Winnipeg Art Gallery to Sell Four Warhols

×

Expand

Andy Warhol, "Queen Elizabeth II of The United Kingdom," (F. & S. II.335A), 1985 (part of a limited edition set, photo courtesy Artsy)

The Winnipeg Art Gallery is selling a set of four works by Andy Warhol so it can buy more Indigenous art.

The works, colour silkscreen prints of Queen Elizabeth II from the American artist's Reigning Queens series, will be sold by auction in Toronto on June 8, and are expected to fetch at least $700,000 to $900,000.

The set, assembled by a collector through two separate purchases, was selected for sale by the curatorial team and senior managers, with the agreement of the board of governors, after an evaluation of the permanent collection, the gallery said Thursday.

Proceeds from the sale will be used for an acquisition fund to increase the diversity of the gallery's collection, starting with the purchase of Indigenous works. No planned acquisitions were identified.

The practice, known as deaccessioning, is unusual but does happen from time to time. However, it can create controversy, as with the National Gallery's planned sale of a Marc Chagall painting, La Tour Eiffel, which was aborted in 2018 after a public outcry.

Stephen Borys, the gallery's director, portrayed the move as part of reconciliation efforts to ensure the collection is more representative of the entire community.

"The initiative to establish a new endowed fund for the acquisition of contemporary Indigenous and Canadian art will allow us to reach more people and communities through the presentation and engagement with art and artmaking," he said.

Winnipeg has the largest urban Indigenous population of any Canadian city, according to Statistics Canada. The 2021 federal census indicated more than 102,000 Indigenous people were living in Winnipeg, which has a population of some 750,000 people.

The works will be sold by Cowley Abbott auctioneers, which will donate its commission to the endowment fund. Previews will be held in Montreal from April 27 to April 29 and in Toronto from May 8 to June 8.  

The Winnipeg gallery holds the largest public collection of contemporary Inuit art in the world, now housed in Qaumajuq, the new Inuit art centre.

It also has notable collections of European and Canadian art spanning some five centuries, with strong representation in 15th- and 16th-century Northern European painting, 19th- and 20th-century British art, German Expressionism and Canadian art in all media and periods.

Source: Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq