framing of sorts through colour ~ red in this case ~ and allegorical references made through his titles, such as here with St. Nicolas, and these can be used to track and discuss his works. But overall, Riopelle’s ability to make paint sing when applied without reference to subject and title sets him apart. This work is included as an addendum in Yseult Riopelle’s online catalogue raisonné on the artist’s work at http://www.riopelle.ca, catalogue #1958.54H.
E STIMATE: $70,000 ~ 90,000
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RITA LETENDRE ARCA OC QMG
1928 ~
Arêtes oil on canvas, signed and dated 1959 and on verso titled and numbered 375 26 1/4 x 24 in, 66.7 x 61 cm P ROVENANCE : Private Collection, Quebec
L ITERATURE : National Gallery of Canada, Rita Letendre biography, http:// www.gallery.ca/en/see/collections/artist.php?iartistid=3245, accessed September 12, 2013 With a painting career that started in 1948 and continues to this day, Rita Letendre can be seen as a bridge that connects us with the early days of
post~war Quebec art. When she painted this strong but subtle work in 1959, she had just turned 30, but she had already reached a level of artistic maturity that had enabled her to take part in regular exhibitions at the post~Automatist group shows, as well as mount a solo show at Montreal’s Galerie Artek. A devoted pupil of Paul~Émile Borduas, she was, nonetheless, ready to move forward from the work of the Automatists. While the use of the palette knife is reminiscent of the work of Jean~Paul Riopelle, there is something more structured about the composition and the use of colour that makes this work so individual in concept and execution, so distinctly Letendre. The title Arêtes is somewhat ambiguous, but most probably refers to a jagged mountain ridge. This could be seen as a reflection of her interest in the expressive power of nature. But, as the artist herself has said, “All the terminology is not important. What is important is the actual painting.”
E STIMATE: $20,000 ~ 25,000
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MARCELLE FERRON AANFM AUTO CAS QMG RCA SAAVQ SAPQ 1924 ~ 2001
Étincelle ~ Fête oil on canvas, signed, titled on the frame plaque and dated 1973 and on verso signed and dated twice 14 7/8 x 18 1/8 in, 37.8 x 46 cm P ROVENANCE : Acquired directly from the Artist by the present Private Collector, Montreal Marcelle Ferron’s luscious, vivid works demonstrate above all her keen understanding of colour. She mixed and formulated her own paints, which are as fresh today as if they were just applied, and as a master of
stained glass, she was keenly aware of how colour interacts with light. There is a luminous sense of charged energy and movement in Étincelle ~ Fête, from the sparkle of the blue in the lower right quadrant to the intensity conveyed by Ferron’s other chosen pigments as they move around the canvas in their urgent dash. The frenetic ~ mainly green ~ swoop at the top of the work grabs at the other colours as it leaps into an upward motion and seems, almost, to leave the canvas and fly into the air. Ferron controls her colours and their movement with artful ease, balancing blue against white against red against black, using her palette knives. This further demonstrates her absolute understanding of colour and tells us that for her, the painting really began on the palette.
E STIMATE: $12,000 ~ 16,000
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LÉON BELLEFLEUR CAS PY QMG
1910 ~ 2007
Métamorphose II oil on canvas, signed and dated 1962 and on verso titled and inscribed $750. on the gallery label 39 1/2 x 32 in, 100.3 x 81.3 cm P ROVENANCE : Galerie du Siècle, Montreal Private Collection, British Columbia
L ITERATURE : Guy Robert, Bellefleur: The Fervour of the Quest, 1988, page 103 Through his association with Alfred Pellan in 1942, Léon Bellefleur was introduced to the Automatists, and through them he became interested in
the work of the Surrealists. He was a signatory of the Prisme d’yeux manifesto, in which the group members declared their desire to be free of restrictions of time, place and ideology, and he was a part of their first exhibition in 1948. For a decade beginning in 1954, Bellefleur shuttled back and forth between Paris, Provence and Montreal. While in France, he continued to delve further into his interest in Surrealism and the creative unconscious as a source of inspiration. The life of the unconscious manifests in the striking Métamorphose II, in which Bellefleur wields his painting tools spontaneously, splashing, scraping and splattering paint, building up layers of dimensionality. As Guy Robert writes, Bellefleur’s paintings seem “agitated by a kind of inner wind, an impetuous breath that makes the spatula twist and the colours turn.” Taken literally, Bellefleur’s title implies change in form or an inner state of mind ~ the essence of freedom and possibility.
E STIMATE: $12,000 ~ 16,000
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JEAN ALBERT MCEWEN AANFM RCA
1923 ~ 1999
Petite étoile rouge oil on canvas, on verso signed, titled on the gallery label and dated 1964 20 x 18 in, 50.8 x 45.7 cm P ROVENANCE : Marlborough~Godard, Montreal Private Collection, Montreal By descent to the present Private Collection, Toronto In 1955, wishing to make a break with his Paul~Émile Borduas~like style, Jean McEwen put his palette knife aside and began to paint using his fingertips. This interaction with paint, much more intimate than the
palette knife could ever be, changed his surfaces into strongly organic, jewel~like masses of colour. With their elusive underlying forms, these works marked a new moment in Canadian modern art. McEwen’s mathematical discipline, his interest in translucent layered colour and his keen understanding of colour theory supported and shaped his mature compositions along continuous lines of exploration, with the thread of McEwen~esque geometry and the sparkle of McEwen~esque gemology running throughout. He would then pick up his knife and brushes again, using them to incise and scrape these rich surfaces. Petite étoile rouge (Small Red Star) causes us, as is often the case with McEwen, to look for the star in the work. Perhaps it is hidden in the bursts of glassy red and orange, or perhaps the title refers to the work itself. The delicious red played against the inky electric blue makes it a star indeed.
E STIMATE: $20,000 ~ 30,000
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49 Following his all~over mosaic paintings of the 1950s, space began to enter into Jean~Paul Riopelle’s pictorial plane around 1960. A statement by Herta Wescher concerning his paintings of 1959 to 1960 noted this change: “The dense mosaics characteristic of his paintings of ten years ago have been broken up, allowing space to enter from all sides. Now, order and chaos intermingle; diagonals, curves and sharp hooks attack the verticals, voids are trapped at the heart of incredibly crowded centres.” The brilliance of white brings open passages into this striking work, while squares and horizontal patches of inky black add magisterial weight. Riopelle has wielded the spatula vigorously, including some fine passages of mosaic knifework, which flash with scintillating reds, reminders of his stunning mosaic works of the 1950s. Titles at this time were connotative rather than a direct reference to content, and this one is evocative, translating as Full of Birds. Riopelle’s work was shown by important galleries during his career, and this painting was once handled by the prominent Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York. This work will be included in the forthcoming Volume IV of Yseult Riopelle’s catalogue raisonné on the artist’s work, catalogue #1968.022H.1968.
E STIMATE : $80,000 ~ 120,000
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JEAN~PAUL RIOPELLE AUTO CAS OC QMG RCA SCA
1923 ~ 2002
Plein d’oiseaux oil on canvas, signed and on verso titled, 1968 39 1/4 x 28 3/4 in, 99.7 x 73 cm P ROVENANCE : Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York Galerie Gilles Corbeil, Montreal Private Collection, Quebec
L ITERATURE : Pierre Théberge, Gilles Vigneault et al., Jean~Paul Riopelle, The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1991, page 35
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RITA LETENDRE ARCA OC QMG
1928 ~
Mandragore oil on canvas, signed and dated 1960 and on verso signed, titled and dated 36 x 42 in, 91.4 x 106.7 cm P ROVENANCE : Here & Now Gallery, Toronto Private Collection, Toronto
L ITERATURE : Sandra Paikowsky, Rita Letendre: The Montreal Years, 1953 ~ 1963, Concordia Art Gallery, 1989, page 6
E XHIBITED : Women’s Committee of the Art Gallery of Toronto, Fifteenth Annual Exhibition and Sale of Contemporary Canadian Painting, Sculpture and Graphics, November 1 ~ 19, 1961, catalogue #89
The catalogue that accompanied the 1989 exhibition Rita Letendre: The Montreal Years, 1953 ~ 1963 provides us with an informative and enlightening chronicle of the career of a young artist striving for recognition during the most revolutionary era of post~war Canadian painting. Sandra Paikowsky sums up Letendre’s accomplishments when she writes, “Her first decade of work embodies both the history of an artist finding her own voice and a reflection of the aims and ambitions of Montreal abstract painting.” Paul~Émile Borduas’s early encouragement, including for her figurative work, gave Letendre the confidence to develop her own approach to abstraction, so well represented by the lush expressionism of Mandragore. Here, the smaller shapes of concentrated colour in her late~1958 to 1959 paintings have expanded to become the building blocks of a dynamic construction. The striking application of pigments ~ a palette of black, olive green, ochre and white, spiked with a shock of bright blue ~ is unique to Letendre’s oeuvre, and justifiably celebrated for its emotive impact.
E STIMATE: $40,000 ~ 60,000
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JEAN ALBERT MCEWEN AANFM RCA
1923 ~ 1999
Les îles réunies no. 10 oil on canvas, signed and dated 1974 and on verso titled on various labels, dated, inscribed à Mira après… and numbered stock #7959 on the Mira Godard gallery label 10 x 10 in, 25.4 x 25.4 cm P ROVENANCE : Estate of Mira Godard, Toronto Private Collection, Toronto In 1975 Jean McEwen produced a book entitled Les îles réunies (The Reunited Islands), which was a suite of his poems and silkscreen prints, printed at Graff, centre de conception graphique in Montreal. He also did a series of paintings, including this lush, painterly work from the personal collection of Mira Godard, his dealer for many years. In 1962 she took over Galerie Agnès Lefort in Montreal, where she began to
show McEwen’s work. Godard and McEwen had a close, mutually beneficial relationship; she mounted many exhibitions of his work in her Toronto gallery. McEwen had a predilection for such poetic titles, which lent dimensions to his otherwise completely abstract paintings. Les îles réunies no. 10 has the fine qualities typical of his work ~ a sense of depth behind the primary surface plane, dripping in the surface, and an expressionist wielding of paint. Spatial dimensions are generated by the contrast between the layering of a cool, silvery cloud~like shape over glowing hot orange and red. Sumptuous of paint and evocative of mood, Les îles réunies no. 10 is an appealing work from this series.
E STIMATE: $15,000 ~ 20,000
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PAUL VANIER BEAULIEU RCA
1910 ~ 1996
Nature morte oil on canvas, signed and dated 1946 22 1/8 x 18 in, 56.2 x 45.7 cm P ROVENANCE : Private Collection, Montreal Paul Beaulieu traveled to Paris in 1938 and purchased a studio in Montparnasse, painting landscapes, figurative works and still lifes. During the Nazi invasion in 1940, he was interned at Saint~Denis, where, surprisingly, he was still allowed to paint. After his release in 1944 he
reinstalled himself in his Paris studio, not returning to Canada until 1973. He was a fine printmaker as well as a painter, and the National Gallery of Canada’s collection has three of his still life prints. Beaulieu’s still lifes show the influence of Pablo Picasso, as seen in the colourful and vivacious Nature morte, with its modernist approach to a classic subject. In this fine painting, Beaulieu plays with space with verve, twisting and tilting planes, and defining form with sculptural solidity. While in Paris, he continued to show in Canada at the Dominion Gallery, but also internationally in New York, Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro. His work is in international museum collections such as the Bezalel Museum in Jerusalem and the Museum of Modern Art in Paris.
