Group of Seven work surpasses $900,000 at auction

A painting by Group of Seven artist Lawren Harris fetched just under $1 million Wednesday at the Heffel Fine Art auction in Vancouver.

Harris' work, entitled Lake Superior Sketch LXI,sold for $973,500 to surpass the pre-auction estimate of between $500,000 and $700,000. Another painting by the Brantford, Ont., native, The Old Stump,sold for more than $3.5 million at a Heffel auction in 2009.

One painting topped the $1 million mark. Pleine saison by Jean Paul Riopelle was auctioned for $1.3 million, more than double the pre-sale estimate.

Eight Emily Carr lots, which included rare, early illustrations, sold for a combined $1.5 million at the Vancouver Convention Centre. One of her paintings, entitled Trees in Swirling Sky,was expected to sell in the $225,000 range, but sold for $590,000.

• Emily Carr painting sets auction record

Other highlights included Jack Bush's Templeselling for $438,750 well above the pre-sale maximum estimate of $175,000.

Michael Snow's Solarmore than doubled its pre-auction estimate of up to $60,000 by selling for $129,800, a record for the artist.

Two lots by Quebec artist Jean Paul Lemieux collected $494,325, led by La Quebecoise,which sold for $442,500.

E.J. Hughes' painting called Looking South Over Sooke Harbourbeat the high end of the pre-sale estimate of $150,000 and sold for $212,400.

And there was one oil painting by Edwin Holgate, titled Grand Manan,which sold for a modest $12,000. It was recently bought at a garage sale for just $2.

The Heffel Fine Art Auction House says the $9.7 million in sales Wednesday night surpassed pre-sale estimates of $6 to $8 million. Sales figures include an 18 per cent buyer's premium.