Some of the most recognizable names in art history are hanging in a new gallery in the East Village, but only for a few days.<\/p>\n
Cowley Abbott Fine Art, a Toronto\u2011based auction house, has opened its first permanent western Canada gallery in Calgary, marking its arrival with a three\u2011day public preview of museum\u2011quality artworks heading to auction later this spring.<\/p>\n
On view are rare works by Pierre\u2011Auguste Renoir, Vincent van Gogh, Emily Carr, and several members of the Group of Seven, including Lawren Harris and A.Y. Jackson.<\/p>\n
The artworks on display are highlights from Cowley Abbott\u2019s Spring Live Auction, taking place May 27 at the Globe and Mail Centre in Toronto.<\/p>\n
The downtown Calgary gallery is open to the public Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t need to be a collector,\u201d says Peter Ohler, Western Canada Representative and Director of Private Sales. \u201cIf you\u2019re just interested, yeah, come and see our new space.\u201d<\/p>\n
The preview includes many works rarely displayed publicly, many pulled from long\u2011held private collections and, in some cases, coming to auction for the first time.<\/p>\n
One of the most significant pieces on display is Emily Carr\u2019s 1936 canvas\u00a0\u201cWind,\u201d estimated to sell for $500,000 to $700,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmily Carr canvases of her mature period of this quality and this size are very rare,\u201d Ohler added.<\/p>\n
The painting has been in the same Ontario family since the mid\u20111940s and was previously exhibited at what was then called the Art Gallery of Toronto in 1937.<\/p>\n
\u201cHistorically, works of this quality have sold for over a million dollars,\u201d said Ohler. <\/p>\n
Several of the works were selected specifically with Calgary audiences in mind, including an A.Y. Jackson canvas depicting Waterton Parks from the 1940s.<\/p>\n
\u201cWaterton Parks is local,\u201d Ohler says. \u201cA.Y. Jackson, Group of Seven guy, everybody kind of knows him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also on view is a rare early canvas by Tom Thomson, whose works rarely appear on the market, as well as a Lawren Harris masterwork from a private Calgary collection.<\/p>\n
The Harris painting, estimated at $500,000 to $700,000, depicts Coldwell Bay on Lake Superior and dates to a pivotal period in the artist\u2019s career.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re not going to bring out five Arthur Lismer paintings,\u201d Ohler explained. \u201cYou just bring one or two and try to represent the sale.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among the international highlights is\u00a0\u2018Paysage du Midi, c. 1900\u2019\u00a0by Pierre\u2011Auguste Renoir, estimated between $150,000 and $250,000. Renoir works are rarely offered at auction in Canada, with the last comparable canvas selling more than two decades ago.<\/p>\n
Nearby hangs a Vincent van Gogh etching created in the final year of the artist\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody knows him,\u201d Ohler says with a laugh. \u201cI\u2019ve never sold a Van Gogh in my life, so we\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n
The etching is estimated at $200,000 to $250,000 and has also been held in a private collection.<\/p>\n
Ohler says auctions can unlock value that private sales cannot.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you get a painting that is that rare, you would think there are multiple collectors out there who want to own it,\u201d he says. \u201cThey compete for it, pushing the price higher at auction.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new gallery marks a shift for Cowley Abbott in western Canada, moving from a remote presence to a permanent downtown location.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was working out of my house for the last four years,\u201d Ohler said.<\/p>\n
Outside of auction previews, the space will host contemporary exhibitions and support private sales, appraisals, and consignment services.<\/p>\n
Cowley Abbott Fine Art in Calgary is located at 607 Confluence Way SE. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some of the most recognizable names in art history are hanging in a new gallery in the East…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624930,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[76,354,355,49,48,356,75],"class_list":["post-624929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}