Family selling self-portrait by one of Canada’s ‘most brilliant’ artists
Provenance means a lot in the art world. If a painting was once in a famous collection, it can push the price up substantially.
Normally the best source for a Paul Peel painting would be one of the bluebloods who used to own his work, such as Sam McLaughlin, the founder of General Motors Canada, or Queen Alexandra, the wife of King Edward VII.
But a painting for sale at the May 24 Heffel auction of fine Canadian art may have the ultimate Paul Peel provenance — it’s being sold by Paul Peel III.
The self-portrait was painted in 1882, when Peel was 21. Peel had recently moved to Paris to study art, and seems to have become a bit of a Bohemian dandy — he sports a French-style moustache that twirls at the ends.
The artist died of the flu on Oct. 3, 1892, when he was 31. In spite of his youth, he was one of Canada’s most famous artists at the time of his death.
“He was the most brilliant artist Canada has produced,” an 1892 obituary in the Vancouver World said. “In Paris, where the painters of all countries gather to compete and compare, (he) had won trophies and given promise of one day placing his name high up among the wonderful few.”
Paul Peel the artist was known for his exquisitely painted scenes of children. His most famous work, After The Bath, shows two naked children (probably his own) warming themselves by the fireplace.
It won a third-class medal at the Salon of Paris in 1891, and was sold to the Hungarian government for the country’s national gallery. McLaughlin purchased it at some point and installed it above the fireplace in his mansion in Oshawa, Ont.
It is now owned by the Art Gallery of Ontario, and has been widely reproduced as a print.
Peel probably gave the self-portrait to his brother Frederick on a trip back to Canada. Frederick decided to name his son Paul in his brother’s memory, and the name has been passed down the generations. Paul Peel III is a 75-year-old Vancouver psychologist. His son is named Christopher R. Paul Peel IV.
Frederick took the self-portrait with him when he moved to Edmonton, where he operated a clock and watch shop. The painting came farther west after Paul Peel III moved to Vancouver.
After conferring with his family, Peel III has decided to sell the painting, which has a pre-auction estimate of $40,000 to $60,000.
“It’s one of those difficult decisions,” Peel said. “I want to help my kids out — my kids are in their 30s and need some support for their businesses.”
Growing up in Alberta, Peel III really didn’t appreciate how famous his great-uncle was back east until he took a trip to Toronto in 1972.
“I went to the Art Gallery of Ontario,” he said.
“I went up to the receptionist, (who) was a young lady. I said I’d like to speak to the curator, and she said, ‘May I tell him who’s here?’ I said, ‘I’m Paul Peel.’
“She gets on the phone and she’s stuttering: ‘Th-th-th-there’s a g-ggentleman by the name of p-p-pPaul Peel that would like to speak to you.’ She was visibly nervous or excited.
“I went and spoke to the curator, and on the way back out, the young lady said, ‘Do you have any spare time? There’s somebody who would really like to talk to you.’
“It was Mrs. John Labatt (of the Labatt Brewing family). So I drove to London to speak to Mrs. Labatt and she had a Paul Peel hanging on her wall. She served me tea.”
After his death, most of Paul Peel’s family wound up in California, including his daughter Marguerite, sister Daisy and niece Mary.
“(Marguerite) was in Laguna Beach,” Peel III said.
“She had several of his paintings there — the one I remember was (The Discovery of ) Moses. That was absolutely amazing.”
Most Peel paintings owned by the family have been sold over the years — The Discovery of Moses, for example, is now owned by the National Gallery in Ottawa.
Peel III thinks it would be nice if the self-portrait went to an art gallery or museum.
“I’m the only one that’s been seeing it, along with a couple of my friends,” he said. “More people can see this painting if it goes to a museum.”
It’s one of those difficult decisions … I want to help my kids out — my kids are in their 30s and need some support for their businesses.