The sales room saw over 400 collectors in attendance and the totaled $16.73 million (all dollars in Canadian although the exchange rate is not pretty close to even) including buyers premium. The sale offered 190 lots with three for selling for over $1 million, 30 sold for over $100,000, and numerous records being broken.
Heffel's reports on the sale
TORONTO, Nov. 24, 2011
Highlights
Heffel's Fall 2011 Auction is now the fifth highest grossing live auction, totalling $16.73 million in sales. Jean Paul Lemieux's Nineteen Ten Remembered sold for $2.34 million, breaking the international auction record for a Canadian post-war and contemporary work, breaking the record previously set by Riopelle. Emily Carr's War Canoe, Alert Bay sold for $1.22 million, breaking the record for most valuable Canadian watercolour sold at auction. Lawren Stewart Harris's Rocky Mountain Sketch CXXI (Mount Robson) sold well above asking for an impressive $1.81 million.
TORONTO, Nov. 24, 2011 / - Tonight, Heffel Fine Art Auction House opened the Fall 2011 Canadian Auction season with a record-shattering sale of masterworks from prominent estates, placing it within the top 10 grossing auctions of Canadian art of all time. The auction, held in Toronto, attracted more than 400 attendees and resulted in $16.73 million in total sales (all prices are in Canadian dollars and include a 17 per cent buyer's premium) and is now the fifth highest grossing live auction in Canadian history. Of the 190 lots, three sold for more than $1 million dollars and more than 30 works sold for more than $100,000.
The highlight of the evening was the record-breaking sale of Jean Paul Lemieux's Nineteen Ten Remembered. The masterpiece sold for $2.34 million, shattering the worldwide record for post-war and contemporary Canadian art sold at auction. This surpasses the previous auction record set by Jean-Paul Riopelle (sold in May 2008 in NYC for CDN $1.89M) and crowns Lemieux as the new reigning champion of post-war and contemporary Canadian art.
"In May 2011, Heffel sold another major work by Jean Paul Lemieux ushering him into the rarefied group of 'million-dollar' Canadian artists," explains David K.J. Heffel, President and Auctioneer. "Tonight he becomes the first-ever contemporary Canadian artist to be crowned a 'two-million-dollar man."
Excitement for Lemieux works continued when Les voyageurs, a 39 3/4 x 74 3/8 inch oil on canvas, signed and dated 1964, sold for $702,000 (pre-sale estimate was $350,000 ~ $450,000 CAD). A later work by Lemieux, Le croisement, sold for $304,200. In all, Lemieux alone accounted for sales of $3.99 million.
Another highlight was the sale of William Kurelek's Return to Camp in Winter. The lot sold for more than double the estimate at $210,600 (estimate was $60,000 ~ $80,000). There is currently a large exhibit of his work at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.
Lawren Stewart Harris's Rocky Mountain Sketch CXXI (Mount Robson) was estimated to sell for $300,000~$500,000. After an intense bidding war, the notable piece exceeded the estimate, selling for $1.81 million. This was one of two works for which the consignee generously agreed to donate proceeds to Toronto's Women's College Hospital.
Along with Harris, the auction also featured pieces by Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven who are all enjoying renewed international interest given the current UK exhibit at London's Dulwich Gallery.
The François Dupré Collection, among the most significant private collections of Canadian impressionism to ever be auctioned, was conservatively estimated to yield between $1 million and $1.5 million. These works were of particular interest as they had been hidden away in a bank vault for nearly 25 years. The collection surpassed estimates, selling for $2.27 million in the end, more than twice the low estimate. Highlights of this collection included Gagnon's Environs de Baie-Saint-Paul ($315,900) Maurice Galbraith Cullen`s Lower Town, Quebec ($280,800), J.W. Morrice`s Régates à Saint-Malo ($526,500) and M.A. Suzor-Coté's Winter Sunglow: Arthabaska ($269,100).
"From works found lying in barn to hidden treasures that have been unseen for more than 20 years, many of the paintings consigned to us for this sale carry a fascinating past and are just outstanding," said Mr. Heffel. "The resulting sales are a testament to the quality of works we were offering and we are very pleased with the results."
Breaking a new record as well was Jack Bush's Sing, Sing, Sing (BG 38), an oil canvas signed and dated December 1974 sold for $234,000.
Tonight's sales result of $16.73 million is well beyond the $8.5 to $12.7 million presale estimate. The Canadian post-war & contemporary art session, which commenced at 4 p.m. EST, had sales totalling $6.95 million, making it the second highest post-war and contemporary Canadian sale ever conducted by Heffel. The fine Canadian art session began at 7 p.m. EST and had a sales total of $9.6 million.
New Records set in Heffel's November 24, 2011 Fine Art Auction These are the 10 new records set during Heffel's Fall 2011 Auction. All prices include the 17 per cent buyers' premium added to the hammer price. High-resolution images of the top paintings in the auction can be provided upon request. Jean Paul Lemieux - Lot 018 - Nineteen Ten Remembered - New World Record: $2.34 million
Jack Hamilton Bush's - Lot 009 - Sing, Sing, Sing - New Record: $234,000
Lise Gervais - Lot 010 - Les sentinelles - New Record: $38,025
Michael Snow - Lot 019 - Sideway - New Record: $175,500
Kent Monkman - Lot 037 - Miss Chief: The Emergence of a Legend - New Record: $10,530
Robert Davidson - Lot 068 - Copper with Eagle Design - New Record: $52,650
Kathleen Frances Daly Pepper - Lot 107 - Catskill Mountains - New Record: $ 40,950
Emily Carr - Lot 110 - War Canoe, Alert Bay - New Record - $1.23 million (most valuable Canadian watercolour sold at auction)
Adrien Hébert - Lot 173 - Stevedores Unloading a Ship, Montreal Harbour - New Record: $40,950
Anne Douglas Savage - Lot 211 - Paradise Lost - New Record: $ 64,350
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