Christopher Pratt
Growth#66
Egon Investment Scores
Liquidity
6/10
How easily works can be bought and sold at auction
Institutional
9/10
Museum collections, biennials, and institutional recognition
Momentum
5/10
Recent price trends, gallery moves, and market buzz
Discovery
2/10
Undervaluation opportunity relative to peer artists
Risk
1/10
Investment risk factors — higher means more volatile
Market Position
- Pricing
- Pricing Context
- Market Notes
- Death in 2022 may increase long-term values as supply becomes finite
- Strongest market remains Canadian; limited international exposure outside UK/Europe exhibitions
- Prints and multiples provide accessible entry point for collectors
- Major paintings primarily held by institutions; secondary market dominated by prints and works on paper
- Gallery Pricing
- Contact Mira Godard Gallery (Toronto/Vancouver) for current primary/secondary market pricing on available works
- Historical Ranges
- 2021: Major paintings reaching $282,726 USD; 2016-2017: Prints: $1,000-$12,000 estimates; Mixed media works: $7,000-$9,000 estimates; 2024-2025: Continued auction activity; prints averaging $2,444
- Auction History
- Price Range
- Notes
- 217 auction records tracked by ArtValue.ca; range C$10,000 to C$500,000 for oil paintings
- All Time Low USD
- 37
- All Time High USD
- 282726
- Highest Price
- Date
- 2021
- Work
- Salt Shed Interior
- Venue
- Heffel Vancouver
- Amount USD
- $282,726
- Recent Market Activity
- 2023-2024 Sales
- Work
- Still Shore (1956)
- Medium
- watercolour and graphite on paper
- Year Sold
- 2023
- Work
- Anonymous Nude With A Ponytail, 1984/2004
- Medium
- oil and liquin glazes over lithography
- Year Sold
- 2023
- Work
- Labrador Current, October, 1973
- Medium
- screenprint
- Year Sold
- 2023
- Work
- Flower's Island Light (2003)
- Medium
- colour lithograph
- Year Sold
- 2023
- Work
- My Father & Tom Phippard Hunting Sea Ducks In The Winter Of 1934; 1993
- Medium
- mixed media on paper
- Year Sold
- 2024
- Work
- Labrador Sea (8 states)
- Medium
- 8 colour screenprints
- Year Sold
- 2024
- Work
- White Winter Road (West Of Georges Lake); 2004
- Medium
- watercolour and coloured pencil on paper
- Year Sold
- 2024
- Work
- Crow and Raven
- Medium
- serigraph
- Auction Date
- April 2024
- 2025 Auction Activity
- Work
- Iced Rock, 1989
- Auction Date
- March 27, 2025
- Work
- Fox Marsh Siding, 1991
- Auction Date
- May 29, 2025
- Work
- The Bridge, 1989
- Auction Date
- May 29, 2025
- Work
- Ice-Fog Lifting, 2004
- Auction Date
- May 29, 2025
- Work
- Institution
- Auction Date
- June 26, 2025
- Work
- Shop on an Island
- Auction Date
- July 31, 2025
- Work
- New Boat
- Auction Date
- July 31, 2025
- Work
- Summer Ice, Strait of Belle Isle, 2004
- Auction Date
- September 25, 2025
- Work
- Summer on the South East, 1987
- Auction Date
- September 25, 2025
- Work
- Shop on an Island
- Auction Date
- September 25, 2025
- Prints and Multiples Market
- Price Range 2016-2017: {'notes': 'Photo-lithographs and silkscreens; editions typically numbered out of 30-100', 'low_estimate_usd': 1000, 'high_estimate_usd': 12000}; Recent Average 2024-2025: {'period': 'past 12 months', 'source': 'MutualArt', 'prints_graphic_art_average_usd': 2444}
- Market Position
- Market Positioning
- Liquidity
- Moderate - primarily Canadian market; consistent secondary market presence
- Market Segment
- Blue-chip Canadian art; regional importance with national recognition
- Price Trajectory
- Stable to appreciating post-death (2022); auction record set 2021
- Total Auction Lots
- 282 artworks at auction (MutualArt); 217 oil painting results (ArtValue.ca)
- Collector Demographics
- Canadian institutional collectors, regional private collectors, corporate collections
- Primary Auction Houses
- Heffel (Canadian market leader for this artist)Waddington'sCanadian regional auction houses
Institutional Presence
National Gallery of Canada
OttawaBoat in Sand (1961), Deer Lake: Junction Brook Memorial (1999), Argentia: The Ruins of Fort McAndrew: After the Cold War (2013)