E STIMATE: $5,000 ~ 7,000
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JACQUES HURTUBISE ARCA SAPQ
1939 ~
Odette acrylic on canvas, signed and dated 1965 and on verso signed, titled, dated and inscribed 2123 and $200.00 on the gallery label 57 x 14 in, 144.8 x 35.6 cm P ROVENANCE : Galerie du Siècle, Montreal Private Collection, Toronto
L ITERATURE : Roald Nasgaard, Abstract Painting in Canada, 2007, page 208 The 1960s were an exciting and formative period for Jacques Hurtubise. A grant in 1960 enabled him to travel to New York, exposing him to the spontaneous and physical work of the Abstract Expressionists. However, by the mid~1960s, Hurtubise began to develop his own artistic voice with his important “splash” paintings, which were deliberate, formalized and mechanically drawn with a stencil. As exemplified in the elongated Odette, he focused on bold, simplified geometric elements with popping colour contrasts, producing an effect of a foreground that recedes into an emerging background. Regarding the splash paintings, Roald Nasgaard writes: “Sometimes the paintings are as much Pop art as Op. Hurtubise’s conventionalized splashes and Roy Lichtenstein’s brush strokes are more or less contemporary. Hurtubise’s splash paintings are Warholian too, sporting their flashy iconic impact with the panache of a Marilyn on a gold ground. The association is not far~fetched, given that Hurtubise titled his 1965 paintings with the names of women.” Produced during his most sought~after time period and as eye~catching as it is important, Odette is a spunky reflection of Hurtubise’s unique contribution to abstraction in post~Automatist Quebec.
E STIMATE: $7,000 ~ 9,000
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P ROVENANCE : Gallery Moos Ltd., Toronto Private Collection, Toronto
L ITERATURE : Adele Freedman, Gershon Iskowitz: Painter of Light, 1982, unpaginated On viewing the glorious colour and dreamy serenity of Summer in Yellow #2, one can imagine the particularly joyful outlook of the artist as he was painting his canvases during that summer season. In 1972 Gershon Iskowitz, along with sculptor Walter Redinger, had been chosen to represent Canada at the Venice Biennale and, as Adele Freedman wrote, “For Iskowitz it was a dream come true, a sign that his long voyage from a Polish shtetl through the darkness of Auschwitz and Buchenwald had been recognized.” From his modest Spadina Avenue studio in the heart of Toronto’s Kensington Market, Iskowitz depicted the Canadian landscape beyond his studio walls, concentrating on each season (with the exception of chilly winter). With fresh eyes he offered us a gentle deconstruction of the trees, the hills and the clouds, all within a shimmering light to encompass each element. Iskowitz was not only a gifted artist who managed to transcend the trials of his wartime experiences; he was also a valued teacher and mentor to a generation of artists who were fortunate enough to have crossed his path.
E STIMATE: $12,000 ~ 16,000
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GERSHON ISKOWITZ CSGA RCA
1921 ~ 1988
Summer in Yellow #2 oil on canvas, on verso signed, titled and dated 1972 44 x 32 in, 111.7 x 81.3 cm
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WILLIAM PATERSON EWEN AANFM RCA
1925 ~ 2002
Diagram of the Multiple Personality #7 acrylic on canvas, on verso signed, titled on the gallery label and dated September 1966 47 3/4 x 47 3/4 in, 121.3 x 121.3 cm P ROVENANCE : Dunkelman Gallery, Toronto Private Collection, Ontario
L ITERATURE : Matthew Teitelbaum, Paterson Ewen: The Montreal Years, Mendel Art Gallery, 1988, page 43
E XHIBITED : Dunkelman Gallery, Toronto, Paterson Ewen Retrospective, March 1968 In 1964, Paterson Ewen’s Canada Council fellowship was based on the monochrome paintings and pastels he had exhibited at Galerie Denyse
Delrue and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts the previous year. His direct exposure to the Plasticien works of his Montreal studio mates, Guido Molinari and Claude Tousignant, further induced him to refine the hard~edge technique evinced by Diagram of a Multiple Personality #7. In an interview years later, he said his technique was “Not as precise as theirs, but precise enough for me.” Ewen’s Diagram of a Multiple Personality series evolved from the monochrome paintings and presaged the Lifestream series that followed. It was at this time, following the end of his marriage to Françoise Sullivan, that he left Montreal and settled in London, Ontario. Despite the onset of bouts of depression during this period, Ewen’s innovative artmaking never flagged. Yael and Ben Dunkelman soon asked him to join their forward~looking new Toronto gallery. Following inclusion of his work in their important exhibition entitled Art Montreal ’67, this painting was included in their 1968 retrospective of the artist’s work.
E STIMATE: $12,000 ~ 15,000
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WILLIAM KURELEK ARCA OC OSA
1927 ~ 1977
Skidooers, Saskatchewan Winter Series mixed media on board, initialed and dated 1974 and on verso titled 17 1/4 x 9 3/4 in, 43.8 x 24.8 cm P ROVENANCE : Private Collection, Ontario
L ITERATURE : Joan Murray, Kurelek’s Vision of Canada, The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, 1983, page 14 William Kurelek stated, “The single outstanding feature of prairie landscape, just as of the ocean, is expanse.” In Skidooers, Saskatchewan Winter Series he depicted not just an expanse of land, but also a brilliant turquoise sky that rises above the cloud or fog on the horizon. Evidence of life emerges from the panorama ~ three people on skidoos and overhead, the passage of a plane, with its implication of Canada’s vastness as a country. Growing up on a Manitoba farm, Kurelek experienced winter as a time of challenging conditions, but he also felt a sense of awe at its beauty. With winter came opportunity for recreation, hence the skidooers playfully criss~ crossing the snowy field. Kurelek’s great sensitivity to detail manifests in the delicate stems of plants poking through the surface of the snow, the patterns of the skidoo tracks, the plane’s contrail and the lines of the cross~like power pole. Nostalgia is present in Kurelek’s Prairie works through the accessing of his early memories, and here they resonate with a sense of innocence and joy.
E STIMATE: $20,000 ~ 30,000
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WILLIAM KURELEK ARCA OC OSA
1927 ~ 1977
Seven Other Spirits Worse Than Himself mixed media on board, initialed and on verso titled and dated 1975 on a label 11 7/8 x 20 in, 30.2 x 50.8 cm P ROVENANCE : Collection of Avram Isaacs, Toronto Private Collection, Pennsylvania “When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, ‘I will return unto my house whence I came out.’ And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.” Luke 11:24~26 (KJV)
William Kurelek’s interest in interpreting biblical scripture in his works is messianic. His aim was to create such a strong spiritual force in his paintings that those who saw them would be converted. Seven Other Spirits Worse Than Himself is based on verses from the New Testament (Luke 11:24~26 and Matthew 12:43~45) that caution even the fully repentant to constant vigilance against the return of sin. He used the theme of a Canadian winter to replace the “dry places”, and a parade of dancing stick men to represent the “unclean spirits”. Kurelek’s intriguing, complex explorations of religious imagery are endlessly fascinating. This painting is in the original frame made by Kurelek.
E STIMATE: $20,000 ~ 30,000
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P ROVENANCE : Gallery One, Toronto Private Collection, Ontario
L ITERATURE: David Blackwood, David Blackwood: Ephraim Kelloway’s Door Paintings 1985 ~ 1990, Gallery One, 1990, foreword, reproduced, unpaginated David Blackwood, Ephraim Kelloway’s Door, Abbozzo Gallery, foreword written at Port Hope, August 2010, http://david~blackwood.abbozzo gallery.com/ephraim~kelloways~door.htm, accessed August 20, 2013
E XHIBITED : Gallery One, Toronto, David Blackwood: Ephraim Kelloway’s Door Paintings 1985 ~ 1990, October 6 ~ November 1, 1990, catalogue #6 In Wesleyville, Newfoundland, the Kelloway family owned a small house with several grey, weathered outbuildings. In the 1950s Ephraim Kelloway started to paint his shed door, first green, and then over the next two years a succession of changing colours. David Blackwood recounts, “Over a two year period it changed colours frequently, from blue to white to black to brown to red, as Ephraim found paint. When Marguerite Tuff had some pink left over from a girl’s bedroom, it found its way onto the shed door. Some discarded aluminum stovepipe paint changed it again to silver.” Ephraim then moved on to enhancing the surface of the door, “with a variety of hinges, a horseshoe, a half model of a boat and cutouts of brightly coloured and lettered tin. The final result was a richly painted and decorated icon.” This door fascinated Blackwood, resulting in an etching and a stunning series of paintings, and he stated, “it has become a touchstone for me, an object dense with layers of both personal and universal meaning that is so very symbolic of Newfoundland.” 40
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DAVID LLOYD BLACKWOOD CPE CSGA CSPWC OSA RCA
1941 ~
Ephraim Kelloway’s White Door oil on canvas, signed and dated 1988 and on verso signed, titled, dated twice, inscribed Rabbit skin glue primer under oil based white primer. Final surface finish Damar varnish and stamped with the Gallery One stamp 70 x 48 in, 177.8 x 121.9 cm
E STIMATE : $40,000 ~ 60,000
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P ROVENANCE : Petley Jones Gallery, Vancouver By descent through the family to the present Private Collector, Kelowna
L ITERATURE: Scott Watson, Jack Shadbolt, 1990, page 57 In September of 1948, funded by Canada’s Veterans Affairs Department, Jack Shadbolt arrived in New York. His funds were conditional on taking a program of studies, so he enrolled in the Art Students League. Emerging in New York was an exciting new phenomenon, the American Abstract Expressionist movement. The Second World War and the tensions of its aftermath on society were on Shadbolt’s mind and in his images even before he went to New York. While there, he was also greatly interested in Pablo Picasso, whose work he took as a model for what he called “symbolic abstraction”. Shadbolt stated, “It could be maintained that this concept of symbolic abstraction offers us a new dimension of form replete with the psychological possibilities for a great human expression at the service of large social themes.” The inscription and date identify this bold and striking work as a New York painting, one which clearly shows the influence of Picasso in its cubist fracturing of planes ~ an ideal vehicle for Shadbolt to express his perceptions of the human psyche in this vital post~war period.
