2024 December | Hodgins Art Auctions

Notes:

signed lower right; signed, titled and dated on the stretcher verso

Provenance: Gainsborough Galleries, Calgary AB

Notes:

signed and dated lower left; titled on the stretcher verso

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signed and dated lower right; signed, titled and dated verso; note verso details the Kananaskis hiking trip that inspired the image

Provenance: David Edwards Gallery, Bragg Creek AB (label verso)

Notes:

signed and dated lower right; signed and titled verso

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signed and dated lower left; titled on the artist’s plaque

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signed in the cast

Note: Known worldwide as “The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth”, the Calgary Stampede has been a trademark of Calgary since 1912. The production of commemorative numismatic items for the Calgary Stampede dates back to at least 1925, but Trade Dollars, valid as legal tender in Calgary during the Stampede, were first produced in 1963. This bas-relief bronze shows the reverse design of the first of numerous Charlie Beil designed trade dollars.

Notes:

signed in the cast; inscribed “5/14 © HAIMILA 1977”

Note: The original Medusa cement bas-relief of this work was modeled ca 1931 for Tex Woods (a packer and guide in Banff) for the gable of a Spray Avenue house. It was taken off the house in 1977 by Ray Haimila. He had been granted permission by Beil to cast fourteen bronzes and one aluminum work on the condition that he present the original master cast to the Peter and Catherine Whyte Foundation. Haimila presented one bronze to the Senior Citizen’s Home in Canmore and sold the others.

Notes:

signed lower left; signed, titled and dated verso

Notes:

signed, titled, dated and editioned in pencil

Provenance: Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto ON (label verso)

Notes:

signed lower right; titled on the stretcher and on the artist’s labels verso (F147)

Provenance: Corporate Collection of Dow Chemical Canada Inc. (Calgary AB), sold by Hodgins Art Auctions in a special sale for Fortis Alberta/Dow Chemical on January 30, 2005

Toronto-based artist Alan Collier spent his career travelling extensively across Canada, driven by a passion to capture the diverse and powerful beauty of the Canadian landscape. As an educator and commercial artist, Collier spent summer months exploring the country with his family, documenting his journeys through paintings and sketches. Following his retirement from teaching, Collier dedicated himself to painting full-time, and embarking on multiple Arctic expeditions. These adventures began in 1972, continued in 1978 aboard Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers, and culminated in 1984 and 1985 with the Polar Continental Shelf Project.

This painting, depicting the shore of Devon Island in Baffin Bay, exemplifies Collier’s captivating Arctic works. As the world’s largest uninhabited island, Devon Island boasts a rugged, snow-shrouded landscape that is both remote and breathtaking. Despite its inaccessibility, the island has inspired a long history of Canadian artists seeking to capture the Arctic’s majesty. Collier’s distinctive style – marked by smooth lines, elegant simplicity, and masterful composition – brings the island’s rocky shoreline to life against the ethereal northern skies.

Alan Collier’s work can be found in numerous public collections, including: National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa); Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto); Robert McLaughlin Gallery (Oshawa); Hamilton Art Gallery; Agnes Etherington Art Centre (Queens-Kingston); Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (Halifax); The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery (St. John’s); and Frye Museum (Seattle).