CALGARY - A small Tom Thomson painting sold for much less than expected Sunday after an unusual auction that saw the buyer storm out of the room before eventually being allowed to buy the piece.

The painting, a muted portrayal of a lake at dawn near Algonquin Park in Ontario, was expected to sell for between $500,000 and $600,000.

"I hadn't really planned on showing up, I hadn't really planned on being here. I didn't think I was going to own that painting," said new owner Tom Budd, a retired Calgary investment banker who said he came on a whim after an afternoon of racing cars.

Despite interest from across the country, when the piece, called Dawn on Round Lake, was first raised at the front of the Calgary auction, the bids did not fly.

Only Budd raised his hand, bidding $350,000.

Doug Levis of Levis Fire Art Auctions & Appraisals tried to ramp that bid higher, but when it was revealed the painting could not sell for a price less than $400,000, Budd objected that his lower bid was accepted in the first place.

After a few minutes of arguing that several art collectors called "shocking" and "unprecedented," the painting was declared unsold and Budd marched out of the room.

"You've got to encourage the bidding somehow to get to your minimum bid or whatever you're going to sell it for," said one man after the outburst. "That's how auctions work."

A brief meeting between Budd and Levis, and a phone call to the elderly woman whose family has owned the painting for 94 years, resulted in a deal.

"I am pleased to announce the painting did sell. It sold for $350,000," said Levis. "I talked to the client and she agreed she would sell it at those kind of numbers."

Budd only had kind words for the outcome.

"I've met a lot of people in business, and I would put the owners of this company at the forefront of ethics and morals when it come to tough situations."

The elderly woman, brought the painting to Calgary by bus, the wood panel wrapped in a towel.

She's a relative of the painting's original owner, Dr. Robert McComb, who accompanied Thomson on the hunting trip where it was painted in November 1915.

Thomson was one of the first painters to focus on the Canadian landscape, favouring Algonquin Park with a style that would heavily influence the work of the Group of Seven painters.

In 1917, at age 39, he drowned under mysterious circumstances in the area, leaving behind more than 300 sketches and only about 50 paintings.

Budd admitted he only began reading about Thomson and the Group of Seven a few weeks ago, but said he was quickly drawn in to the story.

"It was the artist, not the painting," he said of his decision to buy the piece.

While he has collected some art -- he bought one other piece at the auction before he realized he'd be taking the Thomson home -- he said this will be the first painting of such a calibre.

"I'm probably the least knowledgeable person in this room on art. But I'm a quick learner."

Many people who admitted the painting was out of their price range stopped to see it before it was sold, realizing it might be their only chance.

One man, also named Tom Thomson, laughed at the fact the artist's name was misspelled "Thompson" on the back of the frame, noting that mistake happened to him all the time.

"Just about every cheque written to me is spelling incorrectly," he said, adding he was probably a fan of the artist's work because of their shared moniker.

"It's quite exquisite. I thought it was a little rougher work, because it is on panel and it wasn't done in studio," said Richard Abma, who said he would like to get into art collecting.

Several people at the auction said they had expected the painting to go higher than the $600,000 estimate.

Other Thomson paintings have sold for between $300,000 and $1.7 million.

Some had hoped the painting would be sold to a public gallery rather back into private hands.

Budd said that wish would likely come true, noting the monetary value of the piece wasn't the issue for him.

"I didn't buy the painting to make money, I don't really need to make money. I've been giving money away," he said.

"This painting will end up being donated to somebody at some point."