E STIMATE : $15,000 ~ 20,000
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JACK LEONARD SHADBOLT BCSFA CGP CSPWC OC RCA
1909 ~ 1998
Two Musicians oil on board, signed and dated 1948 and on verso signed, titled, dated and inscribed J.L. Shadbolt, 128 Monroe St., NY 2 and $75. 28 3/4 x 19 3/4 in, 73 x 50.2 cm
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EDWARD JOHN (E.J.) HUGHES BCSFA CGP OC RCA
1913 ~ 2007
Storage Tanks at Bones Bay, Cracroft Island oil on canvas, signed and dated 1954 and on verso signed, titled, inscribed with the Dominion Gallery inventory #E1756 (crossed out) and #D6854 and stamped Dominion Gallery, Montreal 18 x 22 in, 45.7 x 55.9 cm P ROVENANCE : Dominion Gallery, Montreal, inventory #E1756 Private Collection, Montreal, April 2, 1954 Dominion Gallery, Montreal, inventory #D6854, May 29, 1969 Private Collection, Vancouver, June 19, 1978 Sold sale of Canadian Post~War & Contemporary Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, November 24, 2011, lot 52 Private Collection, Vancouver
L ITERATURE : Archives of the National Gallery of Canada, Lawren Harris, letter to H.O. McCurry, December 1950 Jacques Barbeau, The E.J. Hughes Album: The Paintings Volume I, 1932 ~ 1991, 2011, entitled Bones Bay, reproduced page 21 In 1953, E.J. Hughes was asked by the publishers of Standard Oil’s magazine The Lamp to travel up the British Columbia coast on their supply ship, the Imperial Nanaimo. He was to provide illustrations for a story about the ship and its work on the coast. Hughes, who had not had a significant commission since he worked on mural commissions in the 1930s, was advised by his Montreal dealer, Dr. Max Stern of the Dominion Gallery, to agree to the commission, but he also advised Hughes to sell the resulting paintings through the gallery. The contract was arranged through Dr. Stern, and Hughes made a voyage up the British Columbia coast in the summer of 1953. Hughes produced a number of highly detailed pencil drawings on the journey, complete with colour notes. He submitted the drawings to the editor of The Lamp and five subjects were selected for colour illustrations in the magazine. Hughes then worked up the paintings in the fall of 1953 and early winter of 1954. One of the communities visited was Bones Bay, on West Cracroft Island in Johnstone Strait. From 1928 until 1951, Bones Bay was a thriving cannery run by the Canadian Fishing Company. Both gillnetters and seine fleets provided fish for the cannery. By the time Hughes visited in 1953, the cannery operation had been closed, but Bones Bay was still a port for the fishing fleet. Like most of the communities visited by the Imperial Nanaimo, Bones Bay was remote, only accessible by water. The visits of
61 the ship were therefore welcome and vital, but were ~ of necessity ~ brief, the crew concentrating on off~loading the fuel as quickly as possible. Hughes detailed these visits and the role of the Imperial Nanaimo in his paintings. Although he was very conscious of the fact that this was a commission (note the Imperial Oil Limited sign), these works far transcend commercial illustration, and Hughes was careful to balance the sign with two other text elements. The paintings Hughes produced from this trip are remarkable for their ability to suggest something of the character of the communities visited and the life of the ship itself. In Storage Tanks at Bones Bay, Cracroft Island, Hughes has given us the view from the deck of the ship. The only indications of the ship itself are the elements that appear at the lower edge of the painting, the chain~link rail and, at the lower right, a red stack, a white railing and a lifebuoy. Our concentration is clearly meant to be on the activities onshore and Hughes has directed our eyes there in a variety of ways, most notably in the forceful lines of the hoses which lead from the ship, the vector of the railing at the lower right and, at the left, a piece of the ship’s rigging. Indeed, the dock and area around the storage tanks are alive with activity ~ three men at their work and a large black dog to supervise! Although Hughes does not show us the faces of the men in any detail, he has given them each an element of individuality: the uppermost man with his bushy black beard, the green cap of the fellow in the middle and the distinctive “Indian” sweater worn by the man on the dock. Even the oil drums are differentiated in shape and colour. Hughes has also been careful to make the storage tanks themselves slightly different in scale and colour. Each element of the composition contributes to making us believe in the veracity of the scene but, when we take time to analyze how the composition has been put together, we realize that, far from being casual, this painting is the result of great deliberation. For example, to balance the relative busyness of the fore~ and middle grounds, Hughes has made the background of the image serenely calm, with a screen of trees atop a rocky slope, and the trees of the middle ground providing a visual bridge. Hughes has given us much to captivate our eyes, from the shadows of the oil drums on the dock to the view into the storage shed and tiny area of water, but the real wonder of this image is the light that pervades the whole scene. It seems to imbue the world ~ the trees, bushes and ground cover in particular ~ with a great vitality. As in all of Hughes’s best work, Storage Tanks at Bones Bay, Cracroft Island has a timeless quality but is vividly present. As Lawren Harris wrote of Hughes’s work, “It is that kind of painting ~ factual, detailed, accurate, full of interest but its art quality transcends all of these.”
E STIMATE: $175,000 ~ 225,000
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KENOJUAK ASHEVAK (KENOJUAK) 1927 ~ 2013
The Woman Who Lives in the Sun stonecut in red on laid japan paper, signed, titled, editioned 34/50, dated 1960, inscribed Cape Dorset, Baffin Island and stamped with the artist’s symbol, the printer’s symbol (Lukta Qiatsuk) and the Cape Dorset symbol 19 1/2 x 23 in, 49.5 x 66 cm P ROVENANCE : The Isaacs Gallery Ltd., Toronto Private Collection, Toronto Kenojuak Ashevak was an important Inuit artist from Cape Dorset, Baffin Island, known for her drawings, carvings and prints. When James Houston introduced printmaking to the Inuit of Cape Dorset in the
1950s, Kenojuak used the knowledge she gained to produce her first print in 1958. By 1959, Kenojuak and other Cape Dorset Inuit artists had formed the West Baffin Eskimo Co~operative, and together, these printmakers set a high standard for technical excellence and artistic quality in printmaking. Kenojuak soon gained renown for her work, and in 1963 she was the subject of the National Film Board documentary Eskimo Artist: Kenojuak, which featured her working on her stonecut prints. Her images have been featured on stamps, and she was accorded many honours, such as the Companion of the Order of Canada. The Woman Who Lives in the Sun, with its vibrant presence, is an outstanding example of her work. Of the edition of 50, 25 were printed in red ~ the other 25 were printed in yellow. Both the National Gallery of Canada and the Canadian Museum of Civilization have an impression of this rare print in their collections.
E STIMATE: $10,000 ~ 15,000
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WILLIAM RONALD (BILL) REID 1920 ~ 1998
Killer Whale Brooch 22 karat gold sculpture, on verso signed, 1966 2 3/8 x 2 1/4 in, 6 x 5.7 cm P ROVENANCE : Acquired directly from the Artist by Arla Saare, a friend and co~worker of Bill Reid at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation By descent to the present Private Collection, Vancouver
L ITERATURE : Doris Shadbolt, Bill Reid, 1986, the 1984 bronze sculpture Killer Whale, in the collection of the Vancouver Public Aquarium, reproduced page 55, the 1971 Gold Box with three~dimensional killer whale on the top, in the collection of the Royal BC Museum, reproduced page 137 and the 1983 boxwood carving Killer Whale, in the collection of the UBC Museum of Anthropology, reproduced page 139 Bill Reid first studied European jewellery techniques at Toronto’s Ryerson Institute of Technology, followed by an apprenticeship in a platinum and
diamond workshop. On his return to Vancouver, while still working for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, he made jewellery in his home studio. His return to the coast stimulated his interest in his Haida ancestry and its art, and he applied his modern knowledge and fine craftsmanship to the expression of Haida designs in gold and silver. Reid was inspired by the masterful work of Charles Edenshaw, and some of his brooches were derived from images of tattoo marks drawn by Edenshaw and John Wi’ha. In 1962 he started his own jewellery business, producing many fine works, such as the 1971 Gold Box with a three~dimensional killer whale on its lid, in the collection of the Royal BC Museum. The killer whale was an important figure to Reid, who produced a number of images of it, including the monumental bronze sculpture Killer Whale, in the collection of the Vancouver Public Aquarium. Reid’s early work in gold is superb, and this exquisite 1966 killer whale brooch, produced using repoussé and texturing, is a stunning example. This work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné on the artist’s work compiled by Dr. Martine Reid, Researcher and Honourary Chair, Bill Reid Foundation.
E STIMATE: $40,000 ~ 60,000
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WILLIAM HODD (BILL) MCELCHERAN RCA
1927 ~ 1999
Thoughtful bronze sculpture, initialed, editioned 3/9 and dated 1995 29 1/4 x 10 x 9 3/4 in, 74.3 x 25.4 x 24.8 cm P ROVENANCE : Private Collection, Vancouver William McElcheran trained in sculpture at the Ontario College of Art and was also an architectural designer. He started as a woodworker, specializing in art and furniture for churches. He rose to be chief designer for Bruce Brown and Brisely Architects, and worked on planning and designing 23 churches and university buildings. He formed Daedalus Designs in 1973, the purpose of which was integrating sculpture with architecture. His best~known sculpture subject is the iconic businessman, shown caught in the whirl of his corporate life. McElcheran depicted these businessmen as robust and self~possessed, constantly in movement. Their conformity is indicated by their classic dress of overcoat, hat, suit and tie, carrying various business paraphernalia such as briefcases. His viewpoint was both satirical and compassionate, drawing us to sympathize with them, as urbanites often feel caught in the bustle and roles of modern life. McElcheran’s businessmen can be seen in many public installations across Canada and in the United States, Germany, Italy and Japan. Please note: the bronze base measures 1 1/2 x 11 1/4 x 11 1/4 inches.
E STIMATE: $15,000 ~ 20,000
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JOSEPH HECTOR YVON (JOE) FAFARD OC RCA
1942 ~
David Suzuki bronze sculpture with patina and acrylic paint, signed, editioned 3/7 and dated 2006 40 1/2 x 14 x 9 in, 102.9 x 35.6 x 22.9 cm P ROVENANCE : Private Collection, British Columbia Joe Fafard’s bronze sculptures of figures include depictions of international artists, his friends, family and neighbours, as well as many well~known Canadians. Jean Chrétien, Emily Carr and, here, David Suzuki have all been the subjects of Fafard’s sculptural wit, which ranges from brilliantly acerbic to insightfully sympathetic in tone. In David Suzuki, Fafard captures the essence of Canada’s foremost scientific naturalist and environmentalist, who has ranged from beloved to despised in the eyes of various beholders at various times over his colourful career. With characteristic simplicity, Fafard sculpts Suzuki as we have always known him ~ an outdoor~loving, outspoken scientist in casual dress, with rumpled hair and glasses. Above all, the figure’s discerning gaze exactly captures his public persona. He looks right back at us, self~assured and filled with conviction. His earthy~coloured clothing echoes the wood of the forests of British Columbia that he has for decades defended, and his strength of conviction is summed up by his sandal~footed, defiant, hands~in~pockets stance.
E STIMATE: $20,000 ~ 30,000
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ANTONY (TONY) SCHERMAN 1950 ~
Liberty 1789 encaustic on canvas, on verso signed, titled and dated 1996 30 1/8 x 30 1/8 in, 76.5 x 76.5 cm P ROVENANCE : Private Collection, Montreal Liberty 1789 is from the series About 1789, produced by encaustic master Tony Scherman. The series focused on the French Revolution, a moment in history Scherman feels personal ties to, having lived in France during his early childhood. However, this image is far different from the large, patriotic paintings or posed portraits of historic figures that came to
symbolize the Revolution. The artist departs from this conventional model of historical painting ~ narratives that provide a straightforward representation ~ and instead offers unique, luscious snapshots of animals, still lifes and figures associated with the overarching narrative. In this stunning work, Scherman magnifies his subject, asking his audience to confront the figure at close range and form their own interpretation of the subject and this historical event. The medium of encaustic plays a large role in his work, as the hot wax and colour pigment create a luscious surface that can mimic human skin, whilst showing obvious traces of the artist’s hand through the thick drips and splashes. Liberty 1789 is related to other works in the series with similar titles that focused on actress Gillian Anderson.
E STIMATE: $12,000 ~ 16,000
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HAROLD BARLING TOWN CGP CPE CSGA OC OSA P11 RCA
1924 ~ 1990
Untitled oil and lucite on board, signed and dated 1953 17 x 16 in, 43.2 x 40.6 cm P ROVENANCE : By descent to the present Private Collection, USA
L ITERATURE : Iris Nowell, Painters Eleven: The Wild Ones of Canadian Art, 2010, pages 159 and 165 Stormy and dramatic, Harold Town was a colourful figure in Toronto’s emerging abstractionist movement. Iris Nowell wrote, “He devoted his entire life to being remembered by creating a spectacular body of art ~ and
a persona to match.” A formative member of the group Painters Eleven, Town exploded onto the Toronto scene in the 1950s. From a turning point in 1950 when his paintings were shown at the Art Gallery of Toronto, his work began to gather acclaim, and in 1956 he was invited by the National Gallery to represent Canada with his prints at the twenty~eighth Venice Biennale. A review in Canadian Art magazine described his work as “majestic, grandiloquent, heroic, romantic, large in gesture and intent.” Painted in 1953, the same year as the formation of Painters Eleven, Untitled fascinates the eye with its layers of knifed, brushed and scrubbed paint, creating a rich, tapestry~like surface in which lines, squares and textures vibrate and jostle to achieve equilibrium.
