Banting painting of lab where insulin was discovered sells for more than $300K

By The Canadian Press

TORONTO — Canadian Nobel Prize-winning scientist Frederick Banting has added yet another accomplishment to his illustrious resume — this time, posthumously as an artist.  

Banting set a new auction record for his works Wednesday with the $313,250 sale of his 1925 painting of the University of Toronto laboratory in which he co-discovered insulin.

Believed to be the painter-physician’s only known interior scene, “The Lab” exceeded its roughly $30,000 presale estimate more than 10 times over at the Heffel fall auction in Toronto.

According to its inscription, Banting painted the oil-on-board piece on a winter’s night at the laboratory where, just years before, he and Charles Best made the 1921 medical breakthrough that revolutionized the treatment of diabetes.

Best known for his scientific prowess, Banting was recognized in artistic circles for his skill as a landscape painter, earning him the friendship of the Group of Seven’s A.Y. Jackson.

The Heffel Fine Arts Auction House has pledged to donate its $53,250 commission from the sale to the University of Toronto’s Banting & Best Diabetes Centre.

 

The Canadian Press

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