1711 10 Avenue SW #128

Calgary AB T3C 0K1 CAN

Telephone 403.541.9099

Fax 403.541.9097

mail@levisauctions.com

www.levisauctions.com

MEDIA RELEASE

Record Prices for W.J. Phillips and Janet Mitchell Works at Levis Fine Art Auctions

For Immediate Release

Calgary, Alta.

November 25, 2003

An important watercolour painting by Canadian artist Walter Joseph (W.J.) Phillips, entitled Wharf at Hnausa, Winnipeg, sold for a record $50,000 (CND) at Levis Fine Art Auction’s semi-annual auction on Sunday, November 23 at the Nickle Arts Museum in Calgary. The audience of over 400 bidders burst into spontaneous applause as the hammer fell, breaking the previous record for a Phillips work set when the watercolour Valley of the Ten Peaks sold for $41,000 (CND) in 2002.

“Wharf at Hnausa, Winnipeg is a watercolour of the pivotal wood block print that earned Phillips acceptance into the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts in 1934. This watercolour is a great example of why Phillips is one of Canada’s pre-eminent watercolourists and printmakers,” explains auctioneer Doug Levis. “The new owner of the beautiful watercolour we sold on Sunday intends to donate it to the John P. Crabb Gallery at the Pavillion Gallery in Winnipeg, which holds a large collection of works by W.J. Phillips.”

But that wasn’t the only record set at the auction, where 300 pieces of fine Canadian art raised total sales exceeding $440,000 (includes buyer’s premium).

The painting Untitled: Bustling City by Calgary artist Janet Mitchell sold for $6,000, breaking the previous record of $4,500 set by the Mitchell painting “Going to the Bakery” at a Levis auction in 2001.

And, a spirited round of bidding that involved a dozen phone bidders from Canada, the United States, and Europe, as well as bidders in the room, drove the price of the painting Untitled: Lady Feeding the Chickens by French artist Julien Dupre to $18,500.

The complete catalogue for the auction and prices realized can be viewed on the Levis Fine Art Auctions web site at www.levisauctions.com.

Levis Fine Art Auctions holds two auctions per year in Calgary as well as specialized auctions for estates, corporations and galleries throughout Alberta.

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For more information, contact Doug Levis or Anna Gardner at (403) 541-9099 or at

E-mail: mail@levisauctions.com

Levis Fine Art Auctions & Appraisals

1711 10 Avenue S.W., #128

Calgary, Alberta T3C 0K1