E STIMATE: $8,000 ~ 12,000
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JEAN PAUL LEMIEUX CC QMG RCA
1904 ~ 1990
Gladys oil on canvas, signed and dated 1966 and on verso titled 11 x 9 3/8 in, 27.9 x 23.8 cm P ROVENANCE : Private Collection, Montreal
L ITERATURE : Anne Newlands, Canadian Paintings, Prints and Drawings, 2007, page 180 In the mid~1950s Jean Paul Lemieux began to paint solitary figures. At first, these were set in vast, austere landscapes and were often isolated and melancholy. He gradually began to focus more on the portrait itself, with a
persistent interest in what he called “ the feeling of the generations”, in that whether past, current or future, human beings all have the same worries and hopes. Here, with classic Lemieux simplicity, he gives us Gladys. Set off from her environment through the strong colour contrast between her white dress and the red backdrop, Gladys is lost in herself. Her eyes look at us without focusing on us, as if she is trapped in a thought, which, while it brings an upturn to the corners of her mouth, does not make her fully smile. Perhaps she is waiting, or remembering, or wishing ~ Lemieux’s hints are few. Even the jaunty hat and crisp dress seem like afterthoughts to her, as she is entirely inside of herself. Quintessentially Lemieux, Gladys is a portrait of that elusive, indefinable “feeling of the generations”.
E STIMATE: $40,000 ~ 60,000
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JEAN PAUL LEMIEUX CC QMG RCA
1904 ~ 1990
L’interdite oil on canvas, signed and on verso titled and titled L’intérieur on a partial gallery label 12 x 10 in, 30.5 x 25.4 cm P ROVENANCE : Private Collection, Ontario In one branch of Jean Paul Lemieux’s oeuvre, people are seen in interiors that, like his landscapes, are highly simplified and stripped of detail. L’interdite is one of these, a highly evocative work. The title translates as “the prohibited” or “the forbidden” ~ and while it is ambiguous as to whether it refers to the dark space glimpsed through the door or to the woman herself, the viewer’s attention is strongly drawn to the dark space.
Such undefined narratives are typical of Lemieux, and leaving interpretation open to the viewer makes this work all the more intriguing. Lemieux’s cropping of the figure renders the work more stage~like, as the figure enters, partially seen, from the left. The surface of the work is lusciously painterly, with the warm~toned, softly brushed back wall resembling a Jean McEwen canvas. Ultimately, Lemieux’s work is about space, time and the human condition, and L’interdite contains all that, exuding a compelling air of mystery.
E STIMATE: $20,000 ~ 30,000
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SAMUEL BORENSTEIN CAS QMG
1908 ~ 1969
Bridge and Shoreline oil on canvas, signed and dated October 5, 1961 and on verso inscribed On Loan Property of Mr. and Mrs. Lou Ritchie 3/11/70 24 x 36 in, 61 x 91.4 cm P ROVENANCE : West End Gallery, Montreal Private Collection, Ontario
L ITERATURE : William Kuhns and Léo Rosshandler, Sam Borenstein, 1978, reproduced page 65 Samuel Borenstein is one of Canada’s most distinctive Expressionists, known for the wild, impassioned energy in his brush~stroke and his strong primary colour palette. Although he was part of the fervid Montreal artistic milieu in the 1940s, his influences came particularly
from the brilliant and explosive work of European masters such as Chaim Soutine and Vincent van Gogh. By the 1950s, as William Kuhns described, “his strokes grew bolder, his colours more vivid, the effect more volatile…Perspective, so elaborately achieved in the earlier landscapes, often had a seething, insecure quality ~ as though the spaces themselves were vulnerable to the eruptions going on within a canvas.” Borenstein painted primarily in Quebec’s Laurentians in the early 1960s; he lived in a schoolhouse at Lac Brûlé, from which he explored the surrounding landscape. In this vigorous work, air and water dominate, with the bridge dissecting zones of liquefied blues. Wildly gesticulating branches and bushes explode with hot red and intense yellow at the shoreline, adding their energy to this charged and vigorous work.
E STIMATE: $15,000 ~ 25,000
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JACQUES GODEFROY DE TONNANCOUR ARCA CAS CGP PY QMG
1917 ~ 2005
Winter Landscape oil on board, signed and dated 1957 and on verso titled on the Laing Galleries label 36 x 48 in, 91.4 x 121.9 cm P ROVENANCE : Laing Galleries, Toronto Alan Jarvis, Director of the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, from 1955 to 1959 By descent to the present Private Collection, British Columbia
L ITERATURE : G. Blair Laing, Memoirs of an Art Dealer 2, 1982, page 164
E XHIBITED : Venice Biennale, XXIX Biennale International des Beaux Arts Venise, 1958, catalogue #403
Art dealer G. Blair Laing notes in his memoirs that “Jacques de Tonnancour was another splendid artist endowed with great energy and always searching for new ways to express his restless search for artistic truth. In the early 1940s, he had studied under Goodridge Roberts and was influenced by the Roberts landscapes, later though Tonnancour went on to develop his own unique painter visions.” Indeed it was from Laing that Alan Jarvis, director of the National Gallery of Canada from 1955 to 1959, purchased this work. It was also exhibited in the important XXIX Venice Biennale in 1958, and thus has an esteemed history. De Tonnancour was very active in the Montreal art world during the time of the Automatist movement, and was interested in figure, still life and landscape subjects. He wrote the Prisme d’yeux manifesto, which defended a variety of approaches to painting, and was not prepared to dispense with all things that had gone before. He employed an energetic, almost frenetic style of brushwork that is delicately calligraphic and has roots in pure drawing.
E STIMATE: $25,000 ~ 35,000
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TAKAO TANABE OC
1926 ~
Gulf Islands 3/82 Afternoon Fog acrylic on canvas, signed and on verso signed, titled and dated March 1982 43 1/4 x 55 in, 109.8 x 139.7 cm P ROVENANCE : Equinox Gallery, Vancouver Private Collection, Vancouver In 1980 Takao Tanabe left his teaching job in Banff and returned to British Columbia, acquiring property and building a studio on the east side of Vancouver Island. On ferry trips between the Island and the mainland, the vistas of islands, distant mountains and the ephemeral effects of weather made a deep impression on him. He began a series of coastal
images of ocean expanses punctuated by islands and far~off mountain ranges, enshrouded by the moody weather of the coast with its mists, fogs and low~lying cloud. Tanabe’s fine, subtle paint treatment is entirely in harmony with the delicate atmospheres of the West Coast, as is his monochromatic palette dominated by blues and greys that range from silver to steel. Tanabe emphasizes specificity of site by using geographical references in his titles, bringing a scientific, observational element to the ethereal beauty of poetic works such as Gulf Islands 3/82 Afternoon Fog.
E STIMATE: $15,000 ~ 20,000
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JEAN PAUL LEMIEUX CC QMG RCA
1904 ~ 1990
Le nuage oil on canvas, signed and dated 1966 and on verso titled 12 3/8 x 9 1/8 in, 31.4 x 23.2 cm P ROVENANCE : Private Collection, Montreal Jean Paul Lemieux’s landscapes are layered with a richness and complexity that belies their apparent simplicity. While his brushwork appears to be uncomplicated, we in fact find these spare scenes are achieved through his expert mastery of colour, tone and hue. Le nuage (The Cloud) is an example of this, being composed entirely of black, white and a very few additional colours. The black, used to depict the
ground, has been brushed on lightly, allowing the weave of the canvas to show though. White has been dotted onto the distant horizon, depicting either snow or rain, we cannot be sure which. Black dominates the mixture Lemieux has used to depict the near ground, through which a road, or perhaps a riverbed, runs. And finally, black and white are used in varying combinations with slight additions of colour to depict the clouds, which make up three~quarters of the canvas. Lemieux often professed that his first love in all of his art was the act of painting itself. In Le nuage we see his masterful skill as a painter on display in a scene of absolute minimalism.
E STIMATE: $12,000 ~ 16,000
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JEAN PAUL LEMIEUX CC QMG RCA
1904 ~ 1990
Le chapeau blanc oil on canvas, signed and on verso titled 16 x 11 7/8 in, 40.6 x 30.2 cm P ROVENANCE : Private Collection, Montreal
L ITERATURE : Guy Robert, Lemieux, 1975, page 284 Between 1970 and 1990, Jean Paul Lemieux often did close~up views of people backed by modulated colour fields. Lemieux pulls us in to his subjects and, by removing them from a horizon, or the territoriality of
their settings, produces a kind of existential atmosphere. Facing us, they express their inner state, which, in the case of the woman in Le chapeau blanc, is gentle and confident. For Lemieux, a portrait was never just a depiction of a likeness ~ he stated that he searched for more in “the human face, to bring out all its drama and feeling, the better to underline man’s condition.” Colour is used to great effect here ~ the rich reds of the woman’s jacket and her lipstick infuse the work with energy, contrasting with the pearlescent background and her white hat and turtleneck sweater. The apparel of Lemieux’s subjects has a studied simplicity, and here the woman’s dress emphasizes her modernity. Through her direct and open gaze, the woman communicates a radiant self~assurance and serenity.
E STIMATE: $30,000 ~ 40,000
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WILLIAM GOODRIDGE ROBERTS CAS CGP CSGA CSPWC EGP OC OSA PY RCA 1904 ~ 1974
Still Life with Fruit and Flowers oil on canvas, signed and on verso stamped with the Dominion Gallery stamp, circa 1952 25 1/8 x 30 in, 63.8 x 76.2 cm P ROVENANCE : Dominion Gallery, Montreal Private Estate, Montreal
L ITERATURE : Sandra Paikowsky, Goodridge Roberts, 1904 ~ 1974, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1998, a similar circa 1950 oil entitled Still Life, in the collection of the Edmonton Art Gallery, reproduced page 149, catalogue #76
Goodridge Roberts’s works in still life have a simple, homespun quality to them that upstages their carefully planned compositions and exacting considerations of palette. While his tableaux often consist of simple objects, their careful arrangement and harmony of type is not accidental. Here, an armful of apples seems to have been tumbled onto the table near an earthenware container filled with a loose bouquet of flowers. A book, so often a part of a Roberts still life, lies nearby. Opposite the book, a plate holding grapes, onto which one apple has rolled, echoes both the colour and pattern of the tablecloth and the colour of the book. A small, roughly made pitcher adds a feeling of rusticity to the scene, which is furthered by the background wall ~ as textured and subtly varied in colour as an ancient plastered surface. As a still life, this is a very successful work. A fully realized study for it painted in 1950, titled Still Life, is in the collection of the Edmonton Art Gallery.
