TORONTO.- Art lovers have the rare opportunity to experience museum-quality artworks by globally celebrated artists Vincent van Gogh and Pierre-August Renoir, alongside internationally-exhibited Canadian icons Emily Carr, Tom Thomson, Lawren Harris, and other members of the Group of Seven in a free public exhibition in Toronto ahead of a major auction on Wednesday, May 27.

Presented by Cowley Abbott at its downtown Toronto gallery (326 Dundas Street West), the free exhibition offers access to 70 artworks from prominent private and corporate collections, including some works being exhibited publicly for the first time.

Among the highlights is Pierre-August Renoir’s “Paysage du Midi, c. 1900” (est. $150,000 - $250,000), a rare Canadian auction offering by the pioneering impressionist master. Long-held in a Canadian private collection, the canvas will be exhibited for the first time in almost 40 years – and for the first time in Canada. Renoir paintings rarely appear at auction in Canada; the last canvas sold more than two decades ago, in 2004.

Visitors can also examine Vincent van Gogh’s singular venture into the medium of etching. Created in the final year of van Gogh’s life “Homme à la Pipe: Portrait du Docteur Gachet, 1890” (est. $150,000 - $250,000) offers an intimate glimpse into the artist’s historic relationship with the doctor who cared for him during the final year of his life.

At auction alongside these renowned international artists is a selection of artworks from some of Canada’s most celebrated historical and post-war artists, including 10 historical Canadian artworks from the collection of Beam Canada Inc., which were previously displayed at The Canadian Club Brand Centre, a building with a rich history in the development of Windsor and Canadian Club whisky. The collection includes a painting by each original member of the Group of Seven as well as a small rare 1911 Tom Thomson canvas “Marsh, Lake Scugog” carrying an auction estimate of $100,000 - $200,000.

Additional auction highlights include:

A spectacular Lawren Harris masterwork “Above Coldwell Bay, North Shore, Lake Superior (Lake Superior Sketch XV), 1925” (est. $500,000–$700,000) depicting the transformative Lake Superior region that inspired some of the artist’s most sought after works.

Once part of the artist’s estate, Emily Carr’s dynamic 1936 canvas “Wind” (est. $500,000–$700,000) makes its auction debut at Cowley Abbott this spring. A vivid symphony of colour and movement, the forest landscape was exhibited at the Art Gallery of Toronto (now the Art Gallery of Ontario) in 1937 and has captivated audiences ever since.

Edward John Hughes’ “Sooke Harbour Landscape, 1951” (est. $200,000 - $300,000) was gifted to a corporate collection in Montreal shortly after its creation, where it has resided for nearly 75 years. Known for his coastal images of British Columbia, Hughes’s charming painting depicts an area that he only sketched once in career – during a two-week visit to Sooke shortly after he moved to the Fernwood area of Victoria with his wife in 1948.