The ‘universal humanness’ of folk art
Exceptional pieces from prominent collection come to auction
Miller & Miller’s October 8th auction features a selection of important Canadian folk art from the collection of Susan Murray (pictured above).
Esteemed Canadian collector Susan Murray has a deep and abiding love of folk art and she clearly understands why.
“It’s grounding and full of life and colour and warmth. There’s a universal humanness about it,” says the Hamilton-area government relations consultant who has spent over 30 years building what is considered to be one of the most important folk art collections in the country, part of which will be sold at Miller & Millers Canadiana & Folk Art auction on Oct. 8th, 2022.
When she first began collecting, there was an underappreciation of self-taught artists, particularly among art galleries, she says. Of course, that has since changed.
Susan’s admiration of folk art extends far beyond her own personal fascination. Not only has she donated 75 pieces from her private collection to public art galleries, she’s also been involved in organizing multiple folk art exhibitions over the years, allowing the general public to experience and appreciate its intrinsic value.
A great example: When friend and former New Brunswick premier Frank McKenna was Canadian ambassador to the United States from 2005 to 2006, he asked Susan if she’d consider showing part of her collection at the art gallery inside the Canadian embassy in Washington. The show was opened in 2007 by former federal cabinet minister Michael Wilson, who was by then the new ambassador to the United States, and Bernard Riordon, director of the Fredericton, New Brunswick-based Beaverbrook Art Gallery which collaborated on the exhibition.
Pictured above is the 32 page catalogue which accompanied the 2006-7 traveling exhibition of selected works from the collection of Susan A Murray, organized by Bernard Riordan O.C., director and Chief Executive Officer of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery of New Brunswick.
“These are largely self-taught artists, outside the mainstream, outside Canada’s social, economic and political elites. They are not subject to the trends and fashions that shape other art,” wrote Susan in the catalogue’s ‘Message from the Collector’. “In this hard-wired, high-anxiety world of blurring imagery and blaring cacophony, these artists inspire me, and I hope, you, when you view this exhibition, with a sense of what it is to be human, to be grounded in time and memory, tradition and place. This is the work of artists at peace with themselves, who they are, and where they fit.” The exhibition subsequently travelled to numerous Canadian cities, “always, always drawing crowds, sometimes with standing room only,” she recalls.
Susan has since sold her vacation property and closed her three corporate offices, all of which were filled with pieces from her extensive collection, so selling part of it became a matter of practicality.
Just one of the highlights in the Miller & Miller sale is a 1930s mixed-media diorama, ‘Maple Sugar Time’ (Lot 261), by Adelard Brousseau of St. Jacques de Montcalm, Quebec estimated to bring $18,000 to $25,000 (CA). Brosseau reportedly took five years to complete it during a prolonged period of ill health. In return for praying for his recovery, he donated the diorama to the local parish, which then charged a fee for the fascinated public to see it – a fee Brosseau’s own daughter could not afford. How the story ends is in the auction catalogue.
"Maple Sugar Time" by Adélard Brousseau is offered as lot 261 in the October 8th sale of Canadiana & Folk Art at Miller & Miller Auctions.
Another piece in the Oct. 8th sale that Susan is particularly fond of is a circa 1940s carved seven-foot (two-meter) Manitoulin Island totem pole (Lot 68), artist unknown. “I kept it inside so it’s in wonderful condition. I love that piece – it’s one of a kind.”
Noting that folk art has historically been highly-prized and appreciated by Americans, Susan believes Canadian folk art has similarly come into its own in recent years. She says she’s witnessed a rise in interest among millennials, many of whom value well-made, meaningful, built-to-last pieces, including folk art that reflects rural life, a way of life increasingly threatened by urban expansion and super highways.
Her best advice to new collectors?
“Don’t think about the value or how much profit you want to make. Buy only what you want to live with. Buy what you love. Go with your heart.”
By Diane Sewell
Diane Sewell has been a writer for over 25 years, producing feature stories for some of the country’s top newspapers and consumer magazines, as well as client newsletters and commissioned books.
AUCTION DETAILS:
Canadiana & Folk Art
Featuring the Jim Fleming, Susan Murray and Marty Osler Collections
October 8, 2022. 9am EST.
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