The Canadian auction house Heffel was recently presented with a seemingly forgotten painting by Emily Carr (1871-1945) that was discovered at a barn sale in the Hamptons several months ago by a New York-based dealer who thought it might be special. The price was right, too.
The dealer Allen Treibitz plunked down a mere $50 for the signed 41cm by 33cm piece, dated 1912 and titled Masset, QCI, then reached out to Heffel with details of his find. His instincts proved to be correct, and the painting was deemed an authentic work by Carr, one of Canada’s early art stars. After a good cleaning, it will goes on the auction block in Toronto on 20 November, when it will carry an estimate of C$100,000 to C$200,000 ($74,000-$148,000).
“Cinderella stories like Allen’s Emily Carr remind people that important treasures are still out there, waiting to be found,” David Heffel, the auction house’s president, tells The Art Newspaper. “It’s rare to come across an artwork that has been hidden away for so long and it’s one of the reasons why our business is so joyful—it’s not just about the value of the piece, but the thrill of unveiling history and sharing that wonder with the world.”
The painting depicts an Indigenous memorial post topped by a carved grizzly bear in the village of Masset, which is on British Columbia’s Haida Gwaii archipelago (formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands). Carr would paint it again some years later. It is thought to have been gifted to Carr’s friend Nell Cozier and her husband in the 1930s. Originally from Carr’s longtime home of Victoria, British Columbia, they had moved to the Hamptons for work on a large estate.
The piece is inscribed Miss Carr/chez R. Charbo 96 Bvld Montparnasse on the back, a likely reference to Carr’s time spent studying in Paris around 1910-11.
The auction record for a work by Carr, set by The Crazy Stair (around 1928-30) at a Heffel sale in 2013, is C$3.39m (including fees), or around $3.2m.
