William Armstrong's Secret Signature

Artists have been known to sign their works in many different ways, but William Armstrong might claim the most unusual signature.

Armstrong was comissioned to produce a large watercolour painting of Toronto's old city hall. The painting was commissioned to generate interest in the building project.

Armstrong didn't scrawl his name across the bottom of his painting. In fact, you would have to look hard to discover who exactly did paint it. But the clue is there to be found. A close observation reveals in the bottom left corner, a figure carrying a sandwich board with Armstrong's initials.

This is almost as bizarre as the way EJ Lennox left his name on the building. But, thats a story for another blog entry on another day.

Source: City of Toronto website

Lawren Harris Paintings and Others for Sale in Toronto

St. Patricks Street, Toronto among other famous Canadian paintings on the auction block in November

A stunning private collection of Canadian art worth as much as $8 million is to be auctioned off next month in Toronto, highlighted by Lawren Harris's final oil sketch for his iconic, full-canvas North Shore, Lake Superior - one of the National Gallery of Canada's most treasured paintings.

The collection is being offered from the estate of Helen Band, daughter of late Toronto businessman and arts patron Charles Band. He died in 1969 after acquiring works from major international artists and Canada's own Group of Seven - including his childhood friend, Harris.

Four Harris paintings - including three valued at more than $1 million - are to be sold at a Heffel Fine Art auction on Nov. 26.

The Old Stump, Lake Superior - a sketch version of the identical scene depicted in Harris's famous North Shore, Lake Superior - has a high-end estimate of $2.5 million. Two of his other paintings - Iceberg, Baffin's Bay North and Houses, St. Patrick St. - are each expected to fetch up to $1.6 million. The fourth Harris work, In Buchanan Bay, Ellesmere Island, is valued at between $550,000 and $750,000.

Other notable works among the 15 paintings and sculptures being sold include Frederick Varley's portrait of a reclining woman which is expected to fetch up to $500,000. It is described as "among the very best" creations of Harris's fellow Group of Seven member.

Another Group of Seven "classic," a Lake Superior scene by A.Y. Jackson, is also valued in the $500,000 range.

Twelve works by Harris are among the 37 Canadian paintings that have fetched auction prices of more than $1 million.

Three paintings joined the million-dollar club this year when Emily Carr's Wind in the Treetops ($2.2 million), Tom Thomson's Birches and Cedar, Fall ($1.4 million) and Jean-Paul Riopelle's Jouet ($1.2 million) were sold at a Heffel auction in June.

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