Sound Bites!

• Heffel and Joyner Waddington's both had successful auctions this past week....some amazing prices have the auction community buzzing in the city......
  
• Bonhams (www.bonhams.com )have their sale on Monday (Nov. 30th) and......... Sotheby's(www.sothebys.com) go Thursday (Dec. 3rd), I plan on attending both.....
• My friend Lori-Ann, opens an exhibition Thursday night (Dec. 3rd)...www.loriannbellissimo.com
• Just received an e-blast from Clark&Faria that Wallpaper* Magazine lists Douglas Coupland's art as #2 on Canada's Fab 40 list.......www.monteclarkgallery.com
• Last Thursday (Nov. 26th) for The Oshawa Hospital Foundation, I conducted A Night to Swirl, an auction of fine wines....it was a great success, with all lots selling well over the values........
  

PechaKucha

What an interesting evening last night... I was invited by the owner of Caviar20 to the Spoke Club on King West .......

 
to a "PechaKuchaNight"....a series of presenters get 20 slides and  20 seconds on each slide to discuss, projects, current work, inspirations, objects etc.  Last night a wide range of topics were presented from the Barcelona chair, traffic cones of the world, interior design and photography.....the organizers were expecting  around 30....which was quickly doubled and then some as the evening got underway.....PechaKucha was devised in Tokyo in 2003 as a networking social meeting place for people in the cultural industries....as I witnessed last night it is more a celebration of  ideas, people and culture........I'm looking forward to the next one....

PREVIEWS

Over the weekend I was at both the Heffel and Joyner Waddington's previews for their upcoming sales of Canadian Art...the sales kick off tonight.....previews are a very important part of the auction process, they are where the majority of decisions are made about what will be bid on....catalogues can misleading with regards to colour and size, they are a point of reference...the work needs to be seen in person, its condition examined as well as its reverse viewed: this is where all the information is, gallery labels, exhibition history and previous owner information.....

Jeanne-Claude

Today I found out that Jeanne-Claude, Christo's partner in life and work passed away at the age of 74....I had the chance to spend some time with her and Christo a number of years ago....she was simply fabulous.....a group of us were invited to spend the afternoon at Christo's  studio in New York....we were greeted by her and spent a wonderful couple of hours talking with her, she answered all the questions we asked and made us feel so welcome before Christo came down from the third floor of the studio....it is amazing when you meet someone that is so passionate about what they do..... and you could see the love Christo had for her........

The Lucky Season, Benjamin Oakley @ LE

I stopped by LE Gallery  on Dundas Street West on Friday before meeting friends for lunch...Benjamin Oakley is showing some fantastic photographs in the front gallery: landscapes, horseshoes, skulls and tattooed webs....it is a wonderful show and very refreshing to see a photographer experimenting with production techniques....le-gallery.ca

Art with Heart results

Congrats to everyone involved with Art with Heart this year, the total hammer was....$411,000...... 36% over the total presale value.....well done.....

12 x 15

Panels all of the same size, potentially painted within five years of each other...works of this size have such an intimacy about them....... at Joyner Waddington's as well as  part of Heffel's offering for the fall season, three panels by Lawren Stewart Harris are primed to be highlights............. Joyner Waddington's are offering a 12 x 15 panel, entitled Mountain, Consolation Lake, carrying a reasonable presale estimate of $400,000/500,000......... Heffel are offering two 12 x 15 panels, Iceberg, carrying an aggressive presale estimate of $1.2/1.6 million and The Old Stump, Lake Superior, carrying a hefty presale estimate of $2/2.5 million......three works buy one of the most popular group members that could potentially sell for well over $3.5 million....the two panels at Heffel are from the Band estate and the one  at Joyner Waddington's was passed through the family of the artist, to the present owner....can the Canadian Art market support these estimates? and if so I wonder who will win the Harris pool??? and shatter a record?!?

Sound Bites

• Art with Heart was such a great success, everyone I've spoken with post-sale are feeling fantastic and very positive................

• Sotheby's catalogue is on line for their sale on Dec. 3rd-looks good..........www.sothebys.com

• The new Toronto based auction house Heinze&Wilkins have a sale coming up in their new galleries on November 17th and 18th........ www.heinzewilkens.com

• Canadian Business Magazine is writing an article on auctions and the events of the summer..........

• The Babes for Baycrest auction is happening this coming Tuesday at Ultra on Queen Street West.............www.womenofbaycrest.com
  

Art with Heart "A white glove sale"

There was spirited savvy bidding last night at Art with Heart, with one lot passing during the auction, but that was brought back at the end and quickly sold.....it was amazing as an auctioneer to watch hands fly into the air and bid sometimes 4 or 5 times over the estimated value....with a tightly curated auction, such an important cause and such a slick clean well executed evening, no wonder it was standing room only.... as I handed over the gavel at the end of my session, it brought a smile to my face!!!!!

