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Cision Canada
24-04-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
Made in Canada: Heffel's Spring Auction Celebrates Canadian Art on the Global Stage Français
Heffel auction on May 22 is a landmark sale dedicated entirely to Canadian art, with an estimated total value of $18M to $22M Exceptional Group of Seven paintings from the University Club of Toronto, led by a monumental canvas by Lawren Harris Remarkable 1952 Jean Paul Riopelle canvas, among the finest examples to ever come to market TORONTO, April 24, 2025 /CNW/ - In a time of heightened national pride, Heffel Fine Art Auction House is proud to present its monumental Spring Live Auction — a bold celebration of Canadian art. This all-Canadian, star-studded sale shines a spotlight on the nation's most iconic artists, featuring true masterpieces by Lawren Harris, Tom Thomson, Emily Carr and Jean Paul Riopelle. These legendary figures, whose groundbreaking works helped to define our cultural identity, are set to dazzle on the global stage in this unparalleled event. With an estimated total value of $18 million to $22 million, the two-part sale will take place on May 22, 2025, and will welcome in-person bidders in Heffel's state-of-the-art auction venue in Toronto, alongside remote bidding options available through the firm's Digital Saleroom. (All estimate values are in Canadian dollars.) Featured in the auction are three treasured masterpiece canvases by renowned Group of Seven artists Lawren Harris, Franklin Carmichael and Arthur Lismer, consigned from the prestigious University Club of Toronto. These important paintings, which have adorned the walls of the historic private club for generations, reflect not only the profound influence of the Group on our cultural legacy but also their enduring relevance and appeal in today's market. With exceptional provenance, rich documentation and an extensive international exhibition history rarely seen on the public market, these works offer collectors a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire works from Canada's most iconic artist collective. "These extraordinary artworks are part of our cultural DNA," says David Heffel, President of Heffel Fine Art Auction House. "At a time when Canadians are reflecting on what makes our country unique, this collection offers a powerful reminder of the creativity, spirit and identity that define us." Highlights from the Heffel Auction Leading the Canadian, Impressionist & Modern Art session is Lawren Harris 's breathtaking Northern Lake, a masterpiece from the Group of Seven period. This stunning 1926 canvas, which won a gold medal at the 1926 Sesqui-Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, was also featured in the prestigious Musée du Jeu de Paume exhibition in Paris in 1927, among many other notable shows and publications. Consigned from the esteemed University Club of Toronto, this work is a remarkable example of Harris's mastery of light and form (est. $2,000,000 – 3,000,000). Shining bright in the Heffel auction is an exceptional 1952 canvas by Jean Paul Riopelle, Sans titre, which radiates with the intensity and energy that define the artist's most sought-after period. The monumental painting has traveled globally throughout its lifetime and is among Riopelle's very best examples. Another highlight in the auction is a small but mighty Riopelle canvas, Sans titre from 1950, a pivotal moment in his storied career, consigned from an important UK collection (est. $1,000,000 – 1,500,000). Also featured in the sale are three stunning oil paintings by the legendary Tom Thomson, including the widely exhibited Autumn, Algonquin Park (est. $1,000,000 – 1,200,000), Canoe Lake, Algonquin Park (est. $800,000 – 1,000,000), and Dawn on Round Lake (Kawawaymog Lake) (est. $700,000 – 900,000). Thomson forever transformed the way we perceive and celebrate the Canadian landscape, and these works reflect his lasting impact on the art world. A.Y. Jackson 's dramatic Night on the Skeena River (est. $800,000 – $1,000,000) is widely regarded as one of the most important canvases from his period painting with the Group of Seven, an era marked by some of the strongest and most adventurous work of his career. Franklin Carmichael 's Leaf Pattern, consigned from the University Club of Toronto, is arguably the finest example by the artist to ever come to market. This highly celebrated and widely exhibited canvas, which has been in the Club's collection since it was gifted to them in 1947, exemplifies Carmichael's ability to capture the landscape with vibrant colours, dynamism and intricate detail (est. $700,000 – 900,000). Major works anchoring the Post-War & Contemporary Art session include important paintings by leading Canadian artists, such as Private School by Christopher Pratt, a luminous and contemplative large-scale canvas (est. $150,000 – 200,000); Composition by Marcelle Ferron, a striking circa 1960 example of her bold abstraction (est. $150,000 – 250,000); and Septimale (est. $200,000 – 250,000), one of two mesmerizing works on offer by Claude Tousignant, with