The Globe and Mail’s James Adams previews the Canadian art auctions taking place this week and next. The big picture is a Lawren Harris. Adams has the details:

The painting Bylot Island I by Lawren Harris (1885-1970). Painted 1930-31; oil on canvas; 81.3 centimetres by 114.3 centimetres.  [E]stimated $1.5-million to $2.5-million.
The seller Toronto philanthropist Richard Ivey, as part of a consignment of six works (two by David Milne, another Harris, a Franklin Carmichael, a Jean Paul Lemieux).
The selling points It’s in pristine condition. It’s big. Paintings from Harris’s Arctic trips are much sought-after and valuable (a Baffin Island landscape sold to Ken Thomson for $2.43-million in 2001 and was donated to the Art Gallery of Ontario).Plus, the peaks in the background are covered in snow: Three of the top-selling Harris paintings feature snow, while 10 of the top 20 paintings sold at auction are filled with the white stuff.

There’s also this work by Thom Thomson:

The painting Hillside on Big Cauchon Lake — Algonquin Park by Tom Thomson (1877-1917). Painted 1915; oil on panel; 24.6 cm by 26.7 cm. [E]stimated $400,000 to $600,000.
The seller A private collector from Toronto
The selling points It was painted two years before his mysterious death – the artist’s most creative period. Two Thomson sketches of the same size are among the top 10 Canadian paintings ever sold at auction. Sketches, of which Thomson did more than 300, are about the only works of his that ever come to auction; most of his big paintings are in public galleries where they’ll stay forever. Appreciation: 20 years ago you could get a Thomson panel for $75,000.

Who Cares About Sovereign Debt, Let the Sales Begin (Globe and Mail)