Dean Drever @

There is a wonderful exhibition entitled Bear Hunt at the Toronto Sculpture Garden by the very talented artist Dean Drever.....the acidic-orange, the life size scale and the juxtaposition in this very urban setting, all create a wonderful experience for the viewer. www.torontosculpturegarden.com

!!!!!A BUZZ IN THE AIR!!!!!!

Art with Heart is just 2 days away, and attending the reception at Edward Day Gallery on Thursday night has fed the excitement surrounding this event....the art was being talked about, looked at and enjoyed....this is the best collection to be assembled for the auction, 84 lots from the best in Canadian Art....I'm looking forwarded to auctioning some of this fabulous work....you can view the catalogue at www.artwithheart.ca

A GESAMTKUNSTWERK @ The Canadian Opera Company

"A gesamtkunstwerk  (often translated as universal artwork, synthesis of the arts, comprehensive artwork, all-embracing art form, total work of art, or total artwork): is a work of art that uses all art forms or strives to do so."

...I'm paraphrasing here from Wikipedia............................

On Saturday night I witnessed this term first hand...I was at the performance of Robert Lepage's new opera The Nightingale and Other Short Fables....a smart, spectacular staging, it simply blew my mind...

Lepage brought every art from together to create a wonderful sensory experience...you felt you were a witness to something very special-check out the COC's website at:

www.coc.ca

BABES FOR BAYCREST

https://www.womenofbaycrest.com/babes.php

Here is the link to an event I will be the auctioneer for on November 10th....check it out!!!!

GREG GIRARD @ Clark and Faria

HALF THE SURFACE OF THE WORLD on til the 15th of November....is the latest show at Clark and Faria for Greg Girard....and it is fantastic.........

Walking in the the front gallery you realize something is different about these photos...I was told by Daniel they are early works,  some taken when the artist was as young as 18!!!......The 2 works that stood out for me were Sailors Home, Vancouver, 1973 and Americana II, Pusan, Korea, 1976, the colours and settings of these compositions show the beginning of what would be come the artists signature style, as you move into the main gallery where more recent works are hung...... these are mostly of air force bases in Japan, I really liked Off-Base, View #2, Yokohama, Japan, 2009.... the vibrancy of these works is unbelievable, I love where he situates the viewer and the cropping of the composition.....

"I still prefer the cake....."

I was back at Lennox Contemporary on Friday, to see the Flash forward show before it comes down on the 25th.....my friend and I were the only ones in the gallery, which gave us the opportunity to really look at the work....as I said before the opening was packed...There are some very talented aritsts in this show, but why have the majority of  artists/photographers decided to mount their works on foamcore??? is it a cost issue???...as can be seen it is a very unstable mount, one drop or bang and there goes a corner!

The Joshua Jensen-Nagle interior is beautiful....but it is the artist featured in the promotional material for the show,  American photographer Amy Stevens that in my mind sticks out. Visiting her website, she is working on series based around confections. The photo in the show is of an artistically iced yellow cake on a yellow decorative backdrop; a wonderful interplay of patterns and textures create a push and pull between the foreground and background.

On our way out of the exhibition, my friend was beside me at the top of the stairs....we both looked to our right, to the spot where Ms. Stevens work is installed......after a pregnant pause my friend exclaimed......"I still prefer the cake............."

Heffel....leading the way?

Looking through Heffel's upcoming offering this fall auction season, the collection from Helen E. Band stands out!!!!!!!!works from the cream of the Group and a Henry Moore!!!!!!!.....a double session on Nov. 26th, all eyes will be on this auction to see if the market has recovered enough in Toronto to support a high end art sale.  We still haven't seen anything from Sotheby's..... everyone is waiting to see if they can recover from the events of the summer!

Flash Forward 2009

I was at the Flash Forward opening at Lennox Contemporary on Ossington on Thurs. night....on show is a fantastic exhibition of photographs from the Magenta Foundations photo competition...................

The gallery was packed with people, it definitely calls for a second trip:

"TO BE CONTINUED"

ART WITH HEART CATALOGUE NOW ONLINE

check out the fab work......

http://www.artwithheart.ca/

Trust Accounting

I was sitting at my local Starbucks on Saturday morning reading through the Globe and Mail, starting my caffeine regiment for Nuit Blanche....In the main section I saw the ad for Bonhams, The Canadian Sale, coming up on Nov. 30th, featured was, Summer Landscape, Knowlton, Quebec by Henreitta Mabel May, carrying a presale estimate of $100,000-150,000....however what caught my attention was a black band with white lettering at the bottom: Bonhams features Trust Accounting: a safe haven for client funds. After what occurred in the Toronto auction world at the end of the summer, placing this line prominently in the ad was a very smart move, as confidence in selling at auction has taken a beating!!!!!!......

