Emily Carr painting sale sets auction record

A record amount paid for a painting by Canadian artist Emily Carr helped the Heffel Fine Art Auction House set a sales record in its fall auction Thursday.

Leading the live auction at the Park Hyatt Hotel was The Crazy Stair,which brought in $3.39 million, the most ever paid at auction for aCarr painting.

The pre-auction estimate for the painting, which was sold to an anonymous buyer, was between $1.2 and $1.6 million.

Heffel says it was the highest amount paid for a work by a Canadian female artist and the fourth most valuable piece ever sold in Canadian art auction history.

The large format painting from Carr's mature period is described as "indicative of the artist's lifelong engagement with First Nations culture." The Victoria, B.C., native died in 1945 at the age of 74.

The sale of The Crazy Stairboosted overall sales at the auction to more than $13.5 million, which Heffel says exceeded pre-sale expectations

In all, eight pieces by Carr were sold, including War Canoes,which fetched $339,300. Heffel has now sold 220 of Carr's works, totalling $50.6 million.

Thomson, Riopelle pieces also sold

Canoe Lakeby Tom Thomson was expected to sell for as much as $600,000, but sold well above estimate at nearly $1.7 million. His painting entitled Autumn, Algonquin Parkwas also sold Thursday for $526,500.

Other highlights included Jean-Paul Riopelle's 1954 work, Sans titre, which sold for $789,750 and his Iceberg IVwork fetched $491,400. The five Riopelle pieces sold Thursday brought in $1.8 million.

A 1971 work by William Kurelek called Rink Making more than tripled its pre-auction estimate by selling for $163,800.

Ephraim Kelloway's White Doorby artist David Lloyd Blackwood sold for $105,300, more than double the pre-auction estimate.

The auction also included the sale of a painting by Sir Frederick Banting, who is best known as the co-discoverer of insulin.

His work entitled French Riversold for $58,500.

All prices include a 17 per cent buyer's premium.