MONTREAL – Acclaimed Canadian artwork owned by a Montreal school board is going on the auction block this spring.
Heffel Fine Art Auction House says the works consigned by the Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal Cultural Heritage Foundation will go up for sale on May 15 in Vancouver.
The works were done by artists including Group of Seven member A.Y. Jackson as well as Robert Pilot, Frederick Simpson Coburn, Anne Savage and Maurice Cullen.
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Heffel estimates the paintings could fetch between $1.3 million and $1.8 million.
The auction house also says one of the Jackson pieces – “A Quebec Village / Winter, St-Fidele” – is believed to be among his most important works to ever be auctioned and could sell for between $500,000 and $700,000.
The non-profit foundation that oversees the paintings says proceeds raised from the sale will provide post-secondary scholarships to current and future English Montreal School Board graduates.
The foundation collection includes works that were gifted to Montreal schools from parents and alumni in the 1930s.
“With virtually no acquisitions costs, these donations have appreciated exponentially over time and will now be translated into an important win for our children and for our community,” foundation curator Angelo Komatsoulis said in a statement.
Heffel says it’s still accepting consignments for the auction, which will also include a never-before-seen trove of Jean-Paul Riopelle paintings from the 1950s and an important Emily Carr canvas from the U.K.
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