'Garage-sale' Tom Thomson painting draws $110K at auction

A paintingbought at a Vancouver garage sale and believedto bethe work of iconic Canadian artist Tom Thomson has been sold at auction for $110,000, considerably less than its estimated value.

The untitled oil painting, measuring just 28by 21 centimetres,was expected to draw $250,000 or more in the auction at Maynards Fine Art and Antiques in Vancouver Wednesday night.

The buyer's identity has not been made public.

The garage-sale buyer, who alsohas remained anonymous, bought theThomson oil painting, along with a watercolour sketch by Group of Seven artist Frederick Varley, for $100 and later took the paintings toMaynardsfor appraisal.

Maynards' director of Canadian and contemporary art, Kate Bellringer, had a number of experts examine the paintings and the consensus was that the workswere indeed painted by Thomson and Varley.

Bellringer estimated thevalue of the Thomson at between $150,000 and $250,000, but thought it wouldbe soldfor a higher price at auction.

The Thomson painting depicts a sunrise or sunsetover a lake and hills, typical of many worksthe artist did in Ontario's Algonquin Park before his death in 1917. He was considered a major influence on the Group of Seven.

The value of the Varley watercolour,an impressionisticcityscape of Sheffield, England,was pegged between$4,000 and $7,000 and drew a sale price of$6,500 at the auction.