Creation from Palgrave paintings to be auctioned

Sky, Palgrave

Sky, Palgrave, one of the creations of artist David Brown Milne, will be up for bid at the Heffel Fine Art Auction May 22 in Vancouver.

Sky, Palgrave is an oil on canvas, signed and titled in graphite Sky, circa 1931. It had been previously sold at the Heffel auction in November 2006 for $120,750. In the space of 18 months, the painting's value has increased to its current conservative estimate of $150,000 to $200,000. The current owner stands to make a substantial profit from the painting's sale at this year's live auction.

Born in 1882 near Paisley, Ontario, David Milne began studying art at the age of 17. He continued his art studies at the Arcade School in New York and later in Europe. Returning to Canada in 1929, Milne relocated to Palgrave the following year. During the three years he spent in Palgrave, Milne produced many paintings of the local landscape at various times of day and in different seasons.

In 1934, Milne sold the entire series of Palgrave paintings to Alice and Vincent Massey, as he wanted to keep the work together to enable the study of the relationship the paintings had to each other. Massey, who was later to be Canada's Governor General, took a particular liking to Sky, Palgrave and even took the painting with him to London when he was appointed High Commissioner for Canada.

Although relatively unknown before 1934, in recent years Milne has been recognized as one of Canada's foremost artists. Influential American art critic Clement Greenberg has called Milne one of the three most important North American artists of his generation.

Other works by Milne to be auctioned off include White Cloud, Boston Corners, an oil on canvas, on verso inscribed, 1918, estimated between $400,000 and $600,000; Camping in Winter II, an ink and pencil on paper, circa 1920 to 1922, estimated between $4,500 and $6,500; and Snowy Morning, Baptiste Lake, Ontario, a watercolour on paper, on verso inscribed, dated Feb. 13, 1949, estimated between $15,000 and $20,000.

At the upcoming auction, David Milne's paintings have a combined pre-sale estimate of $569,500 and $826,500.