Harrison Galleries client says her consigned paintings have disappeared

Clients of Vancouver's Harrison Galleries say they too are missing art they gave to the gallery to resell on their behalf.

Earlier this week, CBC reported that at least a dozen artists who sold their work through Harrison Galleries are trying to find paintings they had consigned to owner Chris Harrison.

The gallery represented more than 40 artists before closing its doors in April.

Cathy Forsyth bought her first painting from gallery founder Alex Harrison in 1983.  

When she wanted to sell two paintings in 2012 she contacted the gallery again, this time dealing with Alex's son Chris Harrison.

One painting was a large one by Jose Trinidad called Artist Garden June worth $14,500 and the other was by Allan Myndzak called Garden Arches, worth $4,000.

Forsyth says she checked in with Harrison regularly, wondering if her paintings had been sold. He told her they could be sold right away or years later as there had been 'lots of interest but no bites.'

She last spoke to Harrison in January or February this year and when she heard the gallery closed, she says she sent him several emails asking about her paintings but never heard back.

"If he has sold them I'd like the money owing to me and if he hasn't sold them I'd like the paintings back so I can make other arrangements for them," she told CBC in a telephone interview. "They're very valuable paintings."

After she saw the CBC story about the artists, she filed a report with Vancouver Police about her lost paintings.

'I feel like I've been duped, that I didn't do my due diligence and I'm usually not that careless. I thought Harrison Galleries: very reputable...I knew I dealt with his father so it's very frustrating," she said.

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