E STIMATE: $20,000 ~ 25,000
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
76 By descent to the present Private Collection, Montreal
L ITERATURE : Gabrielle Roy and Jean Paul Lemieux, La petite poule d’eau, 1971, editor Gilles Corbeil, limited edition of 200, reproduced, unpaginated Marcel Dubé, Jean Paul Lemieux et le livre, 1988, pages 64 ~ 65, reproduced page 59 Marie Carani, Jean Paul Lemieux, Musée du Quebec, 1992, the related 1971 canvas entitled La maison des Lousignant [sic] reproduced page 220, catalogue #89 Gaëtan Brulotte, L’univers de Jean Paul Lemieux, 1996, page 141
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JEAN PAUL LEMIEUX CC QMG RCA
1904 ~ 1990
La maison de Luzina oil on canvas board, initialed and inscribed 14 and on verso titled La maison des Tousignant and inscribed En dépôt chez Gilles Corbeil and 13 ~ Armand Dubrei, circa 1970 10 x 8 in, 25.4 x 20.3 cm P ROVENANCE : A gift from the Artist to a Private Collector, Quebec
In 1970 Jean Paul Lemieux was commissioned to produce a series of illustrations based on Canadian writer Gabrielle Roy’s famed novel La petite poule d’eau (Where Nests the Water Hen). In total, he produced 20 artworks, which were reproduced as colour lithographs in the limited edition collector’s album. This is a rare original painting from this series, in which Lemieux depicts the house of Luzina Tousignant, the matriarch of a family of early pioneers who had established themselves in a remote settlement in Manitoba. Although he painted only a few nocturnal winter scenes in his career, they are charged with a dramatic narrative intensity. Central to the novel is the bravery of the pioneers, who were determined to live in an isolated and inhospitable territory, which is represented by Lemieux with great effectiveness. The night sky is an overwhelming dark volume occupying most of the picture plane. The frozen land beneath it is skilfully evoked by a horizontal section painted with bright white~based pigments, and at the horizon are the geometric shapes of the distant buildings. Simple yet evocative, this scene perfectly demonstrates Lemieux’s mastery of landscape composition.
E STIMATE: $12,000 ~ 16,000
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
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WILLIAM GOODRIDGE ROBERTS CAS CGP CSGA CSPWC EGP OC OSA PY RCA 1904 ~ 1974
Georgian Bay oil on board, signed and on verso titled on the gallery labels and dated circa 1955 on the Rumi gallery label 29 x 36 in, 73.7 x 91.4 cm P ROVENANCE : Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., Montreal Rumi Galleries, Toronto Private Collection, Toronto
L ITERATURE : Sandra Paikowsky, Goodridge Roberts, 1904 ~ 1974, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1998, page 161 Goodridge Roberts returned to Georgian Bay in the summer of 1955 after a European sojourn. Full of energy, he found a renewed appreciation for
the geographical area of Pointe~au~Baril and Parry Sound. These landscape paintings were technically praised. Sandra Paikowsky wrote, “By applying the paint in short, rectangular movements, he animates the sky and water to give it a more organic personality and to undermine the ‘remoteness’ of Georgian Bay.” Very different in style from the landscapes Roberts painted of Quebec, these Georgian Bay landscapes had their own personality. Open flat vistas of rock and water create a feeling of expansiveness while staying true to the topography of the region. A showing of his European and Georgian Bay works was organized by the Dominion Gallery in October of 1955. The 1950s was a significant period internationally for Roberts; five of his paintings were included in the XXVI Venice Biennale, alongside the works of Emily Carr and David Milne. This secured his place as one of the leading Canadian landscape painters of his generation.
E STIMATE: $12,000 ~ 16,000
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
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BRUNO JOSEPH BOBAK BCSFA CPE CSGA CSPWC RCA
1923 ~ 2012
Halifax Harbour
The artist also shows his warm affection for his country by depicting multiple Canadian flags waving in the cool winter air.
E STIMATE: $7,000 ~ 9,000
oil on canvas, signed and on verso signed and titled 30 x 40 in, 76.2 x 101.6 cm P ROVENANCE : Manuge Galleries Ltd., Halifax Private Collection, Toronto Bruno Bobak was an important figure in Canadian art, serving as Canada’s youngest war artist in World War II. In 1960 Bobak and his wife Molly Lamb moved to the east coast, settling in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Halifax Harbour is an exceptional example of Bobak’s work, adeptly capturing the quiet activity of the harbour and nearby streets.
Thank you for attending our sale of Canadian Post~War & Contemporary Art. Our Fine Canadian Art auction will commence at 7:00 p.m. After tonight’s sale, please view our Third Session ~ November Online Auction of Fine Canadian Art at www.heffel.com, closing on Saturday, November 30, 2013. Lots can be independently viewed at one of our galleries in Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal, as specified in our online catalogue.
INVITATION TO CONSIGN
JEAN PAUL LEMIEUX, Nineteen Ten Remembered, oil on canvas, 1962, 42 x 57 1/2 in Sold for a Record $2,340,000
We are now accepting consignments for our May 28, 2014, Live Auction of Canadian Post~War & Contemporary Art Fine Canadian Art
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE VANCOUVER • TORONTO • O T TAWA • M O N T R E A L
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HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
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TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS These Terms and Conditions of Business represent the terms upon which the Auction House contracts with the Consignor and, acting in its capacity as agent on behalf of the Consignor, contracts with the Buyer. These Terms and Conditions of Business shall apply to the sale of the Lot by the Auction House to the Buyer on behalf of the Consignor,
A. DEFINED TERMS: 1. AUCTION HOUSE The Auction House is Heffel Fine Art Auction House, a division of Heffel Gallery Inc., or an affiliated entity; 2. C ONSIGNOR The Consignor is the person named in the Consignment Agreement as the person from which the Property or Lot has been received for auction; 3. C ONSIGNOR ’S COMMISSION The Consignor’s Commission is the amount paid by the Consignor to the Auction House on the sale of a Lot, that is calculated on the Hammer Price, at the rates specified in writing by the Consignor and the Auction House on the Consignment Agreement Form, plus applicable Sales Tax; 4. P ROPERTY The Property is any Property delivered by the Consignor to the Auction House to be placed in the auction sale held by the Auction House on its premises, online or elsewhere and, specifically, that Property described by Lot number in the Auction House catalogue for the auction sale. The Auction House will have the authority to partition the Property into Lots (the “Lots” or “Lot”); 5. R ESERVE The reserve is a minimum price for the sale of the Lot, agreed to between the Consignor and the Auction House; 6. KNOCKED D OWN Knocked Down means the conclusion of the sale of the Lot being auctioned by the Auctioneer; 7. EXPENSES Expenses shall include all costs incurred, directly or indirectly, in relation to the consignment and sale of the Lot;
and shall supersede and take precedence over any previously agreed Terms and Conditions of Business. These Terms and Conditions of Business are hereby incorporated into and form part of the Consignment Agreement entered into by the Auction House and the Consignor. Expenses, including expenses due from a defaulting Buyer; 11. BUYER ’S PREMIUM The Buyer’s Premium is the amount paid by the Buyer to the Auction House on the purchase of a Lot, that is calculated on the Hammer Price, at the rate of seventeen percent (17%) of the Hammer Price of the Lot, plus applicable Sales Tax; 12. SALES TAX Sales Tax means the Federal and Provincial sales and excise taxes applicable in the jurisdiction of sale of the Lot; 13. R EGISTERED BIDDER A Registered Bidder is a bidder who has fully completed the registration process, provided the required information to the Auction House and has been assigned a unique paddle number for the purpose of bidding on Lots in the auction; 14. P ROCEEDS OF SALE The Proceeds of Sale are the net amount due to the Consignor from the Auction House, which shall be the Hammer Price less commission at the Published Rates and Expenses and any other amounts due to the Auction House or associated companies; 15. L IVE AND ONLINE AUCTIONS These Terms and Conditions of Business apply to all live and online auction sales conducted by the Auction House. For the purposes of online auctions, all references to the Auctioneer shall mean the Auction House and Knocked Down is a literal reference defining the close of the auction sale.
B. THE BUYER: 1. T HE AUCTION HOUSE The Auction House acts solely as agent for the Consignor, except as otherwise provided herein.
8. HAMMER P RICE The Hammer Price is the price at which the Auctioneer has Knocked Down the Lot to the Buyer;
2. T HE BUYER a) The highest Registered Bidder acknowledged by the Auctioneer as the highest bidder at the time the Lot is Knocked Down;
9. BUYER The Buyer is the person, corporation or other entity or such entity’s agent who bids successfully on the Lot at the auction sale;
b) The Auctioneer has the right, at his sole discretion, to reopen a Lot if he has inadvertently missed a Bid, or if a Registered Bidder, immediately at the close of a Lot, notifies the Auctioneer of his intent to Bid;
10. P URCHASE PRICE The Purchase Price is the Hammer Price and the Buyer’s Premium, applicable Sales Tax and additional charges and
c) The Auctioneer shall have the right to regulate and control the bidding and to advance the bids in whatever intervals he considers appropriate for the Lot in question;
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE d) The Auction House shall have absolute discretion in settling any dispute in determining the successful bidder; e) The Buyer acknowledges that invoices generated during the sale or shortly after may not be error free, and therefore are subject to review; f) Every Registered Bidder shall be deemed to act as principal unless the Auction House has acknowledged in writing at least twenty~four hours (24) prior to the date of the auction that the Registered Bidder is acting as an agent on behalf of a disclosed principal and such agency relationship is acceptable to the Auction House; g) Every Registered Bidder shall fully complete the registration process and provide the required information to the Auction House. Every Registered Bidder will be assigned a unique paddle number (the “Paddle”) for the purpose of bidding on Lots in the auction. For online auctions, a password will be created for use in the current and future online sales only. This online registration procedure may require up to twenty~four (24) hours to complete; h) Every Registered Bidder acknowledges that once a bid is made with his Paddle, or Paddle and password, as the case may be, it may not be withdrawn without the consent of the Auctioneer, who, in his sole discretion, may refuse such consent; and i) Every Registered Bidder agrees that if a Lot is Knocked Down on his bid, he is bound to purchase the Lot for the Purchase Price. 3. BUYER ’S PRICE The Buyer shall pay the Purchase Price (inclusive of the Buyer’s Premium) to the Auction House. The Buyer acknowledges and agrees that the Auction House may also receive a Consignor’s Commission. 4. SALES TAX EXEMPTION All or part of the Sales Tax may be exempt in certain circumstances if the Lot is delivered or otherwise removed from the jurisdiction of sale of the Lot. It is the Buyer’s obligation to demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the Auction House, that such delivery or removal results in an exemption from the relevant Sales Tax legislation. Shipments out of the jurisdiction of sale of the Lot(s) shall only be eligible for exemption from Sales Tax if shipped directly from the Auction House and appropriate delivery documentation is provided, in advance, to the Auction House. All claims for Sales Tax exemption must be made prior to or at the time of payment of the Purchase Price. Sales Tax will not be refunded once the Auction House has released the Lot. 5. P AYMENT OF THE PURCHASE PRICE a) The Buyer shall: (i) Unless he has already done so, provide the Auction House with his name, address and banking or other suitable references as may be required by the Auction House; and
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(ii) Payment must be made by 4:30 p.m. on the seventh (7th) day following the auction by: a) Bank Wire direct to the Auction House’s account, b) Certified Cheque or Bank Draft, unless otherwise arranged in advance with the Auction House, or c) a cheque accompanied by a current Letter of Credit from the Buyer’s bank which will guarantee the amount of the cheque (release of Lot subject to clearance of cheque). Credit card payments are subject to acceptance and approval by the Auction House and to a maximum of $5,000 if the Buyer is providing his credit card details by fax, or to a maximum of $25,000 if the card is presented in person with valid identification. Such credit card payment limits apply to the value of the total purchases made by the Buyer and will not be calculated on individual transactions for separate Lots. In all other circumstances, the Auction House accepts payment by wire transfer. b) Title shall pass, and release and/or delivery of the Lot shall occur, only upon payment of the Purchase Price by the Buyer to the Auction House. 6. DESCRIPTIONS OF LOT a) All representations or statements made by the Auction House, or in the Consignment Agreement, or in the catalogue or other publication or report, as to the authorship, origin, date, age, size, medium, attribution, genuineness, provenance, condition or estimated selling price of the Lot, are statements of opinion only. The Buyer agrees that the Auction House shall not be liable for any errors or omissions in the catalogue or any supplementary material produced by the Auction House; b) All photographic representations and other illustrations presented in the catalogue are solely for guidance and are not to be relied upon in terms of tone or colour or necessarily to reveal any imperfections in the Lot; c) Many Lots are of an age or nature which precludes them from being in pristine condition. Some descriptions in the catalogue or given by way of condition report make reference to damage and/or restoration. Such information is given for guidance only and the absence of such a reference does not imply that a Lot is free from defects, nor does any reference to particular defects imply the absence of others; d) The prospective Buyer must satisfy himself as to all matters referred to in a), b) and c) of this paragraph by inspection, other investigation or otherwise prior to the sale of the Lot. If the prospective Buyer is unable to personally view any Lot, the Auction House may, upon request, e~mail or fax a condition report describing the Lot to the prospective Buyer. Although the Auction House takes great care in executing such condition reports in both written and verbal format, condition reports are only matters of opinion, are non~exhaustive, and the Buyer agrees that the Auction House shall not be held responsible for any errors or omissions
