April 11, 2011
Mayberry Fine Art expects blue-chip paintings to attract veteran and new collectors alike.
Long-established Fine Art Gallery Officially Opens its Doors in Toronto this Weekend
With Exhibition and Sale of 38 Works by Group of Seven’s A.J. Casson
Mayberry Fine Art expects blue-chip paintings to attract veteran and new collectors alike
TORONTO -- A comprehensive exhibition and sale of 38 important paintings by Group of Seven master Alfred Joseph (A. J.) Casson (1898 - 1992) will mark this weekend’s official opening in Toronto of Mayberry Fine Art -- a long-established, Winnipeg gallery with a national reach.
The three-week show at the Yorkville gallery (110 Yorkville Ave.) is expected to attract significant interest from both veteran and new collectors and gallery-goers who purely appreciate the work of the artist who called Toronto home. Over a period of more than two years, Mayberry Fine Art acquired these paintings one by one from private collections across Canada and abroad. It is rare to have this many quality Casson works -- considered blue-chip among art enthusiasts -- available in a single exhibition.
The show -- entitled simply A. J. Casson -- opens Saturday, April 16, and runs until May 7. Gallery hours on opening weekend are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. all three days. Sales begin Saturday at 10 a.m.
”Casson was the longest surviving member of the iconic Group of Seven and, given that he devoted most of his working life to painting in his native province of Ontario, we feel honoured to feature this superb collection at the grand opening of our Toronto space,” gallery co-owner Shaun Mayberry said.
Casson painted the majority of his works in the show over the span of five decades -- from the 1920s to 1960s. Works completed between 1970 to 1980 are also included, an indication of the breadth of the collection and the longevity of the artist’s career. Most of the pieces are plein-air paintings in oil and watercolour, but there are also several, major studio paintings which illustrate Casson’s mastery of the canvas.
The catalogue of artworks can be viewed online at www.mayberryfineart.com. The pieces available for sale are priced from $20,000 to $125,000.
“We are pleased for the unique opportunity to have so many works available for sale,” Mayberry added, “but we also have borrowed several key works from generous collectors who were willing to release their treasures so we could offer a complete overview of Casson’s career.”
Reflecting Mayberry Fine Art’s commitment to promoting Canada’s new generation of great artists, a selection of works by six of the gallery’s contemporary artists will also be featured during the opening celebration.
With 35 years of experience in the art market, Mayberry Fine Art, a family-owned business with galleries in Winnipeg and now Toronto, is one of the premier, contemporary and historic fine art dealers in Canada.
ABOUT MAYBERRY FINE ART (www.mayberryfineart.com)
At their newest gallery, located in Toronto’s Yorkville art district, the Mayberrys – Bill and sons Shaun and Ryan -- will feature both contemporary and historic artists from across Canada whose works have been infrequently or never showcased in Toronto.
“We will be more focussed on the collector’s eye. We will exhibit select works -- the best quality contemporary and historical pieces and spend months, even years, to build a collection for a show,” Bill Mayberry said. “We are already working on amassing works by a prominent, contemporary Canadian artist for a show in 2012.”
Visitors to Mayberry Fine Art can expect a welcoming, casual atmosphere where the goal is to make art approachable and demystify for gallery visitors what fine art is all about.