Masterpieces on local display before national live auction

Collection includes work by Banting and painting found in thrift shop

Calgarians will have a chance to view some masterpieces up close this weekend before they go to auction.

Paintings by Lawren Harris, Sybil Andrews, Alex Colville, Emily Carr and Jack Bush are among the pieces in town at Heffel Gallery as part of a preview tour for a live auction in Toronto on Nov. 21.

The auction also includes a piece by Frederick Banting, best known as the man who discovered insulin.

Banting, who was friends with Group of Seven painter A.Y. Jackson, was also a great painter.

“We’ve sold a number of Bantings over the years,” said Heffel Fine Art Auction House vice-president Robert Heffel.

“This is the first Banting we’ve seen of his laboratory, where of course he invented insulin.”

The painting was finished in 1925, two years after he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1923.

Banting had told friends that he planned to paint full time later in his life. He never got a chance as he enlisted in the Second World War and died in a plane crash while en route to a mission in the U.K. at the age of 49.

Also on display in Calgary will be a Second World War-era painting by Andrews titled Boats at Dock that was discovered at a Vancouver Island thrift shop and bought by the consignor for $69.95 “plus they got a 30 per cent senior’s discount,” Heffel said. Its estimated value is $20,000 to $30,000.

“The consignor did know who Sybil Andrews was, but even if you didn’t, when you see the painting it’s so obvious it’s a very good painting,” said Heffel.

“It’s the dream scenario,” he continued.

It does happen, but it doesn’t happen that often. I think you’ve got to go to a lot of garage sales and thrift shops to get that one needle in a haystack.

“It’s a needle in the haystack scenario. It does happen, but it doesn’t happen that often. But it does happen. I think you’ve got to go to a lot of garage sales and thrift shops to get that one needle in a haystack.”

The preview, free and open to the public, runs Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Heffel Gallery, 888 4th Ave. S.W.

JIM WELLS Jared Tiller from Heffel Fine Art Auction House with a piece of art by internationally renowned Canadian artist, Alex Colville — Two Boys Playing on Friday.

The Lab was painted by Canadian Frederick Banting, the man who discovered insulin. The work was finished in 1925, two years after he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.