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London exhibit of Canadian art closes on a high note

Cellphone shot of part of the long lineup to see Group of Seven show at the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London on Jan. 8, 2012.

James Adams ~ Globe and Mail

Published Monday, Jan. 09, 2012 5:22PM EST

An exhibition of 123 paintings and oil sketches by Canada’s Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven has proved a sensational success at the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London, drawing more than 41,000 visitors over a 12-week run that concluded late Sunday afternoon.

According to Dulwich officials, that translates into an average of 553 visitors a day – making the show, called Painting Canada, the second most successful in the history of the Dulwich, inaugurated in 1817 as England’s first purpose-built public gallery…(more)

The next stop for the exhibition is the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design in Oslo (Jan. 29 to May 13).

Shore, Forest and Beyond ~ Art from the Audain Collection

This exhibition is running October 29, 2011 to January 29, 2012 at the
Vancouver Art Gallery

Heffel at the Shore, Forest and Beyond Opening

The role of private collectors in the art world has always been essential to both artists and museums. Private collections are formed in a variety of ways, yet some achieve particular distinction for their depth, breadth and quality. The works assembled by Michael Audain and Yoshiko Karasawa over the last two decades form one of the most important private holdings of work by First Nations and non-First Nations British Columbia artists. The Audains have created a collection that allows a particularly rich history of the art of British Columbia to be told.

Beginning with the powerful ceremonial objects of the First Nations peoples, Shore, Forest and Beyond: Art from the Audain Collection traces the important strands of artistic production in the province right up to the present day. The co-curators have selected some 170 works from the Audain’s personal collection, as well as past works they have donated for the Gallery’s permanent collection. It features their particularly strong collection of the work of British Columbia’s most distinguished painter, Emily Carr, while presenting work by other prominent Canadian Modernists, including Lawren Harris, Frederick Horsman Varley and B.C. Binning. Their holdings of historical west coast indigenous art are complemented by a significant group of contemporary First Nations works, a number of which have been newly commissioned by the Audains. The photo-based art of the region has also received their careful attention, and they have been generous donors of works by Jeff Wall and Scott McFarland to the Vancouver Art Gallery. Finally, the exhibition includes another major area of focus—Mexican Modernism—representing the most significant collection of this art in Canada, with works by Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siquieros and Rufino Tamayo. The works presented—the first extensive survey of the collection—provide an overview of its richness and strengths.

Michael Audain has said that “living with art has been one of the great joys of my life.” These works attest to the wide range of his interests and deep commitment to the province and its history. Although was not formed with the intent of showing it to others, the strengths of their collection make it one of the most distinctive in the country.

Organized by the Vancouver Art Gallery and curated by Ian Thom, senior curator-historical, and Grant Arnold, Audain Curator of British Columbia Art.

Jean Paul Lemieux painting sells for record $2M

CBC News  Posted: Nov 24, 2011 5:11 PM ET

Link to article and video clip

Jean Paul Lemieux’s canvas Nineteen Ten Remembered sold at auction Thursday for $2 million — $2.34 million with buyer’s premium — setting a new record for a contemporary work of Canadian art.

The much-reproduced work shows the Quebec artist as a child, standing between his parents in front of a cold, barren landscape.

It sold to a telephone bidder at Heffel Fine Art auction house in Toronto after spirited bidding. It was expected to be the most valuable offering at Heffel’s auction of Canadian post-war and contemporary art.

“Jean Paul Lemieux was just on fire…We shattered the previous world record for work at auction by a contemporary Canadian artist,” David Heffel said after the sale.

The previous record for a Canadian contemporary artwork sold in Canada was $1.6 million, set during the 2006 sale of Jean-Paul Riopelle’s Il était une fois une ville. An untitled Riopelle sold for $1.89 million in 2008 at Christie’s in New York.

Lemieux’s paintings of landscapes and figures are popular in Quebec and many people raised in Quebec recall growing up with a poster or print of Nineteen Ten Remembered on their wall, Robert Heffel said.

The artist, who died in 1990, was often at odds with his artistic contemporaries, who embraced abstract art and Automatism.

The painting has never been displayed in a public gallery. Lemieux gave Nineteen Ten Remembered to his daughters, who sold it to a member of the Archambault family, who sold it to a neighbour who consigned it to the auction.

Another notable sale was Emily Carr’s War Canoe, Alert Bay. The 1908 water-colour sold for $1.05 million — or $1.22 million with buyer’s premium — making it the most valuable Canadian water-colour.

The auction house said that Lawren Stewart Harris’s Rocky Mountain Sketch CXXI (Mount Robson) was another highlight, selling for well above asking.

“After an intense bidding war, the notable piece exceeded the estimate, selling for $1.81 million,” the auction house said in a statement released Thursday night. “This was one of two works for which the consignee generously agreed to donate the proceeds to Toronto’s Women’s College Hospital.”

Also on offer Thursday were paintings that once belonged to French hotelier François Dupré, an avid collector who took ownership of Montreal’s Ritz-Carleton in the late 1940s.

The whereabouts of his collection was unknown until his heirs recently came forward and revealed the works had been stored in a Montreal bank vault for the past 24 years.

Dupré bought works by Canadian impressionists such as Clarence Alphonse Gagnon, James Wilson Morrice and Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté for display at the hotel.

The auction house said the Dupré collection “surpassed estimates” and sold for $2.27 million.

Heffel said Thursday’s auction resulted in $16.73 million in sales. The company said three of the 190 lots sold for more than $1 million.

Toronto Preview fun at Heffel, November 20, 2011