黑料不打烊

Heffel Fine Art Auction House’s decision to stage a “Made in Canada” sale for Toronto’s spring auction season coincided with a moment of heightened national reflection and political change. In May, King Charles III opened Canada’s parliamentary session with the Speech from the Throne. It was the first time that a reigning British monarch had done so since Queen Elizabeth II last gave the address in 1977. His speech concluded with the proclamation, “The True North is indeed strong and free!” and was widely read as a rebuke to the rhetoric of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly made public comments that disparage Canadian sovereignty. The nationalist tone of the speech was the culmination of a broader shift already underway, marked by a downturn in cross-border travel, ongoing trade tensions, and the surprise electoral victory of Prime Minister Mark Carney on a platform emphasizing Canadian self-reliance.

Lawren Stewart Harris, Northern Lake, 1926, oil on canvas. Photo: Heffel

In the first major Canadian auctions of 2025, the art world responded with a sharpened focus on national heritage. Heffel’s May 22 auctions presented an exclusively Canadian lineup and the approach paid off: The sales achieved record prices for famed Group of Seven artists Franklin Carmichael, Arthur Lismer, and A.Y. Jackson. Cowley Abbott’s May 28 sale delivered more modest results but reinforced confidence in the national market.

Artist Records Fall at Heffel’s All-Canadian Sale

Heffel’s live spring auction reaffirmed its dominance in the Canadian art market, generating C$22 million ($16.3 million) in turnover (all prices include fees) across 85 lots offered over two dedicated sales. The evening began with the Post-War & Contemporary Art auction, which brought in C$4.46 million ($3.25 million), followed by the Canadian, Impressionist & Modern Art sale, which raised C$17.5 million ($12.74 million). Ten lots were either withdrawn or passed, resulting in an overall sell-through rate of 88 percent.

While overall turnover aligned with Heffel’s seasonal averages, the evening stood out for the strength of its offerings from the University Club of Toronto, a private members’ club founded in 1906 to serve the city’s professional and cultural elite. Lawren Harris, the founder of the Group of Seven, was himself an early member of the club and arranged to have his works and those of his contemporaries displayed throughout its premises. Chief among them was Harris’ own Northern Lake, 1926, which sold over its high estimate of C$3 million ($2.1 million) for C$3.1 million ($2.3 million). The landscape painting was awarded a gold medal at the 1926 Sesqui-Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia and later shown at the Musée du Jeu de Paume in Paris. It was the highest-selling work of the Canadian spring auctions and reaffirmed Harris’s standing as the market’s bellwether for Canadian art.

Franklin Carmichael, Leaf Pattern, dated 1922. Oil on canvas. Photo: Heffel

The provenance of the University Club of Toronto clearly appealed to collectors, as two additional works from the same source set new artist records. Franklin Carmichael’s Leaf Pattern, 1922, more than doubled its high estimate of C$900,000 ($649,450) to bring in C$2.28 million ($1.69 million USD) and will go down in history as Carmichel’s first seven-figure result. Meanwhile while Arthur Lismer’s McGregor Bay Islands, 1925, leaped past its expected range of C$600,000 - C$800,000 ($432,966 - $577,289) with a final price of C$1.62 million ($1.2 million). A.Y. Jackson joined them in the record-setting night with a new high of C$1.08 million ($800,926 USD) for Night on the Skeena River, 1927.

Arthur Lismer, McGregor Bay Islands, 1925. Oil on canvas. Photo: Heffel

Tom Thomson, the Group of Seven’s spiritual forebear, also delivered robust results. Three oil sketches – all compact and emblematic of his Algonquin Park period – each surpassed C$1 million, led by Autumn, Algonquin Park at C$1.2 million ($889,815 USD), followed closely by Canoe Lake, Algonquin Park and Dawn on Round Lake (Kawawaymog Lake) at C$1.05 million ($778,704 USD) and C$1.02 million ($756,481 USD), respectively. Each hammered within estimate and topped the high estimate with fees.

Seven Emily Carr lots were offered from the rostrum. Of the six that sold, all reached prices substantially above their low estimates. Her seascape Shoreline, c. 1936, brought in C$901,250 ($650,352) against a high estimate of C$850,000 ($613,369), while the smaller British Columbia Forest, a work on paper, exceeded its high estimate of C$350,000 ($252,564) to reach C$541,250 ($390,572). The auction performances of Carr, Thomson, and Harris followed recent international exposure through the Northern Lights exhibition at the Fondation Beyeler in Basel, which closed on May 25.

Daphne Odjig, Awakening of Spring, dated 1985, acrylic on canvas. Photo: Heffel

Contemporary Indigenous art also saw substantial price growth. Daphne Odjig’s Awakening of Spring, 1985, achieved C$133,250 ($96,155). The result nearly doubled its high estimate and set a new benchmark for the Anishinaabe painter. Alex Janvier’s 99 Goes to Hollywood, 1988, achieved a noteworthy price of C$157,250 ($113,473 USD), the third highest ever sale for the residential school survivor who passed away last year at the age of 89.

Although a major Jean-Paul Riopelle canvas, estimated at C$1–1.5 million ($721,611–$1 million), failed to sell after bidding stalled at C$975,000 ($700,962), the passed lot did little to dampen the overall momentum of the evening and may simply suggest that the heightened interest around Riopelle’s centenary in 2023 has begun to fade.

Franklin Carmichael Shows Additional Strength at Cowley Abbott

Cowley Abbott’s Spring Live Auction of Important Canadian & International Art, held on May 28 in Toronto, concluded with a sales total of C$5.56 million ($4.06 million), comfortably within its total estimate of C$4.22 million - C$5.92 million ($3.08 million - $4.32 million).  67 of 91 lots sold for a sell-through rate of only 73%. As expected, the figure came in well short of Heffel’s market-leading results earlier in the week, but nonetheless the auction produced some noteworthy performances.

Norval Morrisseau, Conversation with Our White Brother, 1980, acrylic on canvas. Photo: Cowley Abbott

Among the most encouraging results was Norval Morrisseau’s Conversation with Our White Brother, 1980, which sold for C$108,000 ($78,654), well above its C$60,000 ($43,696) high estimate. The sale represents a meaningful step in the recovery of the artist’s market after members of a widespread criminal network involved in mass-producing counterfeit Morrisseau paintings were arrested and prosecuted in 2023. However, this positive auction result took place in the shadow of a fresh defamation and breach-of-contract lawsuit filed by Calgary’s EA Studios, which accuses the artist’s estate of disparaging the gallery’s authenticity and attempting to divert its clients.

While controversy continues to surround Morrisseau’s market, other Canadian artists enjoyed momentum. Building on the success at Heffel a week earlier, Franklin Carmichael’s Old Orchard, 1940, sold above its high estimate of C$500,000 ($364,137) for $768,000 CAD ($559,314). It was the second-highest auction result for the artist, following the record set just days prior.

Frances Anne Hopkins, Canoes in a Fog, Lake Superior, 1864, watercolor on paper on pressed paper board. Photo: Cowley Abbott

Other historical works also outperformed expectations. Frances Anne Hopkins’ Canoes in a Fog, Lake Superior, 1864, an early watercolor, achieved C$240,000 ($175,439 USD), triple its high estimate. Cornelius Krieghoff’s Bilking the Toll Gate, 1869, also impressed, reaching C$192,000 ($140,351 USD) against an upper estimate of C$120,000.

In total, the spring results across the Heffel and Cowley Abbott sales set a confident tone for the fall season, where the durability of a Canada’s art market in any increasingly deglobalizing world will again be put to the test.

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