Tom Thomson, Jean Paul Riopelle, and a well-known work by Jock MacDonald Featured at Consignor’s Fall Live Auction on November 22nd

(Toronto – November 7, 2016) – Following Consignor Canadian Fine Art’s highly successful live auction debut in May 2016 (that included a record-breaking sale of Lawren Harris’s Algoma Sketch 48), the auction house launches its second live auction event featuring an exciting catalogue of important Canadian works, to be held at the historic Berkeley Church in downtown Toronto on November 22, 2016. A 1912 sketch by founding Group of Seven member and one of Canada’s most celebrated painters, J.E.H. MacDonald, Tracks and Traffic (auction estimate: $200,000 to $250,000), will anchor the auction.

Tracks and Traffic is a sketch of the well-known canvas that is currently part of the Art Gallery of Ontario’s (AGO) collection, and was recently included in the Toronto showing of the Steve Martin-curated exhibition, The Idea of North: The Paintings of Lawren Harris. The work provides a glimpse of what the city of Toronto looked like over a century ago, and depicts a scene of the harbourfront neighbourhood at the intersection of Bathurst Street and Front Street during the industrial period.

It is well known that MacDonald was one of Lawren Harris’s closest friends and the pair often painted together in Toronto. Tracks and Traffic was created just months after the two artists met in late 1911, and eight years before the formation of the Group of Seven. Harris also sketched this scene from another angle, suggesting that the friends could have been together during the painting expedition. If so, the sketch would mark one of the very first examples of members of the Group of Seven painting together.

“We’re thrilled to follow up on the success of our inaugural live auction, with a strong offering of exemplary artworks by many of Canada’s most beloved artists,” said Rob Cowley, President of Consignor Canadian Fine Art. “The fall catalogue features many artworks hitting the auction block for the first time and we anticipate there will be a great appetite for these works among collectors.”

Auction Debuts and Highlights:

• DEBUT – An important canvas by Painters Eleven founding member Jock MacDonald, Daybreak from his Modality series (auction estimate: $70,000 to $90,000)
• 1962 canvas by internationally celebrated Quebec painter, Jean Paul Riopelle, Forteresse (auction estimate: $140,000 to $180,000)
• 1912 painting by Tom Thomson, Country Landscape with Stream (Huntsville) (auction estimate: $90,000 to $120,000)
• DEBUT – Two works by Group of Seven member Franklin Carmichael, owned by a descendent of the artist. Bracken, Lansing oil on panel (auction estimate: $60,000 to $80,000); and a Carmichael watercolour, Forest Landscape (auction estimate: $40,000 to $60,000)
• A large-scale painting by artist Ted Harrison, who passed away in 2015, The Grecian House (auction estimate: $45,000 to $60,000)
• Several notable works by William Kurelek including the mixed media painting, Russian Thistles Migrating (auction estimate: $60,000 to $80,000); and Candy Floss Clouds, painted the year of his death (auction estimate: $30,000 to $40,000)
• DEBUT – A charming 1907 painting of a mother and child by J.E.H. MacDonald titled A Hill Path, High Park (auction estimate: $20,000 to $30,000). The painting is believed to have been a gift from MacDonald to Albert H. Robson, a Canadian art author, historian and former VP of the Art Gallery of Toronto (now the AGO) more than a century ago. The painting, owned by the family of Albert H. Robson, is offered for sale for the first time. 
• Four paintings by Group of Seven member A.J. Casson including Lumber Mill, 1935 (auction estimate: $35,000 to $45,000)
• A large-scale work from Harold Town’s highly acclaimed Tyranny of the Corner series, the Hypothesis Set (auction estimate: $20,000 to $30,000)

To preview the full catalogue online, go to www.consignor.ca. Live previews will take place until November 21 at the Consignor Canadian Fine Art Gallery located at 326 Dundas Street West. Consignor’s Fall Auction of Important Canadian Art will be held on Tuesday, November 22, 7:00 pm at the Berkeley Church, located at 315 Queen St. E. in Toronto, ON.

Since its inception in 2013, Consignor’s auctions have included headline-grabbing and record-breaking works including Algoma Sketch 48, a rare Lawren Harris preparatory oil sketch that debuted on the auction block at Consignor’s inaugural live auction event in May 2016 and set the record for the highest-selling Algoma sketch ($977,500) by the artist at auction. Other highlights include a 100-year-old Tom Thomson portrait (Daydreaming, sold for $172,500) and an undiscovered William Kurelek (Ukrainian Proverb, sold for $41,400, well above its estimated value). Consignor’s offering of Jack Bush’s Summer Lake broke online auction records in May 2014 for the most expensive painting by a Canadian artist to be sold at an online auction ($310,500), and its June 2014 auction saw eight artists’ records broken.

Consignor is also holding an online December Auction of Artwork, from December 7-14, 2016. Consignor offers all-inclusive selling commissions and the lowest Buyer’s Premium in the industry. Those interested in consignment can arrange a complimentary and confidential consultation by contacting Consignor’s specialists at 1-866-931-8415 or [email protected]. Consignor is currently accepting artwork for inclusion in its Spring 2017 auctions.

Consignor Canadian Fine Art is a partnership between art auction veterans Rob Cowley, Lydia Abbott and Ryan Mayberry (Partner at Mayberry Fine Art and Founder of Consignor.ca). Cowley and Abbott became principals in the venture with Ryan Mayberry, taking Consignor.ca from its original form, as a branch of Mayberry Fine Art, to a separate company focusing on auctions of Canadian art.