Three Lawren Harris paintings fetch over $3 million at Heffel auction

VANCOUVER – A trio of paintings by Group of Seven member Lawren Harris brought in more than $3 million at an auction in Vancouver on Wednesday night.

The Heffel Fine Art Auction House says Harris’s canvas “Laurentian Landscape” sold for almost $2.2 million, well over the pre-auction estimate of between $1.2 million and $1.6 million.

Heffel says the painting is considered to be “a foundation work for the establishment of the Group of Seven.”

Oil-on-board works “Coldwell, Lake Superior” and “Mount Sampson, Maligne Lake” by Harris fetched $649,000 and $413,000 respectively.

Fellow Group of Seven member A.Y. Jackson’s snow scene “Farm at St. Tite des Caps,” an oil-on-canvas work, sold for $354,000.

Emily Carr’s oil-on-canvas “Shoreline” fetched $708,000 and rare watercolour “Gitwangak” brought in $413,000.

Spirited bidding for a “historically significant” 1949 post-war canvas by official Canada war artist E.J. Hughes, “The Post Office at Courtenay, BC,” raised the selling price to a record for the artist of nearly $1.6 million. The pre-auction estimate had been $600,000 to $800,000.

Alex Colville’s “Swimming Dog and Canoe” sold for almost $1.2 million, surpassing the estimate of $300,000 to $500,000, while Colville’s “Racer” fetched $560,500.

Jean Paul Riopelle’s 1955 “Composition,” which was exhibited at the National Gallery of Canada. sold for $649,000.

Heffel says total sales at the action reached $17.2 million.

All prices are in Canadian dollars and include an 18 per cent buyer’s premium.