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE contained within. The Buyer shall be responsible for ascertaining the condition of the Lot; and e) The Auction House makes no representations or warranties to the Buyer that the Buyer of a Lot will acquire any copyright or other reproduction right in any purchased Lot. 7. P URCHASED LOT a) The Buyer shall collect the Lot from the Auction House by 4:30 p.m. on the seventh (7th) day following the date of the auction sale, after which date the Buyer shall be responsible for all Expenses until the date the Lot is removed from the offices of the Auction House; b) All packing, handling and shipping of any Lot by the Auction House is undertaken solely as a courtesy service to the Buyer, and will only be undertaken at the discretion of the Auction House and at the Buyer’s risk. Prior to all packing and shipping, the Auction House must receive a fully completed and signed Shipping Form and payment in full of all purchases; and c) The Auction House shall not be liable for any damage to glass or frames of the Lot and shall not be liable for any errors or omissions or damage caused by packers and shippers, whether or not such agent was recommended by the Auction House. 8. R ISK a) The purchased Lot shall be at the Consignor’s risk in all respects for seven (7) days after the auction sale, after which the Lot will be at the Buyer’s risk. The Buyer may arrange insurance coverage through the Auction House at the then prevailing rates and subject to the then existing policy. b) Neither the Auction House nor its employees nor its agents shall be liable for any loss or damage of any kind to the Lot, whether caused by negligence or otherwise, while any Lot is in or under the custody or control of the Auction House. 9. N ON~PAYMENT AND FAILURE TO COLLECT LOT( S) If the Buyer fails either to pay for or to take away any Lot by 4:30 p.m. on the seventh (7th) day following the date of the auction sale, the Auction House may in its absolute discretion be entitled to one or more of the following remedies without providing further notice to the Buyer and without prejudice to any other rights or remedies the Auction House may have: a) To issue judicial proceedings against the Buyer for damages for breach of contract together with the costs of such proceedings on a full indemnity basis; b) To rescind the sale of that or any other Lot(s) sold to the Buyer; c) To resell the Lot or cause it to be resold by public or private sale, or by way of live or online auction, with any deficiency to be claimed from the Buyer and any surplus, after Expenses, to be delivered to the Buyer;
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d) To store the Lot on the premises of the Auction House or third party storage facilities with Expenses accruing to the account of the Buyer, and to release the Lot to the Buyer only after payment of the Purchase Price and Expenses to the Auction House; e) To charge interest on the Purchase Price at the rate of five percent (5%) per month above the Royal Bank of Canada base rate at the time of the auction sale and adjusted month to month thereafter; f) To retain that or any other Lot sold to the Buyer at the same or any other auction and release the same only after payment of the aggregate outstanding Purchase Price; g) To apply any Proceeds of Sale of any Lot then due or at any time thereafter becoming due to the Buyer towards settlement of the Purchase Price, and the Auction House shall be entitled to a lien on any other property of the Buyer which is in the Auction House’s possession for any purpose; h) To apply any payments made by the Buyer to the Auction House towards any sums owing from the Buyer to the Auction House without regard to any directions received from the Buyer or his agent, whether express or implied; and i) In the absolute discretion of the Auction House, to refuse or revoke the Buyer’s registration in any future auctions held by the Auction House. 10. GUARANTEE The Auction House, its employees and agents shall not be responsible for the correctness of any statement as to the authorship, origin, date, age, size, medium, attribution, genuineness or provenance of any Lot or for any other errors of description or for any faults or defects in any Lot, and no warranty whatsoever is given by the Auction House, its employees or agents in respect of any Lot, and any express or implied conditions or warranties are hereby excluded. 11. ATTENDANCE BY B UYER a) Prospective Buyers are advised to inspect the Lot(s) before the sale, and to satisfy themselves as to the description, attribution and condition of each Lot. The Auction House will arrange suitable viewing conditions during the preview preceding the sale, or by private appointment; b) Prospective Buyers are advised to personally attend the sale. However, if they are unable to attend, the Auction House will execute bids on their behalf subject to completion of the proper Absentee Bid Form, duly signed and delivered to the Auction House forty~eight (48) hours before the start of the auction sale. The Auction House shall not be responsible nor liable in the making of any such bid by its employees or agents; c) In the event that the Auction House has received more than one Absentee Bid Form on a Lot for an identical amount and at auction those absentee bids are the highest bids for that
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE Lot, the Lot shall be Knocked Down to the person whose Absentee Bid Form was received first; and d) At the discretion of the Auction House, the Auction House may execute bids, if appropriately instructed by telephone, on behalf of the prospective Buyer, and the prospective Buyer hereby agrees that neither the Auction House nor its employees nor agents shall be liable to either the Buyer or the Consignor for any neglect or default in making such a bid. 12. EXPORT PERMITS Without limitation, the Buyer acknowledges that certain property of Canadian cultural importance sold by the Auction House may be subject to the provisions of the Cultural Property Export and Import Act (Canada), and that compliance with the provisions of the said act is the sole responsibility of the Buyer.
C. THE CONSIGNOR: 1. T HE AUCTION HOUSE a) The Auction House shall have absolute discretion as to whether the Lot is suitable for sale, the particular auction sale for the Lot, the date of the auction sale, the manner in which the auction sale is conducted, the catalogue descriptions of the Lot, and any other matters related to the sale of the Lot at the auction sale; b) The Auction House reserves the right to withdraw any Lot at any time prior to the auction sale if, in the sole discretion of the Auction House: (i) there is doubt as to its authenticity; (ii) there is doubt as to the accuracy of any of the Consignor’s representations or warranties; (iii) the Consignor has breached or is about to breach any provisions of the Consignment Agreement; or (iv) any other just cause exists. c) In the event of a withdrawal pursuant to Conditions C.1.b (ii) or C.1.b (iii), the Consignor shall pay a charge to the Auction House, as provided in Condition C.8. 2. W ARRANTIES AND INDEMNITIES a) The Consignor warrants to the Auction House and to the Buyer that the Consignor has and shall be able to deliver unencumbered title to the Lot, free and clear of all claims; b) The Consignor shall indemnify the Auction House, its employees and agents and the Buyer against all claims made or proceedings brought by persons entitled or purporting to be entitled to the Lot; c) The Consignor shall indemnify the Auction House, its employees and agents and the Buyer against all claims made or proceedings brought due to any default of the Consignor in complying with any applicable legislation, regulations and these Terms and Conditions of Business; and
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d) The Consignor shall reimburse the Auction House in full and on demand for all Expenses or any other loss or damage whatsoever made, incurred or suffered as a result of any breach by the Consignor of Conditions C.2.a and/or C.2.c above. 3. R ESERVES The Auction House is authorized by the Consignor to Knock Down a Lot at less than the Reserve, provided that, for the purposes of calculating the Proceeds of Sale due to the Consignor, the Hammer Price shall be deemed to be the full amount of the agreed Reserve established by the Auction House and the Consignor. 4. C OMMISSION AND E XPENSES a) The Consignor authorizes the Auction House to deduct the Consignor’s Commission and Expenses from the Hammer Price and, notwithstanding that the Auction House is the Consignor’s agent, acknowledges that the Auction House shall charge and retain the Buyer’s Premium; b) The Consignor shall pay and authorizes the Auction House to deduct all Expenses incurred on behalf of the Consignor, together with any Sales Tax thereon; and c) The charge for illustrating a Lot in the live auction sale catalogue shall be a flat fee paid by the Consignor of $500 for a large~size reproduction and $275 for a small reproduction, per item in each Lot, together with any Sales Tax chargeable thereon. The Auction House retains all rights to photographic and printing material and the right of reproduction of such photographs. The charge for online digital photography, cataloguing and Internet posting is a flat fee of $100 per Lot. 5. INSURANCE a) Lots are only covered by insurance under the Fine Arts Insurance Policy of the Auction House if the Consignor so authorizes; b) The rate of insurance premium payable by the Consignor is $15 per $1,000 (1.5%) of the greater value of the high estimate value of the Lot or the realized Hammer Price or for the alternative amount as specified in the Consignment Receipt; c) If the Consignor instructs the Auction House not to insure a Lot, it shall at all times remain at the risk of the Consignor, who hereby undertakes to: (i) indemnify the Auction House against all claims made or proceedings brought against the Auction House in respect of loss or damage to the Lot of whatever nature, howsoever and wheresoever occurred, and in any circumstances even where negligence is alleged or proven; (ii) reimburse the Auction House for all Expenses incurred by the Auction House. Any payment which the Auction House shall make in respect of such loss or damage or Expenses shall be binding upon the Consignor and shall
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE be accepted by the Consignor as conclusive evidence that the Auction House was liable to make such payment; and (iii) notify any insurer of the existence of the indemnity contained in these Terms and Conditions of Business. d) The Auction House does not accept responsibility for Lots damaged by changes in atmospheric conditions and the Auction House shall not be liable for such damage nor for any other damage to picture frames or to glass in picture frames; and e) The value for which a Lot is insured under the Fine Arts Policy of the Auction House in accordance with Condition C.5.b above shall be the total amount due to the Consignor in the event of a successful claim being made against the Auction House. 6. P AYMENT OF P ROCEEDS OF SALE a) The Auction House shall pay the Proceeds of Sale to the Consignor thirty~five (35) days after the date of sale, if the Auction House has been paid the Purchase Price in full by the Buyer; b) If the Auction House has not received the Purchase Price from the Buyer within the time period specified, then the Auction House will pay the Proceeds of Sale within seven (7) working days following receipt of the Purchase Price from the Buyer; and c) If before the Purchase Price is paid in full by the Buyer, the Auction House pays the Consignor an amount equal to the Proceeds of Sale, title to the property in the Lot shall pass to the Auction House. 7. C OLLECTION OF THE P URCHASE PRICE If the Buyer fails to pay to the Auction House the Purchase Price within thirty (30) days after the date of sale, the Auction House will endeavour to take the Consignor’s instructions as to the appropriate course of action to be taken and, so far as in the Auction House’s opinion such instructions are practicable, will assist the Consignor in recovering the Purchase Price from the Buyer, save that the Auction House shall not be obligated to issue judicial proceedings against the Buyer in its own name. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Auction House reserves the right and is hereby authorized at the Consignor’s expense, and in each case at the absolute discretion of the Auction House, to agree to special terms for payment of the Purchase Price, to remove, store and insure the Lot sold, to settle claims made by or against the Buyer on such terms as the Auction House shall think fit, to take such steps as are necessary to collect monies from the Buyer to the Consignor and, if appropriate, to set aside the sale and refund money to the Buyer. 8. C HARGES FOR WITHDRAWN LOTS The Consignor may not withdraw a Lot prior to the auction sale without the consent of the Auction House. In the event
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that such consent is given, or in the event of a withdrawal pursuant to Condition C.1.b (ii) or C.1.b (iii), a charge of twenty~five percent (25%) of the high pre~sale estimate, together with any applicable Sales Tax and Expenses, is immediately payable to the Auction House, prior to any release of the Property. 9. UNSOLD LOTS a) Unsold Lots must be collected at the Consignor’s expense within the period of ninety (90) days after receipt by the Consignor of notice from the Auction House that the Lots are to be collected (the “Collection Notice”). Should the Consignor fail to collect the Lot from the Auction House within ninety (90) days from the receipt of the Collection Notice, the Auction House shall have the right to place such Lots in the Auction House’s storage facilities or third party storage facilities, with Expenses accruing to the account of the Consignor. The Auction House shall also have the right to sell such Lots by public or private sale and on such terms as the Auction House shall alone determine, and shall deduct from the Proceeds of Sale any sum owing to the Auction House or to any associated company of the Auction House including Expenses, before remitting the balance to the Consignor. If the Consignor cannot be traced, the Auction House shall place the funds in a bank account in the name of the Auction House for the Consignor. In this condition the expression “Proceeds of Sale” shall have the same meaning in relation to a private sale as it has in relation to a sale by auction; b) Lots returned at the Consignor’s request shall be returned at the Consignor’s risk and expense and will not be insured in transit unless the Auction House is otherwise instructed by the Consignor; and c) If any Lot is unsold by auction, the Auction House is authorized as the exclusive agent for the Consignor for a period of ninety (90) days following the auction to sell such Lot by private sale or auction sale for a price that will result in a payment to the Consignor of not less than the net amount (i.e., after deduction of the Auction House Commission and Expenses) to which the Consignor would have been entitled had the Lot been sold at a price equal to the agreed Reserve, or for such lesser amount as the Auction House and the Consignor shall agree. In such event, the Consignor’s obligations to the Auction House hereunder with respect to such a Lot are the same as if it had been sold at auction. The Auction House shall continue to have the exclusive right to sell any unsold Lots after the said ninety (90) day period, until such time as the Auction House is notified in writing by the Consignor that such right is terminated. 10. C ONSIGNOR’ S SALES TAX STATUS The Consignor shall give to the Auction House all relevant information as to his Sales Tax status with regard to the Lot to be sold, which he warrants is and will be correct and upon which the Auction House shall be entitled to rely.
