Emily Carr canvas among featured highlights of Heffel’s fall art auction

By Canadian Press

TORONTO — Emily Carr is expected to command the digital showroom at Heffel Fine Art Auction House’s fall sale.

Carr’s 1931 seaside forest scene “Cordova Drift,” is estimated to draw between $2 million and $3 million, and is among seven works by the B.C. painter set to invite bids Wednesday.

Other standouts include the 1912 oil-on-board “Maude Island Totem,” which is expected to fetch between $700,000 and $900,000, and the forest landscape “Music in the Trees,” circa 1935, which auctioneers estimate to be worth between $250,000 and $350,000.

A total of 80 works will hit the auction block in Heffel’s digital showroom, which will be streamed from Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver as buyers place bids online, by phone or in absentia.

Another highlight of the fall catalogue is Paul Kane’s circa 1855 Canadiana canvasAssiniboine Hunting Buffalo,” which the auction house bills as rare and historically significant. It’s estimated to draw between $2.5 million and $3.5 million.

Lawren Harris will also be showcased with six works spanning the eminent artist’s career, ranging from his early illustrations of Toronto’s Ward neighbourhood, to Group of Seven-period portrayals of Lake Superior to his later experiments in abstraction.

The leading work on offer is the monochromatic consignment by Harris’s family, “From Sentinel Pass Above Moraine Lake, Rocky Mts.,” which has a presale estimate of between $400,000 and $600,000.

The auction house also touted a set of 20 porcelain plates hand-painted by Cornelius Krieghoff in the 1800s. It’s expected to fetch between $40,000 and $60,000. 

Heffel said its catalogue is expected to net a total of between $12 million and $17 million. All estimates include auction house fees on top of the hammer price. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 29, 2021.

Adina Bresge, The Canadian Press

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