“Gloucester” England. Watercolour by François Gall 1912-1987. Down at the English waterfront on the River Severn on a blustery day at Gloucester. Signed: “F. Gall Gloucester” lower left in his typical red paint. This is a large, rare, unique painting by the post-impressionist master, François Gall. Frame is contemporary gold with matt and inner painted fillet. Excellent condition.

“The Storyteller”. Spectacular watercolour by Ettore Ascenzi. On paper laid on paperboard. Amazing detail with all eyes trained on the storyteller.  Signed lower right “E. Ascenzi 1892 Roma”. Framed with gold leaf and inner gold fillet. Superb  condition.

“Canal with Windmill and Barge”. Large, mixed media, watercolour on paper by Max Ludby R.I., R.B.A., British 1858-1943. Windmill near Delft, Holland. Circa 1930. Incredible control of the watercolour brush strokes. The water depicted is marvelous.  Mounted in handsome gold leaf, hand rubbed frame. Ref. Benezit, Vol. 5, page 655. Artwork in perfect condition.

The Hitch-Hiker. Mixed media, egg tempura on masonite board by Fred Ross, C.M., LL.D., R.C.A., one of Canada’s leading figurative painters. The model for this painting in Fred’s son Christopher who came into the studio one day and put on the overcoat and the top hat which Fred interpreted into this painting. C. 1975. Signed “Fred Ross” upper right. Framed in wood with a greyish, specked finish. Inner fillet painted white. Excellent condition.

Oil and casein tempura on masonite by Fred Ross R.C.A. Signed and dated: “Fred Ross 57″. “Portrait of an Old Man” is an interesting piece. You’ll notice that the old man is winking OR has he lost an eye, at some point?  He has many stories to tell. It looks like he’s lost an ear as well. In the painting Fred Ross has put all the names of his family staring on the left with his wife, Sheila. Then there’s Lorna who is the eldest child, then Christopher, next oldest, then there’s a question mark (?) suggesting that there was another child on the way, while he was painting this picture.  It turns out that there was another girl, Catherine (Cathy Ross, an accomplished artist as well). This was a part of Max Stern’s collection, owner of the Stern Gallery and Dominion Gallery in Montreal. Labels on the back explain a few things. Frame is gold leaf over wood with a hand rubbed red/brown patina on top. The frame has been made to look like there are worm holes on the top, bottom and both sides. Excellent condition. Museum quality.

Fred Ross R.C.A. Original mixed media. Label: “Landscape, St. Andrews, N.B. ’97″. Signed, Fred Ross, lower right. Excellent condition. He doesn’t paint too many landscapes – here he captured the sky and surroundings showing the ruggedness of NB. Excellent condition. $2,000. Frame size: 15.75″ W x 19.75″ H. Art size: 12″ H x 8.25″ W. Wt: 2 lb. .9 kg.

Mixed Media, Fred Ross, R.C.A. Acrylic, chalk, ink. “Still Life With Tapestry Slippers” 1993. Gallery label “Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc. Montreal – an authentic work”. These are Sheila Ross’ house slippers. Fred thought they were fun and put them into quite a few of his paintings. This is the only composition where they are the main focus. Excellent condition.

Mixed Media, Fred Ross, R.C.A. Acrylic, chalk, ink. “Still Life With Pointe Shoes” 1993. Gallery label “Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc.” Montreal – an authentic work. It has the gallery seal embossed on the label that, in effect, is the COA for this piece. Excellent condition.

Oil and casein tempura on masonite by Fred Ross R.C.A. Signed and dated: “Fred Ross 1956″. This is a staggeringly interesting piece. I won’t try to define it here but suggest you read the written description in the book about Fred Ross, “A Timeless Humanism” by Tom Smart. You’ll notice that the boy is on the far side of the window sill but on the inside of the frame in which he is standing. Also the monkey is threading beads from the bottom upwards. The front of the scull is floating. Fred’s wife’s name, Sheila, is carved into the frame to the left of the boy’s head. Why is there an owl on his shoulder, a piece of rope hanging from the frame and a wish bone also hanging on the frame? Things to ponder when you enter this remarkable painting. This was a part of Max Stern’s collection, owner of the Stern Gallery and Dominion Gallery in Montreal.The frame is gold leaf with some red streaks and spackle.  There is a green velvet inner frame to further set the painting apart from the gold colour. Astonishing. Excellent condition. Museum quality.

