Western Canada's art magazine since 2002
7 May 2019 Vol 4 No 10 ISSN 2561-3316 © 2019
From the Editor
Portia Priegert
Every so often I get calls from people looking for a lucky break.
No, not artists seeking coverage. These are ordinary Joes (so far, no Janes) who have found a painting:
- In their grandmother's attic
- At a garage sale
- In a second-hand store
- All of the above
If you chose No. 4, please move to the front of the class. And bonus points if you can guess the rest.
Um, they want to know if it's valuable and would I appraise it?
Bravo!
I explain gently that Galleries West is an art magazine and they should take the work to a gallery.
I suspect art dealers get many such feelers. When I worked at an artist-run centre, I once watched a colleague tell a guy his painting was worth $14.95. He had paid $20. Ouch!
But the fantasy lives on – just as it does with the millions who buy lottery tickets week after week. And, of course, at the core of much magical thinking is a kernel of truth. So gallerists will look at your finds, because, well, someone eventually buys the winning ticket.
Last year, for instance, an Edmonton woman sold a Tom Thomson work, Sketch for Algonquin Park, at auction in Toronto for $481,250. It had come from her father and languished in her basement for years.
And a recent Globe and Mail story recaps the tale of some paintings that Louis Herthum, who stars in the HBO series Westworld, found years ago in a Louisiana antique shop.
He bought the works, which depict life in Minnesota logging camps and are signed LSH, for $1,750. He did some research, and then contacted the Uno Langmann, a Vancouver art dealer, who confirmed the paintings were by Lawren Harris.
They were sold in 1994 to the Vancouver Art Gallery for $75,000. Today, Langmann says they might fetch upwards of $500,000.
But enough daydreaming.
In this issue, we have stories about new work by Amalie Atkins, Julie Beugin and Steve Mennie. We also have coverage of group shows in Vancouver, Edmonton and Winnipeg. Looking ahead, we're awaiting a story about the Canadian pavilion at the Venice Biennale, as well as reports on shows by Ryan Sluggett, Omer Arbel and Laara Cassells.
In the meantime, I may check out the art at the secondhand store across the street. I’ve never discovered anything valuable. But if you have, please share the story in our comment section below. Let's keep the dream alive!
Until next time,
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: Stacey Abramson, Agnieszka Matjeko, Sandee Moore, Lissa Robinson, John Thomson