Canadian artist Emily Carr’s painting goes up for auction

When New York-based art dealer Allen Treibitz went to a barn sale in the Hamptons a few months ago, a painting hanging in an old building immediately caught his eye.

The sculpture, a grizzly bear atop a commemorative totem pole, was signed by Canada’s leading painter Emily Carr, but Treibitz wasn’t familiar with her work or legacy. Still, he said he knew there was something special there.

“It stood out from everything else that was in the barn,” the 61-year-old, who has been dealing in art for more than 40 years, said on a video call.

Treibitz purchased the painting for US$50 and, after doing some preliminary research, realized that its value was probably much greater.

Until he contacted Canadian government agencies. Heffel Fine Art Auction House He understood the scope of his discovery.

“We were provided with the photographs and there was no doubt in our minds that this was an exciting Cinderella find,” auction house president David Heffel said in an interview.

The painting will be auctioned in Toronto on November 20 and is estimated to be worth between $100,000 and $200,000.

Entitled “Masset, QCI,” the work was painted in 1912 as part of Carr’s efforts to create an extensive record of the artistic heritage of British Columbia’s First Nations communities. It depicts a Native American monument that stood in Masset, a village on the state’s Haida Gwaii Islands.

The piece is believed to have been a gift to Kerr’s friend Nell Cozier and her husband in the 1930s, and has hung in their barn in the Hamptons ever since. The couple originally lived in Victoria before moving to the area to work as managers on a large estate.

“I saw a lot of very interesting things, but this…is the most important thing I’ve ever found,” Treibitz said. “The fact that it was found and returned to its original location is very important.”

Gerta Morey, a former art history professor at the University of Guelph, said Carr incorporated techniques and styles he learned while studying art in Paris in 1910-1911 into his paintings, including his vivid watercolors. It also included the use of.

Mr Morey, author of a book on Indigenous imagery in Carr’s work, said the painting style was considered a setback for Carr at the time. Carr was born in Victoria in 1871 and had close ties to the famous Group of Seven, which included Franklin Carmichael, Lauren Harris and AY Jackson.

“Unfortunately, her modern Parisian, post-impressionist style made her not well-received locally,” Morey said. “After that, she couldn’t go to the state museum, couldn’t buy it in public, couldn’t find where it was going.”

Heffel said the painting was found in its original frame and stretcher, and had not been touched since it was hung in a barn.

“It needed a good clean and refresh,” he said.

Carr painted the same monument again in 1937 from a different angle.

Her 1912 painting will be previewed at Heffel Gallery in multiple cities, starting Friday in Calgary and continuing through the weekend, before going up for auction.

It will then be screened in Vancouver from October 16th to 21st, Montreal from October 31st to November 5th, and Toronto from November 15th to 19th.

Treibitz said he hopes the painting goes to a collector of Carr’s work or to a museum.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 2, 2024.

A work by Emily Carr entitled “Masset, QCI” is seen in an undated reproduction. Canadian Press/Heffel Art Auction House