Mixed media. This painting was a sketch for a future, larger painting but the cat got killed in traffic and the large painting was never done. The cat was just a street cat that came to visit Fred at his studio. Signed in pencil, upper right. Gallery Walter Klinkhoff label on reverse. Perfect condition.

Huge acrylic, chalk and collage on Masonite panel.  Another masterpiece by Fred Ross R.C.A. Entitled: “Artist in Studio” with Judith as the nude model.  It’s a fascinating piece of work in that it’s a self portrait with the artist facing us with a nude in front of him facing away from the viewer. Fred has his left foot resting on the divan that she is lying upon. Also there is an easel with another nude paining on it.  That small painting is signed: “Fred Ross” in the upper right corner and the main painting is signed: “Fred Ross’ in the extreme lower right corner. Two signatures – quite unique. Next to the artist is a spike of light coming in from a window that sheds light on the subjects from right to left – otherwise it’s a very dark room. The label is from Gallery Walter Klinkhoff stating: “Artist in Studio – Acrylic, chalk and collage 52″ x 42″ Fred Ross”  The label also has the Klinkhoff seal that gives this painting its COA. The frame is wood with gold leaf and three grey key lines as a border. There is an inner lined raised fillet that sets the painting away from the frame. Spectacular – a powerful artist’s statement and in perfect condition. Museum quality.

Atmos clock celebrates the 150th Anniversary of the invention of the Atmos clock by Jaeger-LeCoultre – Geneva. It runs on an air pressure, bellows system that captures the difference in atmospheric pressure when it goes up or down. That change in pressure is caught in the bellows and therefore has the power to run the clock. It’s the closest thing to perpetual motion that has ever been built. This clock has three feet that can be used to level it, and there is a bubble glass to show when it is perfectly level. There is a “150″ medallion and a medallion that states the number, which is 311. The clock has been refurbished in 2007 and keeps excellent time. I might adjust it twice a year for a couple of minutes. There is a manual lever to adjust the mechanism – faster or slower. The dome is blown glass crystal and looks majestic, when it covers the clock’s movement. I have an original marketing brochure but no original packing materials. I have the instructions on starting and setting the time etc. Perfect condition.

Oil on Canvas. Pablo O’Higgins. He studied under Diego Rivera in the 1930s and ’40s. Fishermen with Onlooker. Painted wooden frame with gold leaf. Matt shows natural wear and slight soiling. Painting has a nice loose brush style and is in excellent condition. Museum label on reverse “Instituto Nacional De Bellas Artes” ‘Museo Nacional De Arte Moderno”. “Oleo Sobre Tela”, 55.5 x 75 cms. Lot #22. Wonderful Mexican, ocean, rural life scene. Circa 1940.

A magnificent sculpture signed and dated: “Pierre Jules Mene 1869″. This is a very famous piece and I’m told that there was an edition of 10 and no two pieces are the same. The hand finishing and detail of this work is mesmerizing. It’s against a mirror so you can see the fully finished back. The detail on the back is the same as the front – marvelous.  Solid bronze.

Paradox of the Trapper. A unique, one-off, original, bronze wall-mount, sculpture by the renowned, Canadian sculptor, Christopher Keene.  It portrays a trapper confronted with a life challenge for he and his horse. Extreme realism that is frightening. Much detail including showing the trapper’s glove on the ground. Did he survive? I think so.  ArtCast did the lost wax bronze process and Chris did the final detailing and the patina, leaving much of it rough, to create the remote, northern, winter, outdoor atmosphere. No edition was created. COA in hand. Excellent, original condition.