Heffel auction tonight

 It's spring, and one of the things that means is a big offload of "important" Canadian art at the big three auction houses here -- Joyner's, on June 1, Sotheby's, on June 2, and Heffel's, which kicks things off tonight. 

While it's fair to guess that results won't set any records, amid this, the most recent financial crisis, this time in Europe, it's worth noting that in the fall, Heffel, on the strength of paintings by Tom Thomson and Emily Carr, and two sketches by Lawren Harris, turned in the second-highest total of all time, at $20.8 million -- though, notably, no new records for individual works. A Harris sketch that was a study for his famous "North Shore, Lake Superior," which many believed would knock off the all-time Canadian record of $5.1 million paid for a Paul Kane portrait in 2002, fell well short, selling for $3.5 million. 

There's no such record-breaking speculation this time around, but the marquee piece is an oil by Harris; his "Bylot Island 1" is estimated to go for between $1.5 - $2.5 million.