Joyner's First Sale Resounding Success

Fine Art and Auction Review, December 1985 / January 1986

JOYNER'S FIRST SALE UNQUALIFIED SUCCESS

Emily Carr
The Welcome Man

Toronto - The historic St. Lawrence Hall on King Street in Toronto was an appropriate setting for the inaugural preview and auction sale of Canadian art by Joyner Fine Art Inc., November 26th and 27th. It was standing room only on both evenings as dealers and collectors from across the country witnessed possibly the most successful first sale of any auction house in Canada when the final hammer fell on a gross sale total of approximately $1,600,000.

Set against a delightful late 19th century decor, with gas chandeliers burning and bidders overflowing into the balconies, the two session sale saw a number of very strong prices and, despite a buy-in figure of around 30%, endorsed the general opinion that the Canadian art market is on the way back and looking extremely healthy indeed.

Geoffrey Joyner, who left Sotheby's, Canada, last May after 17 years with the company, during which period he was greatly responsible for putting Canadian art on the map, said that he was personally very satisfied with his first sale and the strong support he received from all quarters of the industry.

"The sale went very well indeed," Joyner reports, "and I am personally very pleased and satisfied with the result. To be, as I am now, a small businessman, and gross $1.6 million on my first venture has to be considered a satisfactory start to my ‘new’ career!"

Joyner said he was delighted with the turn-out from the dealers across the country who were extremely active bidders at both sessions, however, he says that the majority of the pieces sold went to new, first time private buyers.

Joyner's gross sale figure of $1.6 million was particularly significant when compared with the recent sale held by his former employers who grossed $1.5 million in their Canadian art session. However, it should be pointed out that the Sotheby total was realised with less than half the number of lots sold by Joyner. With two high-performing and specialized salerooms for Canadian art, the market place should prove very interesting indeed next year when the spring sales come around in May.

Some of the highlights of the Joyner sale included a world auction record for a work by Lionel Lemoine Fitzgerald, when his "Country Road" oil on canvas sold for $28,000. Top price on the sale was a magnificent oil painting by Emily Carr, "The Welcome Man" which sold for $40,000. Another Emily Carr, "Heart of the Forest", oil on paper was not far behind with a bid of $36,000. A delightful Morrice oil on panel, "Venetian Canal Scene at Night" went for $18,000, an oil on canvas, "Habitants on a Sleigh" by Cornelius Krieghoff fetched $38,000, while a Jean-Paul Lemieux canvas, "La Chevauche" reached its low estimate at $30,000.

"Sunday Morning, St. Fabien" oil on panel by A.Y. Jackson sold at the high end of its estimate for $14,000, a rather standard F.S. Coburn, "Hauling Logs" did well at $18,000, the same price paid for "Lone Buffalo at Sunset", an oil on canvas by Frederick Verner.

A small panel by Clarence Gagnon did exceptionally well when it doubled its low estimate, selling for $24,000. A superb E.J. Hughes canvas, "Breaker Beach near Bamfield, B.C." sold for $20,000 while the catalogue cover piece, "Jack Fish Bay from the Slate Islands, Lake Superior", oil on board by Lawren Harris recorded one of the few disappointments of the sale when it sold for just $26,000. Needless to say it was not a disappointment to the purchaser!

For W.J. Phillip fans, "Indian Days, Banff" a coloured woodcut made $2,200 while for 19th century collectors, an interesting work in coloured chalks by Frederick Lock, "Winter at Niagara" signed and dated ‘Jan. 1856’ found a buyer above the high estimate at $3,400.