Heffel Fine Art Auction House hopes the auction of this Matisse masterpiece will boost interest in some of the Canadian art also available in the same auction. The piece, Henri Matisse's 'Femme assise sur un balcon' (1919), will tour across Canada. And it's expected to go for a whopping $3.8 million!
"Canadian art really is undervalued internationally, and our star artists with their star pieces can stand on their own with the top artists in the world," said David Heffel. Heffel is president of the company started by his art-loving father in the late 1970's.
Boosts Value of Canadian Art
This latest auction includes dozens of pieces of art from notable Canadian artists. It includes Group of Seven painters like Lawren Harris, along with Emily Carr, Jack Bush and Jean Paul Riopelle..
A rare Emily Carr watercolour, the view of the Sooke hills from Victoria, is part of the latest auction from Vancouver's Heffel Fine Art Auction House. Recently, a Hughes painting fetched a record sum at auction.
But Heffel is using the Matisse as the centrepiece, saying it's pre-auction evaluation of $3.8 to $5.8 million is the highest ever for a painting in art auction history in Canada.
Henri Matisse
"It's pretty special," said Heffel as he held the painting, and turned it over to show the back of the canvas stretched on its original frame. That's certainly guaranteed to help its value. "We've never held a Matisse," said Heffel as he showed off the piece Friday at his gallery.
In November 2016, Heffel auctioned a Lawren Harris painting called 'Mountain Forms' for $11.21 million. It's pre-sale evaluation was $3.6 million. Auctions such as this, that include world-renowned masterpieces, are certain to add recognition, and value, to many of the great Canadian artworks typically on view at the Heffel Gallery.
