On Saturday, November 27, 2011 the Toronto Star printed the article "Art auction brings couple $70000 lifeline", which is reproduced in part at the bottom of this page (but not available online). Galerie Walter Klinkhoff submitted the following correction to the editor: Your article "Art Auction Brings Couple $70,000 Lifeline" is inaccurate and offers the opposite position of what transpired when this needy couple risked selling at auction as compared to by private treaty.

 

The fine couple and one in need of the money represented by two works of art by Albert H. Robinson had been in touch with Galerie Walter Klinkhoff in Montreal when we informed them of the value of their works and presented an offer to purchase from them for $70,000. Lured by the prospect of what [the owner] wrote me Sunday morning as "a much bigger windfall" they elected to risk a sale at auction of their two paintings. Contrary to your report but according to [the owner] and the auctioneer's website, their most costly work, representing a reported value of $47,500 was not sold during the auction. The facts as they were at the time of your writing is that our gallery had offered the [the owner] that $70,000 lifeline but that the auction process cut it, delivering $22,500, before whatever commission they charged.

 

[The owner] continued in an email addressed to me Sunday morning: "And of course we are wishing we'd let you have them outright...but we would have always wondered if we let them go too low...!" We would have enjoyed purchasing the paintings from them directly to provide them that financial lifeline and remain hopeful for the [owner's] sake that the auctioneer can fulfill the expectations he offered. This unfortunate situation underscores the risks of selling at auction.

 

Your report describes inaccurately an auction success which did not occur. Respectfully, Alan Klinkhoff Galerie Walter Klinkhoff, Montreal

 

The following is the erroneous portion of the Toronto Star's report: "...Rachel Kelly...ended up phoning an art gallery in Canada [Galerie Walter Klinkhoff]. Robinson's Baie Saint Paul, which had an estimated value of $50,000 to $70,000, sold for $47,500. His St-Tite-des-Caps, valued at $20,000 to $30,000, sold for $22,500. The Kellys' total windfall was $70,000. That's not including the 17 percent additional premium that the buyer would have to pay..." (Toronto Star, Sunday November 29, 2011)

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