his signature concentric forms rendered in vibrant hues. Seven works by globally renowned artist Emily Carr are led by Shoreline, a circa 1936 canvas. Her paintings are among the rarest treasures in Canadian art, and this captivating seascape beautifully captures the raw energy of the Pacific coast. Consigned from a prestigious private collection, the work exemplifies Carr's deep connection to the landscape, making it a standout in the current market (est. $750,000 – 850,000). A colourful 1951 canvas by Paul-Émile Borduas, painted as the artist embraced a new visual language, is a highlight in the sale. With its energetic brushwork and striking palette, Composition reflects Borduas's bold shift towards pure abstraction and his lasting impact on the Automatist movement and Canadian art (est. $550,000 – 650,000). A key work in the Heffel spring catalogue is Arthur Lismer 's McGregor Bay Islands, a stunning canvas that has been widely exhibited and is considered one of his most important examples. This iconic painting, consigned from the University Club of Toronto, is the epitome of a Group of Seven masterpiece, showcasing Lismer's exceptional skill in capturing the essence of Canada's landscape (est. $600,000 – 800,000). Exceptional artworks have been once again entrusted to Heffel from important collections such as the Barbeau Owen Foundation and the Estate of Dr. Luigi Rossi. Significant works by celebrated Indigenous artists such as Daphne Odjig and Alex Janvier highlight the works from the Rossi collection, and a dynamic group of paintings by beloved West Coast painter E.J. Hughes are on offer from the Barbeau Owen Foundation. Heffel has a long history of placing significant works from estates and organizations into the hands of other passionate collectors, ensuring their continued legacy. "The masterpieces in this sale reflect what defines us as Canadians and are a powerful tribute to the strength, depth and global relevance of Canadian art," says Robert Heffel, Vice-President of Heffel Fine Art Auction House. "From the walls of historic institutions like the University Club of Toronto to the homes of visionary private collectors, these exceptional works by Canadian artists have shaped our national narrative, and we are incredibly honoured to help them shine on the world stage." Heffel Spring Auction Schedule To give collectors and enthusiasts from across Canada an opportunity to view these works, the collection is being previewed in four cities leading up to the auction and through virtual gallery tours. Calgary: March 27 – 30, Heffel Gallery (220 Manning Road NE, Unit 1080) Vancouver: April 10 – 17, Heffel Gallery (2247 Granville Street) Montreal: May 1 – 5, Heffel Gallery (1840 Sherbrooke Street W) Toronto: May 13 – 21, Heffel Gallery (13 Hazelton Avenue) The two-session auction will take place on Thursday, May 22 in Toronto. In addition to in-person bidding, the sale will be broadcast live at and several remote bidding options will be available. For further details about this exciting auction and to explore the online catalogues, please visit or contact Heffel's specialists. About Heffel Fine Art Auction House Since 1978, Heffel has connected passionate collectors across the world with outstanding works of art, with sales approaching $1 billion. Heffel is renowned for its expertise in effectively managing and handling estates, serving as trusted experts for navigating the complexities of art collections inherited from estates with precision and care. With facilities in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary, Heffel has the most experienced team of fine art specialists in Canada and provides premium client service to both sellers and buyers internationally. SOURCE Heffel Fine Art Auction House
The Guardian
12-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Painting was my final act of defiance': how a chef from war-torn Eritrea wowed the art world after his death
What is home? What does it mean to belong? For Eritrea-born artist, activist and chef Ficre Ghebreyesus, who fled war in his homeland at the age of 16 and landed on US shores in 1981, these were vital questions that played out in his vibrant, often dreamlike canvases. 'Painting was the miracle, the final act of defiance through which I exorcised the pain and reclaimed my sense of place, my moral compass, and my love for life,' the artist wrote in 2000, in his application for a masters in fine art at Yale School of Art. Ghebreyesus, who died suddenly of a heart attack aged 50 in 2012, left behind more than 800 paintings. These were barely exhibited in his lifetime but have garnered acclaim posthumously, presented at the 2022 Venice Biennale and in a handful of US shows. Now Ghebreyesus will have his first solo European exhibition at Modern Art gallery in London, made up of 25 canvases from the 1990s to 2011, many of which have never been displayed publicly. From vertiginous paintings brimming with pattern and colour to cubist-inflected figurative depictions to abstract geometric patchworks that might denote landscapes, the selection conveys his immense range of styles, sources