TORONTO, Sept. 25, 2020 /CNW/ - The artworld has changed
drastically since March but the one constant is that collectors
continue to look for opportunities to buy and sell quality art.
Livestream, or hybrid auctions as they are often referred to, have
become the hot topic of the season.
Waddington's continues to embrace digital innovation to best
serve our clients and last week staged two evening auctions without
a client present in the house.
The auctions were held live in Waddington's Toronto gallery but for the first time in 170
years without a packed auction room and without paddles waving in
the air. The audience was entirely virtual with staff socially
distanced on tiered rows of phone banks. The production was
livestreamed on YouTube, with bidding by telephone and absentee
bids and via our online auction partner Invaluable.
The combined results of the two expressly Canadian art auctions
totaled over $3 million.
INUIT ART AUCTION – September
16
Our major Inuit Art auction featured 125 lots representing an
impressive mix of important historical and contemporary works
attracting buyers from across Canada, the U.S.A., and the United Kingdom. The success of the auction is
a testament to the continued growth in collectors' passion for
Inuit art, attracting new bidders and demonstrating a general
strengthening across the market.
Works by iconic artists including Joe Talirunili, Kenojuak
Ashevak and Pauta Saila all achieved
superb results exceeding their pre-sale estimates.
Highlight Results
Joe Talirunili, MIGRATION BOAT, stone sculpture - Price
Realised $216,000
Kenojuak Ashevak, THE ENCHANTED OWL, stone cut
print - Price Realised $204,000
Pauta Saila, ATTACKING BEAR,
stone sculpture - Price Realised $28,800
Kenojuak Ashevak, NIGHT SPIRITS, stone cut print
- Price Realised $28,800
Pauta Saila, DANCING BEAR,
stone sculpture - Price Realised $45,600
Inuit Art Auction Total: $999,950
CANADIAN FINE ART AUCTION – September
17
Waddington's specialty of offering works fresh to market proved
to be a continued formula for success. Mainstays of Canadian Art
auctions performed very well, including works by Tom Thomson,
Jean Paul Riopelle, Lawren Harris, and three works by
Cornelius Krieghoff which all sold
above their pre-sale estimates.
Tom Thomson, A QUIET SUMMER
EVENING, c.1913 - Price Realised $360,000
Jean Paul Riopelle, COMPOSITION,
c.1955, oil on canvas - Price Realised $168,000
Lawren Stewart Harris, PINE
TREES, KEMPENFELT BAY, c.1916 - Price Realised $132,000
Cornelius Krieghoff, GOING TO THE
VILLAGE, 1849 - Price Realised $90,000
Canadian Fine Art Auction Total: $2,128,000
Other Notable Sales
Waddington's was honoured to offer Nanai No. 4 by
William Perehudoff, one of many
wonderful paintings entrusted to us from an important estate in
Alberta. Massive interest in this
exceptional example of the artist's late 1960s abstract style
required use of all our telephone lines plus additional phone
bidders on cell phones to accommodate the bids from across
North America. This favourite
throughout the previews smashed its presale estimate of
$12,000 - $16,000 to sell for $66,000.
Tom Thomson's paintings are
always a rare find and we were honoured to offer two in the same
auction, both listed in the catalogue raisonné by art
historian and curator Joan Murray.
Alongside this legend of Canadian art, we continue to be proud to
offer works by Kent Monkman, a
legend in the making. With his notoriety is on the rise around the
world we were very pleased to sell Fort Edmonton for $40,800, demonstrating that Canadian Contemporary
Art is an excellent investment and holds its value on the secondary
market. We are pleased to offer another work by Monkman this
October in our online Contemporary Art auction, this time from the
artist's Modern Love print series.
Carefully selected offerings deserving the exposure of our major
auction included a powerful oil on canvas by Kenneth Lochhead entitled The
Burial, Alex
Janvier's Power Struggle and a lovely study
for a fully realized canvas by Andre Bièler, Cap
Tourmente. All found enthusiastic bidders who
appreciated the opportunity to acquire works of such rarity and
quality.
Continuing Waddington's charitable commitment, we were proud to
help honour the legacy of the late Richard
Thurston LaPrairie and offer a number of works generously
donated by the Estate, including this striking painting
by David Thauberger.
Proceeds from the sale of each work sold will be donated to Camp
Ooch & Camp Trillium to benefit children living with cancer.
The remainder of the Estate consigned to Waddington's will be
featured in a series of auctions later this fall and spring 2021,
with the next auction focused on Indigenous art running online
October 3 – 8.
Waddington's also thanks the Gershon Iskowitz Foundation for
consigning a vibrant painting by Iskowitz entitled Blue
Red-C. Proceeds from the sale of this painting will benefit the
Gershon Iskowitz Foundation which awards an annual prize to
mid-career artists and is vital to the Canadian arts community. The
sale of this lot will enable the artist's important legacy to
continue.
Waddington's is not new to conducting online auctions, achieving
successful results in some 80 online auctions each year. With
record-breaking bids placed during both these major auctions,
collectors demonstrated their enthusiasm and confidence in buying
quality art via this enhanced digital format. We are pleased to
offer the excitement of a truly live auction in the most effective
and safe way while achieving the results our clients expect.
Note: All prices quoted are in Canadian Dollars and include
Buyer's Premium.
Please visit our website for all past auction results and
upcoming auctions.
About Waddington's
Waddington's is Canada's most
diversified provider of auction and appraisal services. We
specialise in Asian, Canadian, Inuit and Indigenous, International
and Contemporary Art, as well as Decorative Arts and Design, Fine
Jewellery and Fine Wine & Spirits.
www.waddingtons.ca
SOURCE Waddington''s Auctioneers