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visual arts

Detail of painting bought at a garage sale and believed to be the work of artist Tom Thomson.The Canadian Press

A painting bought at a garage sale and believed to be the work of an artist connected to Canada's revered Group of Seven painters is creating a buzz before it's auctioned off in Vancouver next month.

The oil painting on plywood is thought to be by icon Tom Thomson at the height of his career in 1915.

It features a landscape in pale blues, purples and peachy colours, possibly sketched while he sat in his canoe in Ontario's Algonquin Park.

Maynard's Auctions spokeswoman Kate Bellringer says it was one of two paintings that an older gentleman brought to her in a shopping bag in January after buying them at a garage sale for $100.

Bellringer says about 10 experts have been consulted on the painting's authenticity, and four people who've actually seen it say it's the real thing.

The painting will be auctioned off on May 16 and has been estimated at between $150,000 to $250,000.

National Gallery of Canada curator Charlie Hill says he's been in talks with Maynard's about the painting for about three weeks, and while it has some Thomson attributes, he's skeptical.

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