The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery
St. John's, NewfoundlandVancouver Art Gallery
Vancouver, BCArt Gallery of Ontario
Toronto, ONArt Gallery of Nova Scotia
Halifax, NSArt Gallery of Hamilton
Hamilton, ONBeaverbrook Art Gallery
Fredericton, New BrunswickMcMichael Canadian Art Collection
Kleinburg, ONMusée d'art contemporain de Montréal
Montreal, QCMuseum London
London, ONCanada Council Art Bank
NationalMount Allison University (Owens Art Gallery)
Sackville, NBArt Gallery of Greater Victoria
Victoria, BCUniversity of Lethbridge Art Gallery
Lethbridge, ABChristopher Pratt Gallery
Bay Roberts, NLSmithsonian Institution
Washington, DC, USA- Exhibitions
- Major Solo Exhibitions
Year Venue Notes 1965 Memorial University Art Gallery First solo exhibition 1976 Mira Godard Gallery in association with Marlborough Gallery — 1982-1983 — Touring exhibition of paintings, prints, drawings 1983-1985 — Silkscreen prints 1960-1982 1985 Vancouver Art Gallery Major touring retrospective 1986 American Associated Artists Gallery — 1988 49th Parallel Gallery — 1992 — Touring print retrospective and catalogue raisonné 'The Prints of Christopher Pratt: 1958-1991' 2005 National Gallery of Canada Major traveling retrospective 'Christopher Pratt: All My Own Work' 2015 The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery Ten-year retrospective 2020 Mira Godard Gallery — 2024-2025 Mira Godard Gallery With Alex Colville, Tom Forrestall, Rockwell Kent, Mary Pratt - Current Exhibitions 2025
Dates Venue Location Feb 24, 2025 - Dec 31, 2025 Beaverbrook Art Gallery Fredericton, New Brunswick Feb 14-15, 2025 - Oct 19, 2025 The Rooms St. John's, Newfoundland - Biennials and Group Shows
- Work
- Boat in Sand
- Year
- 1961
- Notes
- Launched his career
- Venue
- National Gallery of Canada Fourth Biennial Exhibition
- Museum Collections
- Notes
- Exceptional institutional presence for a Canadian regional artist; major museum holdings across Canada; represented in Smithsonian; multiple major retrospectives at Tier 1 Canadian institutions
- Corporate Collections
- Bank of MontrealLondon LifeRBC Financial GroupScotiabankShaw CommunicationsTorys LLPUBS Securities, Canada
Career & Biography
- Career
- 1952
- Began painting watercolours; won provincial Arts and Letters Competition for 'Shed in a Storm'
- 1963
- Moved to Salmonier to work as full-time artist
- 1965
- Became Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (ARCA)
- 1973
- Named Officer of the Order of Canada
- 1980
- Designed the Provincial Flag of Newfoundland and Labrador
- 1983
- Elevated to Companion of the Order of Canada
- 1985
- Major retrospective at Vancouver Art Gallery
- 1992
- Studio fire - significant turning point in work
- 1994
- Studio flood
- 2005
- Major retrospective at National Gallery of Canada
- 2015
- Ten-year retrospective at The Rooms
- 2018
- Documentary film 'Immaculate Memories: The Uncluttered Worlds of Christopher Pratt'
- 2022
- Death at age 86
- 1952-1953
- Studied pre-engineering at Memorial University of Newfoundland
- 1953-1961
- Mount Allison University - initially pre-medicine, switched to Fine Arts; BFA 1961
- 1957-1959
- Glasgow School of Art, Scotland
- 1961-1963
- Curator at Memorial University Art Gallery (now The Rooms)
- Identity
- Death Place
- St. Catherine's (Salmonier), Newfoundland, Canada
- Personal Life
- Marriages
- Notes
- 47-year marriage, both became major Canadian artists
- Spouse
- Mary West Pratt (artist)
- Married
- 1957
- Children
- JohnAnneBarbaraNedDavid (died in infancy)
- Divorced
- 2004
- Spouse
- Jeanette Meehan (studio assistant)
- Married
- 2007
- Divorced
- 2016
- Studio Location
- St. Catherine's (Salmonier), Mount Carmel at the head of St. Mary's Bay, Newfoundland (from 1963 until death)
- Working Methods
- Highly disciplined; worked from sketches to refined compositions; influenced by construction surveying training
- Honors and Awards
