A Campbell River woman’s donation of an original Sybil Andrews painting from her family’s collection fetched the community’s hospice $10,000.
The 1952 painting ‘Hauling’ was appraised and sold by the Heffel Gallery in Vancouver, said Louise Daviduck, executive director of the Campbell River Hospice Society.
Campbell River resident Joy Sharpe donated the artwork from her family’s collection to the hospice where she volunteered for many years.
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Sharpe’s late husband Ray purchased the 1952 painting called ‘Hauling’ from Andrews when the artist lived in Campbell River.
“Ray was a lawyer in Campbell River and when his office was getting renovated, he picked up three art pieces from the artist’s studio at Willow Point,” said Sharpe. Back in the day, her husband bought the paintings for $6 each, she said.
Sharpe said that they were very “fortunate” to have owned three of Andrews’ “treasured” paintings and that donating one of the paintings to the hospice seemed like a good way to give back to the community.
“I’m very attached to the hospice,” she said and added, that it was a “warm feeling” for her to part with the art piece for this cause.
‘Hauling’ depicts a logging truck displaying the British-Canadian artist’s signature linocut technique.
“I thought the painting was a suitable representation of Campbell River,” said Sharpe referring to the historic logging days of the city.
A long term resident of Campbell River, Sharpe said she has also had the opportunity to interact with Andrews occasionally when the artist and her husband Morgan lived in the community.
Andrews and her husband moved to Canada in 1947 and settled in a cottage in Campbell River where the artist taught art and music until her death in 1992. The city attributed the status of a ‘Legacy Landmark’ to the artist’s property in 1997. The Museum at Campbell River also houses over a 100 pieces of Sybil Andrews’ art works in their collection.
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