and subject matter. According to the Ethiopian-American painter Julie Mehretu, Ghebreyesus managed to mine and invent 'a visual language for displacement, of insistence, of affirmation despite loss, loneliness, mourning and grieving'. Ghebreyesus was born to a well-respected family in the Eritrean capital Asmara in 1962, a year after the eruption of the 30-year war of independence from Ethiopia. Despite never living in the Horn of Africa country after his teens, his paintings draw on its rich convergence of influences: the Coptic Christian and Islamic iconography found in Asmara's churches and mosques, prehistoric rock paintings, grand Italianate architecture from Eritrea's colonial past and mural portraits of Marx, Lenin and Stalin painted during the brutal regime of Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam. Ghebreyesus's paintings hold in tension the joy of home life with his parents and five siblings and the horror of soldiers invading their compound and tanks in the streets. In 1978, after his school was shuttered by troops and Ghebreyesus tried to sign up for the Eritrean resistance, his mother packed him off with his cousin to travel on foot across the border into Sudan, then to Italy, Germany, finally arriving in the United States in 1981. These experiences of upheaval and migration show up obliquely in his work. In a pastel work on paper from the 1990s, a luminous moon casts its glow over a barren mountainous scene with a lone tent and two figures huddled by a fire. Another work from the same period is an orange, purple and teal seascape of floating vessels, with what look like tropical flowers sprouting in their wake. Ghebreyesus's widow, American poet Elizabeth Alexander, says he described such scenes as 'dreamscape spaces of memory, flights of fantasy, but grounded in memory'. Boats are a recurrent motif in his oeuvre along with gates, portals and angels. A painting from between 2002 and 2007 depicts sails camouflaged within a square patterning of blues and greens, recalling woven baskets, while another portrays two figures immersed in fluid within some kind of container, tenderly embracing or whispering. In Ghebreyesus's work, boats have 'a roundness, a human bodiness to them, that proper boats don't have,' Alexander notes. 'I think they represent passage from one space to the next, be it a country, be it a state of mind, be it a culture.' On arrival in the US, the artist gravitated to New York and then New Haven, Connecticut, juggling several restaurant jobs at a time, studying and becoming involved in activism for Eritrean liberation. He studied painting at the Art Students' League, a training ground for many abstract expressionists. In 1992 he and his two brothers opened the popular restaurant Caffe Adulis. It was there, while working as executive chef, that Ghebreyesus met Alexander, then a professor at the University of Chicago. They were engaged within a week and went on to have two children, Solomon and Simon. From this time on his palette shifted from darker to lighter hues. 'That sense of re-creating a very family-oriented wonderland was a deep safety and landing for him that I think allowed other things to come out,' Alexander says. Ghebreyesus was, she says, 'a very, very passionate, ardent father'; photos show the children as babies happily lolling on his canvases. Sign up to Art Weekly Your weekly art world round-up, sketching out all the biggest stories, scandals and exhibitions after newsletter promotion Only in 2008, after completing his MFA at Yale, where he won a painting prize, did Ghebreyesus stop cooking and devote himself to art full-time. He would spend many hours in the studio working simultaneously on several unstretched canvases of different sizes, always nourished by music: he loved Thelonious Monk and Ali Farka Touré. Indeed, music fed into his paintings. It's in Seated Musician II, painted around 2011, which gestures to cubism in its colourful geometric planes and fragmented depiction of the subject, whose disembodied, quizzical face floats above the rest of him as he plays the lyre-like k'rar. And music is undeniably present in the enormous colourful burlap painting Map/Quilt (1999), which evokes the bursting rhythms of an improvised jazz composition. Jostling forms in coral, teal, mauve and orange, dotted with glyphs and symbols, stretch feverishly across every inch of the picture plane, dazzling the eye. Ghebreyesus was reluctant to exhibit his work, driven by the desire simply to create, which seems somehow prescient in light of his untimely death. 'He knew he had something to say and to share and to give,' says Alexander, whose 2015 biography of her husband, The Light of the World: A Memoir was nominated for a Pulitzer prize. The artist's forthcoming London show is something of 'a going home' in view of the number of Eritreans living in the capital, she says. His paintings connect to the yearning and lament of exile but also to the joy of reunion and the vitality of diaspora. Above all, they exude an extraordinary, inextinguishable life force. Ficre Ghebreyesus is at Modern Art, London, 14 March to 10 May