- Provincial Arts and Letters Competition winner (1953)Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (ARCA) (1965)Member of the Canadian Society of Graphic Art (1965)Officer of the Order of Canada (1973)Companion of the Order of Canada (1983)Honorary Degree, Memorial University (1972)Honorary Degree, Mount Allison University (1972)Honorary Degree, Dalhousie University (1986)Honorary Fellow, Ontario College of Art (1990)Order of Newfoundland and Labrador (2018)
Artistic Profile
- Style
- Influences
Artist Impact Alex Colville Encouraged pursuit of fine arts; shared approach to measured realism Edward Hopper Light and atmosphere; discovered 'Early Sunday Morning' in 1970s Charles Sheeler Precisionist approach to architectural forms Lawren P. Harris Encouraged early talent — Concept over emotion; ideal over real; linear over painterly — Precise measuring and technical drawing influenced compositional approach Mark Rothko (color field painting) Color gradients and geometric compositions in later 'Driving to Venus' series - Classification
- Realism with abstract elements; precisionism; minimalism
- Characteristics
- Smoothly rendered surfacesFrontal compositionsRestrained palette (blues, greens, neutrals)Elimination of inessential elementsPrecise measurement and geometric organizationEmphasis on light (natural and artificial)Flat surfaces with careful attention to design
- Themes and Subjects
- Primary Themes
- Newfoundland landscapes and seascapesArchitecture (clapboard buildings, sheds, houses)Boats and maritime subjectsInterior spaces (often empty, window-lit rooms)Roads and roadscapes (post-1992)Occasional figure workThe Strait of Belle Isle and coastal waters
- Recurring Motifs
- Windows and lightEmptiness and absenceHorizon lines (often with 2/3 composition devoted to sky)Geometric architectural formsNewfoundland vernacular architectureAbandoned or isolated structures
- Thematic Concerns
- Power of ordinariness and the archetypalNewfoundland identity and nationalismTransformation of traditional ways of lifePolitical commentary (subtle) on Newfoundland's relationship with Canadian confederationMemory and placeIntersection of reality and fiction through imagination
- Movements and Periods
- Position
- Major Canadian realist painter; Newfoundland regionalist with national significance
- Early Period
- Years
- 1952-1961
- Key Work
- Boat in Sand (1961) - launched career at National Gallery Biennial
- Characteristics
- Watercolours; development at Mount Allison; early prints
- Mature Period
- Notes
- Moved to Salmonier 1963; worked full-time as artist; developed reputation
- Years
- 1961-1992
- Characteristics
- Established style; landscapes, architecture, boats; silkscreen prints; careful measured compositions
- Canadian Context
- Peer to Alex Colville; part of generation that established Canadian realist tradition distinct from American photorealism
- Legacy Influence
- Influenced Canadian realism; established importance of regional perspective; designed iconic Newfoundland flag still in use
- Post Fire Period
- Notes
- Shift from measured distance to more personal response
- Years
- 1992-2022
- Catalyst
- 1992 studio fire, 1994 flood
- Characteristics
- More immediate works; air of foreboding; road paintings based on travels; continued evolution
- International Context
- Connected to American precisionism (Hopper, Sheeler) but with distinct regional Canadian identity
- Philosophical Approach
- Artist Statements
- My work is essentially autobiographical... comes from my environment
- I have a profound sense of the power of ordinariness
- They were never photographic takes... I invented places that came from places I had been
- There is an immense presence in ordinariness
- I celebrate the non-exotic, the anti-picturesque
- Working Philosophy
- Not preoccupied with art history or 'art about art'; responds to lived experience; transforms ordinary into archetypal through abstraction and elimination; work 'situated between reality and fiction'
- Techniques and Mediums
- Media
- Oil on canvasWatercolourSilkscreen/serigraph printsLithographsMixed mediaGraphiteLiquin glazes
- Process
