A painting by late Montreal artist Jean-Paul Riopelle drew a winning bid of $1.4 million at the Heffel Fine Art sale, the third-highest price paid at auction for a work by the artist.

That was within the range of earlier estimates, which had predicted a sale price of between $1 million and $1.5 million.

With the sales commission, the piece actually went for $1.64 million, plus taxes.

The multicoloured 1951 oil- on-canvas -- measuring about 1.3 by 1.6 metres with the label Sans titre (Composition #2) -- was one of the major highlights of Heffel's Wednesday sale of Canadian postwar and contemporary art.

It went to an unidentified buyer who bid via telephone.

The record price for a Riopelle is $1.6 million, before the sales commission, paid last spring at a New York auction.

Another highlight of the Heffel sale, the Alexander Colville painting French Cross, failed to meet its minimum bid and did not sell.

Canada's art community was anxiously watching the Heffel auction to get a sense of how the global economic downturn has affected the industry here.

Fall art auctions in the United States earlier this month and in London last month saw sagging demand for high-end pieces.

So Heffel's sale -- the first of three major art auctions to be held this month in Canada -- was the first indicator of whether that trend has made its way to this country.

"I think the general train of thought out there is that no one's very sure of what's going to happen in the next week of auctions, and certainly the Heffel one is the starter to the whole deal," said Paul Wildridge, owner- director of Roberts Gallery in Toronto.

This country's art market has seen strong sales for Canadian historical work and postwar work in recent years, with values for such pieces growing "quite substantially every year in the last five to seven years," said Wildridge.

"There is a certain (price) correction maybe due after going through such a strong period, I think," he said.

"What does get corrected are some of the things that got ahead of themselves and maybe were bought more on artist name than quality."

Experts will be watching upcoming Toronto auctions for any signs of price corrections.