Starbucks, waiting in line and Skry-Pod

 What a wonderful night!!!!!......Nuit Blanche 2009 was amazing, the buzz, the vibe..... the streets were filled with people all to look at contemporary art!!!!! Jeff Koons' Rabbit Balloon @ the Eaton Centre was pretty cool as well as was Imminent Departure by Heather Nicol @ Union Station....but my favourite work was the performance/multimedia installation, Skry-Pod  by FASTWURMS@ The Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel...it was definitely worth the 2 hour wait.....

My Nuit Blanche 2009

Here is my top ten list of things to do and see @ Nuit Blanche 2009:

10. Anitra Hamilton, AUDIO PARADE:FIELD RECORDING #4 @ Old City Hall

9. Heather Nicol, IMMINENT DEPARTURE@ Union Station

8. Don't loose my friends

7. Dan Mihalttianu, VODKA POOL @ Commerce Court

6. Visit Starbucks

5. Bill Viola, THE REFLECTING POOL & ANCIENT OF DAYS @ Canadian Tire

4. Erwin Redl, SPEED SHIFT TORONTO @ Toronto Eaton Centre, Underground Pathway

3. Tom Dean, FIRE AND SAUSAGE:SMALL MERCIES @ Liberty St. and Hanna Ave.

2. Jeff Koons, RABBIT BALLOON @ Toronto Eaton Centre

1. Stay Awake

Contemporary Art being produced within Victorian Architecture

Over the past 4 days I've been in The Gladstone Hotel twice....my friend Lori-Ann, a very talented painter has taken a studio there....walking through on Friday, looking at the different studio spaces you felt it really is an organism of creativity in Toronto, not only for artists, we were told that a number of writers use the space as well......and then yesterday myself and two friends were at a studio around the corner from the Gladstone meeting with a contemporary glass artist.... standing across the road looking up at the building you realize there is a wonderful juxtaposition of the old and the new occurring at The Gladstone......

circa 1950

The biggest contemporary art fundraiser in Toronto

Just over a month away Art with Heart is bigger and better than ever.....the works that have been selected by the curatorial committee this year are simply outstanding.  With over 80 lots in the auction by the superstars of Canadian contemporary art, this event is the place to be seen and the place to buy....however the reason for this event must never be forgotten, we all come together on this evening at The Carlu to raise money for Casey House so they can continue the fantastic work they do.......the catalogue will be online soon----check it out at www.artwithheart.ca

115 King Street West

One of my favourite places on King Street West is the Toronto Sculpture Garden.....this art oasis of calm in the huslte and bustle of Toronto recently had a work by the artist collective Instant Coffee, entitled Disco Fallout Shelter (DFS)....they've had some amazing work by very talented artists such as James Carl, Luis Jacob and Marmon and Borins to name a few....above is a picture I took as I walked through this morning...hopefully there will be something there soon!!!!!

Ritchies Auctioneers

I think my friends paddle number was an omen???

A very sad, sad, feeling as I walk into the auction rooms tonight at Ritchies, not only because of how it all ended for us....but because: there was no buzz, no smiles, no laughter, they didn't even laugh when the auctioneer attempted a joke about payment at the beginning of the sale....it really was like the visitation for a funeral. Even the baillifs auction staff didn't look happy, well then again, I wouldn't be either sitting behind a large black laquered dining table being used for the absentee desk....

There were the usual faces in the audience bidding away but again it was very somber, even my friend asked "is the usual feeling at an auction?"

These galleries use to be a hum of activity and so many exciting sales took place at Ritchies, the staff and the clients would feed off of the vibe...you felt like you were part of the event...that history was being made...that we were all part of something special...

Now....I'm standing looking into the coffin ready to close the lid.

The Auction Season

The following are my thoughts on the current art market (as a former auction house insider)....it was to be part of an article that was going to be published in Magenta's new online magazine,  publication of the article was put on hold til the end of the year do to the highly publicized events in August and September surrounding Ritchies.....it comprised various opinions on the economic downturn of the art market....thought it would be fitting as the auction season gets under way.......

From my point of view the recent economic downturn has had an interesting affect on the auction market, as can be seen by savvy buyers being more selective when raising their paddles. Buyers are no longer buying work by unknown artists, they want blue chip Canadian artists such as Jean-Paul Riopelle, Emily Carr, Lawren Harris and Frederick Varley to name a few.  The new mantra is “Good quality art sells and sells well” this can be defined by several key factors:

• Is the work fresh to the market? Has work been shopped around among dealers or offered at auction before? Has it remained in the same collection for a number of years?

• What is the condition? Has there been any restorations, in-painting or alterations to the canvas? Is it in the same condition as it left the artists studio?