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE 11. P HOTOGRAPHS AND ILLUSTRATIONS In consideration of the Auction House’s services to the Consignor, the Consignor hereby warrants and represents to the Auction House that it has the right to grant to the Auction House, and the Consignor does hereby grant to the Auction House, a non~exclusive, perpetual, fully paid~up, royalty free and non~revocable right and permission to: a) reproduce (by illustration, photograph, electronic reproduction, or any other form or medium whether presently known or hereinafter devised) any work within any Lot given to the Auction House for sale by the Consignor; and b) use and publish such illustration, photograph or other reproduction in connection with the public exhibition, promotion and sale of the Lot in question and otherwise in connection with the operation of the Auction House’s business, including without limitation by including the illustration, photograph or other reproduction in promotional catalogues, compilations, the Auction House’s Art Index, and other publications and materials distributed to the public, and by communicating the illustration, photograph or other reproduction to the public by telecommunication via an Internet website operated by or affiliated with the Auction House (“Permission”). Moreover, the Consignor makes the same warranty and representation and grants the same Permission to the Auction House in respect of any illustrations, photographs or other reproductions of any work provided to the Auction House by the Consignor. The Consignor agrees to fully indemnify the Auction House and hold it harmless from any damages caused to the Auction House by reason of any breach by the Consignor of this warranty and representation.
D. GENERAL CONDITIONS: 1. The Auction House as agent for the Consignor is not responsible for any default by the Consignor or the Buyer. 2. The Auction House shall have the right at its absolute discretion to refuse admission to its premises or attendance at its auctions by any person. 3. The Auction House has the right at its absolute discretion to refuse any bid, to advance the bidding as it may decide, to withdraw or divide any Lot, to combine any two or more Lots and, in the case of dispute, to put up any Lot for auction again. At no time shall a Registered Bidder retract or withdraw his bid.
89
or suffered by the person for whose benefit the indemnity is given, and the Auction House shall hold any indemnity on trust for its employees and agents where it is expressed to be for their benefit. 6. Any notice given hereunder shall be in writing and if given by post shall be deemed to have been duly received by the addressee within three (3) business days. 7. The copyright for all illustrations and written matter relating to the Lots shall be and will remain at all times the absolute property of the Auction House and shall not, without the prior written consent of the Auction House, be used by any other person. 8. The Auction House will not accept any liability for any errors that may occur in the operation of any video or digital representations produced and/or broadcasted during an auction sale. 9. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with British Columbia Law and the laws of Canada applicable therein and all parties concerned hereby submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the British Columbia Courts. 10. Unless otherwise provided for herein, all monetary amounts referred to herein shall refer to the lawful money of Canada. 11. All words importing the singular number shall include the plural and vice versa, and words importing the use of any gender shall include the masculine, feminine and neuter genders and the word “person” shall include an individual, a trust, a partnership, a body corporate, an association or other incorporated or unincorporated organization or entity. 12. If any provision of this Agreement or the application thereof to any circumstances shall be held to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions of this Agreement, or the application thereof to other circumstances, shall not be affected thereby and shall be held valid to the full extent permitted by law. The Buyer and the Consignor are hereby advised to read fully the Agreement which sets out and establishes the rights and obligations of the Auction House, the Buyer and the Consignor and the terms by which the Auction House shall conduct the sale and handle other related matters.
4. For advertising and promotional purposes, the Consignor acknowledges and agrees that the Auction House shall, in relation to any sale of the Lot, make reference to the aggregate Purchase Price of the Lot, inclusive of the Buyer’s Premium, notwithstanding that the Consignor’s Commission is calculated on the Hammer Price. 5. Any indemnity hereunder shall extend to all actions, proceedings, costs, claims and demands whatsoever incurred Version 2013.10, © Heffel Gallery Inc.
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CATALOGUE ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS: AAM AANFM AAP ACM AGA AGQ AHSA ALC AOCA ARCA ASA ASPWC ASQ AUTO AWCS BCSA BCSFA BHG CAC CAS CC CGP CH CPE CSAA CSGA CSMA CSPWC EGP FBA FCA FRSA G7 IAF IWCA LP MSA NAD NEAC NSSA OC OIP OM OSA
Art Association of Montreal founded in 1860 Association des artistes non~figuratifs de Montréal Association des arts plastiques Arts Club of Montreal Art Guild America Association des graveurs du Québec Art, Historical and Scientific Association of Vancouver Arts and Letters Club Associate Ontario College of Art Associate Member Royal Canadian Academy of Arts Alberta Society of Artists American Society of Painters in Water Colors Association des sculpteurs du Québec Les Automatistes American Watercolor Society British Columbia Society of Artists British Columbia Society of Fine Arts founded in 1909 Beaver Hall Group, Montreal 1920 ~1922 Canadian Art Club Contemporary Arts Society Companion of the Order of Canada Canadian Group of Painters 1933 ~ 1969 Companion of Honour Commonwealth Canadian Painters ~ Etchers’ Society Canadian Society of Applied Art Canadian Society of Graphic Artists founded in 1905 Canadian Society of Marine Artists Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour founded in 1925 Eastern Group of Painters Federation of British Artists Federation of Canadian Artists Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts Group of Seven 1920 ~ 1933 Institut des arts figuratifs Institute of Western Canadian Artists Les Plasticiens Montreal Society of Arts National Academy of Design New English Art Club Nova Scotia Society of Artists Order of Canada Ontario Institute of Painters Order of Merit British Ontario Society of Artists founded in 1872
P11 PDCC
Painters Eleven 1953 ~ 1960 Print and Drawing Council of Canada
PNIAI
Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporation
POSA
President Ontario Society of Artists
PPCM
Pen and Pencil Club, Montreal
PRCA
President Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
PSA
Pastel Society of America
PSC
Pastel Society of Canada
PY
Prisme d’yeux
QMG
Quebec Modern Group
R5
Regina Five 1961 ~ 1964
RA
Royal Academy
RAAV
Regroupement des artistes en arts visuels du Québec
RAIC
Royal Architects Institute of Canada
RBA RCA RI
Royal Society of British Artists Royal Canadian Academy of Arts founded in 1880 Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour
RMS
Royal Miniature Society
ROI
Royal Institute of Oil Painters
RPS
Royal Photographic Society
RSA
Royal Scottish Academy
RSC RSMA
Royal Society of Canada Royal Society of Marine Artists
RSPP
Royal Society of Portrait Painters
RWS
Royal Watercolour Society
SAA SAAVQ SAP SAPQ SC SCA SCPEE SSC SWAA
Society of American Artists Société des artistes en arts visuels du Québec Société des arts plastiques Société des artistes professionnels du Québec The Studio Club Society of Canadian Artists 1867 ~ 1872 Society of Canadian Painters, Etchers and Engravers Sculptors’ Society of Canada Saskatchewan Women Artists’ Association
TCC
Toronto Camera Club
TPG
Transcendental Painting Group 1938 ~ 1942
WAAC
Women’s Art Association of Canada
WIAC
Women’s International Art Club
WS
Woodlands School
YR
Young Romantics
ϕ
Indicates that Heffel Gallery owns an equity interest in the Lot Denotes that additional information on this lot can be found on our website at www.heffel.com
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
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CATALOGUE TERMS:
HEFFEL’S CODE OF BUSINESS CONDUCT, ETHICS AND PRACTICES:
These catalogue terms are provided for your guidance:
Heffel takes great pride in being the leader in the Canadian fine art auction industry and has an unparalleled track record. We are proud to have been the dominant auction house in the Canadian art market from 2004 to the present. Our firm’s growth and success has been built on hard work and innovation, our commitment to our Clients and our deep respect for the fine art we offer. At Heffel we treat our consignments with great care and respect, and consider it an honour to have them pass through our hands. We are fully cognizant of the historical value of the works we handle and their place in art history.
C ORNELIUS DAVID KRIEGHOFF In our best judgment, a work by the artist. ATTRIBUTED TO CORNELIUS DAVID KRIEGHOFF In our best judgment, a work possibly executed in whole or in part by the named artist. STUDIO OF CORNELIUS DAVID K RIEGHOFF In our best judgment, a work by an unknown hand in the studio of the artist, possibly executed under the supervision of the named artist. C IRCLE OF CORNELIUS DAVID KRIEGHOFF In our best judgment, a work of the period of the artist, closely related to the style of the named artist. MANNER OF CORNELIUS DAVID KRIEGHOFF In our best judgment, a work in the style of the named artist and of a later date. AFTER CORNELIUS DAVID KRIEGHOFF In our best judgment, a copy of a known work of the named artist. DIMENSIONS Measurements are given height before width in both inches and centimetres. SIGNED / TITLED / DATED In our best judgment, the work has been signed/titled/dated by the artist. If we state “dated 1856” then the artist has inscribed the date when the work was produced. If the artist has not inscribed the date and we state “1856”, then it is known the work was produced in 1856, based on independent research. If the artist has not inscribed the date and there is no independent date reference, then the use of “circa” approximates the date based on style and period. BEARS SIGNATURE / BEARS DATE In our best judgment, the signature/date is by a hand other than that of the artist.