- Begins with small rough sketches (postage stamp size)Develops composition focusing on design and formal elementsBecomes more specific through stagesCareful organization and precise executionOften works from imagination filtered through memoryMay take photographs or make sketches during extensive Newfoundland road trips
- Printmaking
- Period
- 1958-1991 extensively documented
- Editions
- Typically 30-100 prints
- Specialty
- Silkscreen/serigraph
- Significance
- Major contribution to Canadian printmaking; catalogue raisonné published
Critical Reception
- Critical Reception
- Critical Consensus
- Legacy
- Designed Newfoundland flag (1980); influenced generation of Canadian realists; established importance of regional perspective in Canadian art
- Strengths
- Technical mastery and precisionUnique voice in Canadian art - neither purely abstract nor photorealisticSuccessful creation of psychological depth through minimalismImportant chronicler of Newfoundland cultural transformationSignificant printmaking contribution
- Art Historical Position
- Major Canadian realist; peer to Alex Colville; important regional voice with national significance; bridge between American realism and Canadian sensibility
- Publications and Media
- 2025 Mentions
- Date
- May 2025
- Notes
- Mentioned in context of major Canadian auction activity
- Context
- Lawren Harris leads the way in Heffel's all-Canadian marquee spring auctions
- 2022 Obituaries
- Date
- June 2022
- Headline
- Christopher Pratt, legendary Canadian painter, dead at 86
- Assessment
- Described as defining Newfoundland landscapes, creating province's flag
- Art Publications
- Featured in Fine Art Connoisseur (2024)ArtDaily coverageArt Market Monitor mentions
- Major Publications
Title Year Isbn Publisher Type Christopher Pratt 1982 — — Monograph Christopher Pratt: A Retrospective 1985 — Vancouver Art Gallery Exhibition catalogue The Prints of Christopher Pratt: 1958-1991 1991 1-55081-060-X Breakwater Books with Mira Godard Gallery Catalogue raisonné Christopher Pratt: Personal Reflections on a Life in Art 1995 — Key Porter Books, Toronto Artist autobiography/journal Christopher Pratt: All My Own Work 2005 1-55365-145-6 National Gallery of Canada with Douglas + McIntyre Exhibition catalogue Christopher Pratt: Six Decades 2013 — Firefly Books — Christopher Pratt: The Places I Go 2015 978-0-86492-884-9 Goose Lane/The Rooms Exhibition catalogue Thoughts on Driving to Venus: Christopher Pratt's Car Books 2015 978-0-88984-384-4 The Porcupine's Quill — The Prints of Christopher Pratt 2020 978-0-9691144-9-9 Mira Godard Gallery — - Documentary Coverage
- Type
- Documentary film
- Year
- 2018
- Title
- Immaculate Memories: The Uncluttered Worlds of Christopher Pratt
- Director
- Kenneth J. Harvey
Gallery & Representation
- Fair Presence
- Art Fair Participation
- Notes
- Limited international fair presence; focused on Canadian market
- Historical
- Represented at major Canadian art fairs through Mira Godard Gallery
- Representation
- Notes
- Gallery organized multiple exhibitions including print surveys and touring shows internationally
- Status
- Represented from career through death and estate
- Gallery
- Mira Godard Gallery
- Website
- godardgallery.com
- Locations
- TorontoVancouver
- Relationship
- Long-term primary dealer; handled estate
- Secondary Market Galleries
Name Location Focus Gallery 78 Fredericton, NB Atlantic Canadian artists secondary market Mayberry Fine Art Winnipeg, MB — Emma Butler Gallery — Canadian art Oeno Gallery — Canadian contemporary art Caviar20 — Canadian prints and multiples - Auction House Relationships
Notes House Status Achieved auction record in 2021; consistent high-value lots Heffel Fine Art Auction House Market leader for this artist Multiple lots 2016-2017 period Waddington's Regular consignments
- Geographic Reach
- Paintings
- Rare; most major works in institutional collections
- Estate Status
- Estate handled by Mira Godard Gallery post-2022
- Works on Paper
- Periodically available; moderate supply
- Prints Multiples
- Regularly available through secondary market galleries and auctions
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