• Is it characteristic of the artist’s style? Does the work fall nicely into the artist’s oeuvre? Can be placed within the artist’s history?

• What is it Provenance? When was it created? How did it come into possession of the seller? Has it been documented in a catalogue raisonne?

These are the main criteria that buyers were asking me before an auction. Gone are the days of buying on a whim or because they liked it. The economic uncertainty of the last year has caused people to look auctions as the new stock market. 

Nelson French

Here is an early work from Nelson French, a Toronto based photographer.... we've worked on many successful charity auctions together and are both sitting on the board of a not-for-profit arts organization in Toronto...in this photo, he has captured the fleeting light in these fantastic reflections and the obscure angle of the shot, there are obvious references to Eisenstadt and Kertesz the gods of 20th Century photography:  they are any people, in any city......We are getting ready for a show and his work will be one of many features on my new website, as I form a consulting business on all aspects of the primary and secondary art markets in Toronto;  it is currently being built....I will have it up soon, as someone whispered in my ear recently- you only launch once!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Art Crawl

What a fab weekend on Queen Street....Park It Over Your Sofa was fun, wish we raised some more money for Gallery 1313, however we are getting the gallery profile out there to new art buyers....how do you let people know that buying art at a charity auction is amazing 1. its the warm and fuzzy feeling as you help an organization 2. you are getting an original work of art at an affordable price!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my friend bought 3 pieces for just under $300...
I went back a second day and what a wonderful buzz, it felt you where at happening event....I really preferred this over the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair, which was a disappointment on the "art" side this year, their focus seems to be moving toward craft(not that there is anything wrong with that).....

Park It Over Your Sofa

Great auction coming up this Saturday as part of the Queen West Art Crawl....check it out @ Gallery 1313, on Queen Street West..........there is always a great buzz of anticipation and fear when ever a charity auction is put together: has the right work been selected? will it sell? the hardest thing for the auctioneer is when the artist is in the audience, and they see the work sell for less or not sell at all. For the up and coming collector these sorts of auctions are a great place to catch the auction fever and to buy an original work of art, the catalog is simply fantastic and the price points are very affordable...I will let you know how it goes!!!!!!!!!!

Select Sale

So, I went to collect my mail this afternoon and what do I find but a Ritchies envelope addressed to me with a flyer in it for Ritchies Auctioneers upcoming Select Sale....THEY ACTUALLY HAD THE GALL TO SEND THIS TO A FORMER EMPLOYEE!!!who was laid off with the rest of the staff>----
They are having a preview and apparently there will be a catalogue posted on-line, with all lots illustrated??? I wonder who the photographer will be??? and who is going to design this on-line catalogue??? who are the specialists cataloguing this sale???....This black and white flyer is very,very basic and again there's a promise of payment within 7 days of collection of monies from the successful bidder. It it so unfortunate that is has come to this........what a mess.

An upcoming sale?

I've just been looking through google to see if there have been any new articles regarding Ritchies auctioneers and this upcoming sale on September 22nd and 23rd, the last one I found was from the 3rd of September...this is going to be a feeding frenzy as people will want to see the body and pick at the carcass....
Recently I visited the website, it still states that a schedule of upcoming sales will be posted as well there remains the bios of staff members that are obviously know longer working there!!!!!
I think we are all curious as to how this sale will look? will there be a catalogue? who will conduct it? will there be phone/absentee bidding?and what about a preview?????

Le, Katie Pretti and a mouse

What an amazing buzz last night @ Le Gallery....Katie Pretti opened her latest show and it is amazing, she is so talented, the majority of the show is already sold out....my mantra has always been quality art"sells and sells well"!!!!after doing the schmooze (kiss, kiss, hug, hug!!!!!!!) at the opening we headed out to dinner, myself and three friends, of course when you haven't seen people in a while there is always a lot to catch up on!!!!! after walking "forever"and my friends change of footwear to flip-flops-we finally found food....wonderful dinner, great conversation etc.....until a little mouse appeared near my friends head on the patio............tables moved, wine glasses broke, red wine was everywhere!!!!!thank god nothing got on my blazer.....check please.

A place to be seen??????

Working at Ritchies Auctioneers for the last nine years was an education in art, people and personalities.  And I believe that this carries over to the art world in Toronto as a whole.  Art openings and auction previews are a place to be seen....do people actually look at the art or objects in an exhibition or sale?????  Don't get me wrong I do go to these events, I was at the Mark Lewis opening at Clark & Faria tonight.  For me it is networking and meeting people, which has become a priority as I've decided to go out on my own and start consulting.  I want  to see the artwork and educate myself about the artist....I will go back to the gallery a number of times over the course of the exhibition to view the work.  Each time I view a show I see something new; the opening or preview is the beginning of the process, art is meant to be looked at. This is especially important if you are a serious buyer.......