Paintings by renowned Canadian artists net record prices at Vancouver Heffel auction
Paintings by several renowned Canadian artists sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars Thursday at the Heffel spring auction in Vancouver, trouncing previous records set by the painters’ work.
Works by Group of Seven artists Frederick Horsman Varley and A.Y. Jackson sold for more than half-a-million dollars each.
“Norma,” one of the largest works on sale at 101 by 83 centimetres, sold for $600,000, beating a previous Varley record of $550,000.
“A painting of this quality doesn’t come up very often,” said Robert Heffel, who runs Heffel Fine Art Auction house with his brother, David.
The double-sided oil on canvas, circa 1929, depicts Norma Park, a student of Varley’s during his time spent in Vancouver. Varley, along with Lawren Harris, was one of two members of the Group of Seven to paint portraits.
A.Y. Jackson’s “Winter Afternoon Near Baie Saint Paul, Quebec,” a 1924 oil on canvas showing a horse and sleigh cutting a path through fresh snow, reached $525,000. That bested a previous record by about $50,000.
Many of the bids came from absentee buyers who dialled in by telephone and watched the auction live on the Internet from Europe, Asia and across North America.
“Tamarack Swamp (Sketch 5)” by the pre-Group of Seven artist Tom Thomson drew the highest bidding for the night and sold for $1 million, just shy of a previous record for the his work.
It’s the sixth Thomson painting to sell for more than $1 million, the auction house said.
The small oil on panel painting, approximately 21 by 26 centimetres, depicts a rich landscape of rowed tamarack trees on the far side of a swamp, beneath a turbulent sky and foreboding hillside.
While the numbers may seem astonishing, Heffel said a booming market for art has made it a wise choice for those looking to invest their money.
“Art has become another asset class in which to put your money, like real estate,” Heffel said.
“The art market worldwide is very strong, and the Canadian art market is very strong.”
The auction house sold $50 million of art in 2007, $43 million of it in Canada, Heffel said. Thursday’s auction totalled about $10 million.
“Watching the Boat,” a signed oil and canvas by impressionist painter Helen Galloway McNicoll, was one of the big surprises of the night, selling for a record $525,000.
The previous record for the artist’s work was $280,000, Heffel said.
The painting, circa 1912, shows children at play beside a lush stream bed.
Along with Ritchies/Sotheby’s of Toronto and Joyder Waddington’s, Heffel’s is one of three Canadian auction houses.
