Calgary art collectors will get the first opportunity to check out a few truly Canadian masterpieces Friday in advance of a nationwide online auction in November. Heffel Gallery Calgary are hosting the weekend-long artwork preview of some of the finest artists Canada has ever produced, including two by Group of Seven artist Lawren Harris. Each of those -- Cathedral Mountain from the Opabin, Mountain Sketch XVII and Mount Leah, Maligne Lake -- is anticipated to fetch somewhere between $250,000 and $350,000 at the live online auction, which takes place Nov. 18 from Toronto following a four-city national tour. Other Alberta-themed works include E.J. Hughes’ Mount Rundle and Maurice Cullen’s Bow River, Banff, as well as two paintings by Alberta-born William Kurelek -- I Knew How the Clouds Arise and Weiner Roast on My Father’s Farm-- giving the auction plenty of Alberta content. The preview will also showcase works by Jean Paul Riopelle (Brumaire, 1953), Emily Carr’s Alert Bay (with Welcome Figure) and James Wilson Morrice. Riopelle’s Brumaire is up for sale at a time of growing interest in his work, thanks to the opening of Espace Riopelle at the Musee national des beaux-arts du Quebec, a space dedicated to his work and legacy. The Calgary preview starts Friday and continues through Sunday and is free and open to the public. The Nov. 18 auction will be broadcast live through Heffel’s digital salesroom.
