National fine art auction house opening new Calgary gallery
It's taken a year for the owners of Heffel Fine Art Auction House to make their new building just right to display work by their featured artists. But now the space is open for business and boasts impressive collections from Alex Colville and other Canadian artists.
"We have a long history of selling Colvilles both in auction and private sale as well," said Robert Heffel, vice-president of Heffel Auction. "The show's fantastic, it's a really special show."
The business was started in 1978 by Kenneth Heffel and is now run by his two sons Robert and David. It has auction houses in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.
"We have offices all across the country so Toronto has some pretty impressive facilities," he said. "In terms of warehouses and an exhibition space this is the nicest one, we do have our warehouse in Vancouver (but) this one's actually a little nicer."
Heffel says the Calgary location now is a secure, state of the art storage facility with a controlled climate.
"The most important thing actually for our works is that it's a consistent temperature and a consistent humidity," said Heffel. "Big variations aren't good but a consistent (temperature and humidity level) is the most important."
SEEING WORKS OF ART IN PERSON
The gallery space is a chance for customers to see works of art in person before they're posted in monthly online auctions.
"We were one of the first in the world to conduct fine art auctions online in 1999," said Heffel. "We were one of the global leaders in online auctions of fine art but we've always been kind of a combination of clicks and bricks, so both the online component with the bricks and mortar component, a combination of the two."
Vancouver artist Ross Penhall now shows his art through Heffel and likes the new gallery space.
"I feel very at home here, you want to fit," he said. "Years ago when I was approached by a gallery, I liked the other artists that were there, they weren't necessarily exactly like me, but they were painters so I want to be in a gallery where there's painters."
'RESPECTFUL'
Penhall has known about Heffel's reputation in the art world for years.
"What they do for the art in Canada is just so respectful," he said. "That's the word I think of when I think of Heffel is respect, you know, they respect me and their employees."
Heffel says he not only likes to connect with his customers, he forms close bonds with the artists showcased in his galleries.
"Well, I love Ross Penhall's work," he said. "His paintings are about light and when you see them in person, his paintings look great and when I did the studio visit with him it really came together but also Ross is such a nice guy."
Heffel is excited about the new Calgary space and says the auction business is the best business in the world to be part of.
"Because almost every day something amazing comes in and it's like Christmas every week seeing a great treasure come in and it's exciting," he said.
Heffel is hosting a live auction in Toronto May 25th that will also be accessible on-line. Learn more about the company here: www.Heffel.com
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.