Heffel, to further define its distinction in the Canadian art auction industry, has taken the following initiative. David and Robert Heffel, second~generation art dealers of the Company’s founding Heffel family, have personally crafted the foundation documents (as published on our website www.heffel.com): Heffel’s Corporate Constitutional Values and Heffel’s Code of Business Conduct, Ethics and Practices. We believe the values and ethics set out in these documents will lay in stone our moral compass. Heffel has flourished through more than three decades of change, proof that our hard work, commitment, philosophy, honour and ethics in all that we do serve our Clients well. Heffel’s Employees and Shareholders are committed to Heffel’s Code of Business Conduct, Ethics and Practices, together with Heffel’s Corporate Constitutional Values, our Terms and Conditions of Business and related corporate policies, all as amended from time to time, with respect to our Clients, and look forward to continued shared success in this auction season and ongoing.
David K.J. Heffel President, Director and Shareholder (through Heffel Investments Ltd.)
Robert C.S. Heffel Vice~President, Director and Shareholder (through R.C.S.H. Investments Ltd.)
P ROVENANCE Is intended to indicate previous collections or owners. C ERTIFICATES / LITERATURE / EXHIBITED Any reference to certificates, literature or exhibition history represents the best judgment of the authority or authors named. ESTIMATE Our Estimates are intended as a statement of our best judgment only, and represent a conservative appraisal of the expected Hammer Price.
Version 2012.09, © Heffel Gallery Inc.
Version 2013.03, © Heffel Gallery Inc.
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
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ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION FORM
COLLECTOR PROFILE FORM
Please complete this Annual Subscription Form to receive our twice~yearly Auction Catalogues and Auction Result Sheet.
Please complete our Collector Profile Form to assist us in our ability to offer you our finest service.
To order, return a copy of this form with a cheque payable to: Heffel Gallery, 2247 Granville Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6H 3G1 Tel 604 732~6505, Fax 604 732~4245, Toll free 800 528~9608 E~mail: mail@heffel.com, Internet: www.heffel.com C ATALOGUE SUBSCRIPTIONS ~ DELIVERED
IN
OF
PARTICULAR INTEREST
IN
PURCHASING
OF
PARTICULAR INTEREST
IN
SELLING
1) 2)
TAX INCLUDED
CANADA
One Year (four catalogues) ~ Fine Canadian Art / Post~War & Contemporary Art Two Years (eight catalogues) ~ Fine Canadian Art / Post~War & Contemporary Art
DELIVERED
ARTISTS
TO THE
UNITED STATES
AND
AT
4) $130.00 5)
OVERSEAS
One Year (four catalogues) ~ Fine Canadian Art / Post~War & Contemporary Art Two Years (eight catalogues) ~ Fine Canadian Art / Post~War & Contemporary Art
C ANADIAN ART
3) $80.00
AUCTION INDEX ONLINE ~
$90.00
6)
$150.00
7) 8)
TAX INCLUDED
Please contact Heffel Gallery to set up One Block of 25 Search Results One~Year Subscription (35 searches per month) Two~Year Subscription (35 searches per month)
$50.00 $250.00 $350.00
9)
ARTISTS
Name
1) Address
2) 3) 4)
Postal Code
E~mail Address 5)
Residence Telephone
Business Telephone
Fax
Cellular
6) 7) 8)
VISA # or MasterCard #
Expiry Date
Signature
Date
9)
Version 2013.10, Š Heffel Gallery Inc.
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
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SHIPPING FORM FOR PURCHASES Heffel Fine Art Auction House will arrange to have Property purchased at the auction sale packed, insured and forwarded to the Purchaser at the Purchaser’s expense and risk pursuant to the Terms and Conditions of Business set out in the Auction Sale Catalogue. The Purchaser is aware and accepts that Heffel Fine Art Auction House does not operate a professional packing service and shall provide such assistance for the convenience only of the Purchaser. Your signature on this form releases Heffel Fine Art Auction House from any liability that may result from damage sustained by artwork during packing and shipping. All such works are packed at the Purchaser’s risk and then transported by a carrier chosen at the discretion of Heffel Fine Art Auction House. Works purchased may be subject to the Cultural Property Export and Import Act (Canada), and compliance with the provisions of the said act is the sole responsibility of the Purchaser.
Purchaser’s Name as invoiced
Shipping Address
City
Province, Country
Postal Code
E~mail Address
Residence Telephone
Business Telephone
Fax
Cellular
Credit Card Number
Expiry Date
Sale Date Please indicate your preferred method of shipping below All Charges are Collect for Settlement by the Purchaser SHIPPING OPTIONS Please have my purchases forwarded by: Air
Surface or
Consolidated Ground Shipment to (when available): Heffel Vancouver C ARRIER
OF
Heffel Montreal
Social Security Number for U.S. Customs (U.S. Residents Only)
L OT NUMBER
L OT DESCRIPTION
in numerical order
artist
1) 2) 3)
C HOICE
Please have my purchases couriered by: FedEx
Other
Carrier Account Number O PTIONAL INSURANCE YES, please insure my purchases at full sale value while in transit. Heffel does not insure frames or glass. (Please note: works under glass and some ground shipments cannot be insured while in transit.) NO, I do not require insurance for the purchases listed on this form. (I accept full responsibility for any loss or damage to my purchases while in transit.) SHIPPING QUOTATION YES, please send me a quotation for the shipping options selected above. NO shipping quotation necessary, please forward my purchases as indicated above. (Please note: packing charges may apply in addition to shipping charges.)
4)
AUTHORIZATION
FOR
COLLECTION
My purchase will be collected on my behalf
Individual or company to collect on my behalf
Date of collection/pick~up
Signed with agreement to the above
Date
Heffel Fine Art Auction House 13 Hazelton Avenue, Toronto Ontario, Canada M5R 2E1 Telephone 416 961~6505, Fax 416 961~4245 E~mail: mail@heffel.com; Internet: http://www.heffel.com Version 2013.09, © Heffel Gallery Inc.
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
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ABSENTEE BID FORM Please view our General Bidding Increments as published by Heffel.
Sale Date
L OT NUMBER
L OT DESCRIPTION
in numerical order
artist
M AXIMUM BID Hammer Price $ CAD (excluding Buyer’s Premium)
1) Billing Name
2) 3)
Address 4)
City
Province, Country
5) 6)
Postal Code
E~mail Address
Daytime Telephone
Evening Telephone
7) 8)
Fax
Cellular
I request Heffel Fine Art Auction House to enter bids on my behalf for the following Lots, up to the maximum Hammer Price I have indicated for each Lot. I understand that if my bid is successful, the purchase price shall be the Hammer Price plus a Buyer’s Premium of seventeen percent (17%) of the Hammer Price of each Lot, and applicable GST/HST and PST. I understand that Heffel Fine Art Auction House executes absentee bids as a convenience for its clients and is not responsible for inadvertently failing to execute bids or for errors relating to their execution of my bids. On my behalf, Heffel Fine Art Auction House will try to purchase these Lots for the lowest possible price, taking into account the reserve and other bids. If identical absentee bids are received, Heffel Fine Art Auction House will give precedence to the Absentee Bid Form received first. I understand and acknowledge all successful bids are subject to the Terms and Conditions of Business printed in the Heffel Fine Art Auction House catalogue.
Signature
Date Received ~ for office use only
Confirmed ~ for office use only
Date
To be sure that bids will be accepted and delivery of lots not delayed, bidders not yet known to Heffel Fine Art Auction House should supply a bank reference. All Absentee Bidders must supply a valid MasterCard or VISA # and expiry date.
MasterCard or VISA #
Expiry Date
Name of Bank
Branch
Address of Bank
Name of Account Officer
Telephone
To allow time for processing, absentee bids should be received at least 24 hours before the sale begins. Heffel Fine Art Auction House will confirm by telephone or e~mail all bids received. If you have not received our confirmation within one business day, please re~submit your bids or contact us at: 13 Hazelton Avenue, Toronto Ontario, Canada M5R 2E1 Telephone 416 961~6505, Fax 416 961~4245 E~mail: mail@heffel.com; Internet: http://www.heffel.com Version 2010.05, © Heffel Gallery Inc.
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
INDEX OF ARTISTS BY LOT A/B
L/M/N
A SHEVAK (KENOJUAK ), KENOJUAK 43 BEAULIEU, PAUL VANIER 34 BELLEFLEUR, L ÉON 29 BINNING, BERTRAM CHARLES (B.C.) 5 BLACKWOOD, DAVID LLOYD 40 BOBAK, BRUNO JOSEPH 59 BORENSTEIN, SAMUEL 51 BUSH , JACK HAMILTON 14, 19, 25
L EMIEUX, JEAN PAUL 15, 49, 50, 54, 55, 57 L ETENDRE, R ITA 3, 27, 32 L UKE , ALEXANDRA 4 MCE LCHERAN, W ILLIAM HODD (B ILL) 45 MCE WEN, JEAN ALBERT 17, 20, 30, 33
C/D CAHÉN , OSCAR 7 DE T ONNANCOUR , J ACQUES G ODEFROY 52
REID, W ILLIAM RONALD (BILL) 44 RIOPELLE, JEAN~P AUL 8, 11, 16, 18, 21, 26, 31 ROBERTS, WILLIAM G OODRIDGE 56, 58
E/F
S
E WEN, WILLIAM PATERSON 37 FAFARD , JOSEPH H ECTOR YVON (J OE) 46 FERRON, MARCELLE 28
SCHERMAN, A NTONY (TONY) 47 SHADBOLT, J ACK LEONARD 22, 23, 24, 41 SMITH , GORDON APPELBE 6, 12, 13
G/H/I
T/U/V/W/X/Y/Z
HUGHES , EDWARD JOHN (E.J.) 42 HURTUBISE, J ACQUES 35 ISKOWITZ , GERSHON 36
TANABE , TAKAO 53 TOWN, HAROLD BARLING 48
J/K KURELEK, WILLIAM 1, 2, 9, 10, 38, 39
O/P/Q/R
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Fall Live Auction Highlight Previews VANCOUVER AND MONTREAL
Vancouver Preview Saturday, November 2 through Tuesday, November 5, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
Montreal Preview Thursday, November 14 through Saturday, November 16, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
Please visit our live auction online catalogue at www.heffel.com for specific details designating which Lots will be available for our Vancouver and Montreal previews.
2247 Granville Street Vancouver, BC V6H 3G1 Telephone: 604 732~6505 Toll Free: 800 528~9608 Fax: 604 732~4245
1840 rue Sherbrooke Ouest Montreal, Quebec H3H 1E4 Telephone: 514 939~6505 Toll Free: 866 939~6505 Fax: 514 939~1100
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HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
CANADIAN POST~WAR & CONTEMPORARY ART
CANADIAN POST~WAR & CONTEMPORARY ART
NOVEMBER 28, 2013
V ISIT
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
www.heffel.com VANCOUVER
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TORONTO
•
MONTREAL
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
ISBN 978~1~927031~10~0
SALE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2013, TORONTO
OTTAWA
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