Andy Warhol portrait of Wayne Gretzky, Paul Kane oil painting available at Windsor, Ont., art gallery

Windsor, Ont.'s art gallery will say goodbye to two big-ticket pieces of art from its collection later this month, but says their sale will establish a new fund to purchase more art with local connections.

Cowley Abbott, a Toronto-based art auction house, will put two Art Windsor-Essex (AWE) pieces on the block in late May: A Paul Kane oil painting, Party of Indians in Two Canoes on Mountain Lake, dated from the 1840s, and an Andy Warhol print of Wayne Gretzky. 

"We're in this whole process of thinking about what's in our collection, what makes sense to hold and what might make sense to release at this moment in time," said Jennifer Matotek, executive director of AWE.

She said the gallery recently undertook a review of the pieces in its collection to identify works to deaccession — museum-speak for sell or remove from the gallery's collection.

The Warhol print and the Kane oil painting are two of about 100 pieces the gallery has identified to deaccession. 

"Art galleries, public art galleries that hold collections in the public trust for people, there's costs associated with it, there's resources associated with it," she said. 

"[It] doesn't take away from their excellence, but just you know, is it something that makes sense for us to continue having in our collection?"

The gallery will hold a show in April of the works it plans to deaccession. The pieces were chosen by AWE's curatorial and executive teams, with their board and external affairs committee. Matotek said the Warhol print was actually a duplicate within AWE's collection. 

Paul Kane art collected across Canada, United States

Rob Cowley is a Canadian art specialist and president of Cowley Abbott, the firm handling the auction. 

He said the pieces have generated global interest. While their experts have estimated the value of both pieces, he said they could very well "exceed expectations" at auction. 

"For collectors, this is a fantastic opportunity to own two very different, but two highly celebrated works of art by quite renowned artists." 

Cowley said the Kane painting could sell for between $600,000 and $800,000, while the Warhol print — one of about 300 in existence — could go for between $15,000 and $30,000. 

Kane is a 19th-century Canadian painter and Party of Indians in Two Canoes on Mountain Lake is more than 180 years old. His work is featured in the National Gallery of Canada and Royal Ontario Museum. 

Some of Kane's works have sold for more than $1 million, including one Kane canvas that Cowley Abbott auctioned in 2022. There's a particularly large collection of his work in Texas. 

"We have collectors for his work not only across Canada, but also into the United States," Cowley said. "There are collections of Paul Kane's work in the United States which can be a rarity for Canadian artists."

With the sale at auction, Matotek said, the gallery will be able to create a fund for the purchase of new art that meets their mandate of Canadian historical, Indigenous and contemporary pieces that have ties to the Windsor-Essex region.

"It will find a home where it will really be treasured and then it opens up the opportunity for us to start a dedicated fund to purchase contemporary art with, which is sometimes really difficult," she said. 

As for the Warhol piece, Cowley said it's no surprise there is global interest in the work given Warhol's stature as "arguably the best known contemporary artist in the world and … the grandfather of pop art."

Deaccessioning art 'healthy' for art galleries, museums

Cowley said the firm is happy to be part of the auction and will donate its commission fees back to the AWE endowment fund for the sale of the pieces. 

More broadly, Cowley said, deaccessioning has become more common for art galleries as they focus on their specific mandates and areas of expertise. 

"It is quite a healthy process as well to continue, not only the growth, but also the care for the collection in these museums," he said. 

"It can make sense, and especially if it means moving into other areas and also having a fund to acquire work that very much matches the current mandate."

The auction will be held on May 30 in Toronto, with previews in Toronto and Winnipeg earlier in May. A selection of AWE's deaccessioned works will be on display from April 3 to May 26. 

"Whether it's our collection, whether it's our exhibitions, whether it's our programs, every step we take towards becoming a gallery for the 21st century, I'm excited about," Matotek said.