‘Investing in living artists, and especially younger artists, is a noble activity,’ says David Silcox, President of Sotheby’s Canada. ‘It encourages emerging talent and makes the creation of new works with new ideas possible. As the painter David Milne once wrote, all the millions spent on Holbeins, El Grecos, and Rembrandts after they died only moved their pictures around a little, but created no new art. If Canada had more Seymours, one in every major Canadian city say, it would have more artists of prominence in the international art world. And without a doubt too, we would be an even more innovative, imaginative, and energetic nation than we now are.’

Diane Farris Gallery presents a unique exhibit, curated by Angela Grossmann, of artwork from the Seymour Collection.  The Seymour Collection, a significant private collection that was formed in the early 1990s, is mainly comprised of important paintings and drawings by Grossmann’s long time friends and colleagues such as Graham Gillmore, Attila Richard Lukacs, Derek Root and Neil Wedman. Grossmann Picks from the Seymour Collection is the first opportunity for the public to view and purchase from this important body of work.

Almost 25 years ago, Diane Farris proposed to a friend that they acquire early work by emerging artists as a business investment. The collection was born. “I had what I knew were terrific pieces sitting, unsold, in the gallery stacks,” says Farris. “I truly felt the artists would be successful and the work would be appreciated and increase in value. I sought out someone who would join me in proving that collecting the work of talented young artists is a good and wise investment.” The contents of the collection, mostly from the mid to late 80s, were purchased from the artists prior to their international careers, while they were still in their “ingénue” stage. The works were then held until the market values had risen as a result of the artists’ success in achieving critical and curatorial acclaim. Various pieces in the Seymour Collection have increased in value more than 500 percent.

Exhibit curator Angela Grossmann states: “I got really excited when I saw this work again after more than twenty years. I realized it was such mature work, despite being so early in their careers.” That the pieces look as fresh and current now as they did when made is testimony to the strength of The Seymour Collection. Early pieces by the majority of these artists are not readily available elsewhere. This exhibit is a nugget of Canadian art history.

For those who missed out on a Gillmore, Lukacs, Grossmann, or Wedman when they blasted onto the scene in the 1990s, they now have a second chance.