Vancouver art house to auction off Matisse worth at least $3.8 million

A Vancouver art auction house is touring a Henri Matisse painting across Canada, which is expected to fetch at least $3.8 million at auction at the end of May.

Heffel Fine Art Auction House hopes interest around the piece, something rarely sold in Canada, will boost Canadian art available through the same sale.

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"Canadian art really is undervalued internationally, and our star artists with their star pieces can stand on their own with the top artists in the world," said David Heffel, president of the company started by his art-loving father in the late 1970s.

Its latest auction has dozens of pieces of art from Canadian stars such as Group of Seven painters like Lawren Harris, along with Emily Carr, Jack Bush and Jean Paul Riopelle, to name a few.

But Heffel, 56, is using the Matisse as the centrepiece, saying it's pre-auction evaluation of $3.8 to $5.8 million is the highest ever for a painting at auction in Canada.

"It's pretty special," said Heffel as he held the painting and turned it over to show the back of the canvas stretched on its original frame.

The piece, called Femme assise sur un balcon, was painted in January 1919, while Matisse was living in Nice. It was passed down to his son and then grandson before it was sold outside the family.

France's Henri Matisse is credited with helping to revolutionize painting in the 19th and 20th century with his use of colour and form.

"We've never held a Matisse," said Heffel as he showed off the piece Friday at his gallery. 

A new Canadian auction record?

In November 2016, Heffel auctioned a Lawren Harris painting called Mountain Forms for $11.21 million. It's pre-sale evaluation was $3.6 million.

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Heffel's main gallery in Vancouver is open free to the public Saturday to Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT to view 80 of the works in the auction.

Thirty of the works were already shown in Calgary.

Heffel will also hold viewings in Montreal before landing in Toronto for a final viewing and the auction, which will be streamed online May 29.

To participate in the auction bidders must either be in Toronto or register to bid over the telephone.