A Winston Churchill painting sold for the highest price yet for art once owned by the defunct Hudson’s Bay Co., earning $1.3 million at a Toronto auction Wednesday.
The 1935 oil work, a Marrakech scene gifted to HBC by Churchill’s wife, had been expected to sell for between $400,000 and $600,000.
The Yorkville sale drew a packed room and heavy online interest, with several works soaring past estimates. A Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith streetscape valued at up to $150,000 went for $575,000, and a W.J. Phillips piece set a record for the artist at $130,000.
The strong bidding is welcome news for HBC, which is trying to raise cash after filing for creditor protection and shuttering all stores. The retailer owes creditors $1.1 billion and has been relying on asset sales to pay down its debt.
The Manitoba Museum CEO Dorota Blumczynska said her institution wouldn’t be bidding in HBC’s auctions because it doesn’t have “an adequate acquisitions budget.”
However, she said the museum would be “honoured” to receive anything that aligns with its collection.
Here’s a look at the auction in photos.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 19, 2025.
The Canadian Press
