A North African scene painted by Winston Churchill is up for sale at a Canadian auction of treasures as part of the liquidation of Canada’s oldest company.
The Hudson’s Bay Company was both Canada and North America’s oldest business. It was founded by Royal Charter of Charles II in 1670 as a monopoly trading company. For centuries it was the effective government of what is now Canada.
The original fur trading developed into a conglomerate of retail and other businesses that has been in private ownership of various sorts since the early 21st century.
The final Hudson’s Bay retail stores have now gone bankrupt and as part of the liquidation process the company’s collections are being sold off.
A sale at Heffel Fine Art Auction House in Toronto on November 19 will open a series of auctions to liquidate the company’s collection of over 2,000 works of art and artefacts.
The star item is a Winston Churchill painting with a $400,000 to $600,000 estimate.
Churchill’s “Marrakech” is considered one of his more important works. It will be sold on November 19 in Toronto as the Hudson’s Bay Company’s long story comes to an end. Image courtesy Heffel Fine Art Auction House.
“Marrakech” was painted in oils on canvas by the then-future British Prime Minister and given to the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1935.
Churchill was a keen painter and his works are the most valuable items he created.
He loved Marakesh (the city’s modern Moroccan name), visiting the city on six painting trips between 1935 and 1959, usually staying at the luxurious (and beautifully lit) La Mamounia hotel.
He painted his most valuable painting, Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque, there. It sold for £8.3 million in 2021.
Sales from the foundational Canadian institution are attracting “unprecedented” interest says David Heffel, president of Heffel Fine Art Auction House.
“For the first time, collectors can now take part in this historic moment, carrying forward a piece of Canada’s legacy,” he said in a statement.
