Frank Shirley Panabaker
Frank Shirley Panabaker
1904 - 1992
ARCA
Frank Shirley Panabaker was known for his colourful landscapes that explored the many regions of Canada, including Beaver Valley, Georgian Bay, Haliburton and rural Ontario as well as Nassau in the Bahamas.

Panabaker was born in Hespeler, Ontario, where he was encouraged from a young age to attend art classes by his father, who had always held an interest in painting. At the age of 12, Panabaker received his first gun and began to develop his love of hunting, which was a hobby he maintained throughout his life, featured in numerous duck hunting paintings that he produced over the years. Panabaker studied at the Ontario College of Art for two years before continuing his studies at the Valparaiso University, Indiana. Around 1926, he then continued his education in painting and drawing studies at the Grand Central School of Art.

The same year he held his first solo show at the Preston Springs Hotel in Kitchener, which featured paintings of the Kawartha Lakes, northern Ontario, and around his hometown of Hespeler. In 1929, Panabaker’s technically difficult canvas of Moraine Lake in Banff National Park was chosen for the National Academy of Design in New York. In 1930, the artist was awarded the Jessie Dow Prize for landscape painting at spring exhibition of the Montreal Art Association. In 1932, Panabaker was praised by A.H. Robson in the book Canadian Landscape Painters as “brilliant and colourful.” During a 1934 exhibition in the Birks Building, Hamilton, a seascape by Panabaker was acquired by the mother of the President of the United States, Mrs. Delano Roosevelt, as a gift for her son Franklin D. Roosevelt. The painting was displayed in the White House.

By 1942, Panabaker had been elected an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy. The artist became a published author in 1957 when his book Reflected Lights was published by Ryerson Press. It went on to be awarded the Literary Award of the Toronto Women’s Canadian Club in 1958. The following year he was elected a Trustee of the National Gallery of Canada, and in 1964, he was appointed to the Board of Governors of the Art Gallery of Hamilton.
HOW TO SELL
AVAILABLE WORKS
HEFFEL’S TOP RESULTS
Mt. Assinaboine by Frank Shirley Panabaker sold for $69,000
Frank Shirley Panabaker
Mt. Assinaboine
34 x 40 in, 86.3 x 101.6 cm
oil on canvas
Estimate: $4,000 - $6,000 CDN
Sold for: $69,000 CDN (premium included)
June 2007 on Saturday, June 23, 2007
June, Storm Brewing by Frank Shirley Panabaker sold for $23,000
Frank Shirley Panabaker
June, Storm Brewing
20 x 26 in, 50.8 x 66 cm
oil on board
Estimate: $16,000 - $20,000 CDN
Sold for: $23,000 CDN (premium included)
May 2008 - 1st session on Saturday, May 31, 2008
Windy Day, Georgian Bay by Frank Shirley Panabaker sold for $16,100
Frank Shirley Panabaker
Windy Day, Georgian Bay
16 x 20 in, 40.6 x 50.8 cm
oil on board
Estimate: $2,000 - $3,000 CDN
Sold for: $16,100 CDN (premium included)
November 2005 - 2nd Session on Saturday, November 26, 2005
Harbour Village, Nova Scotia by Frank Shirley Panabaker sold for $14,950
Frank Shirley Panabaker
Harbour Village, Nova Scotia
19 3/4 x 25 3/4 in, 50.2 x 65.4 cm
oil on board
Estimate: $4,000 - $6,000 CDN
Sold for: $14,950 CDN (premium included)
November 2006 - 2nd Session on Saturday, November 25, 2006
End of Steam, Paris, Ontario by Frank Shirley Panabaker sold for $13,750
Frank Shirley Panabaker
End of Steam, Paris, Ontario
18 x 24 in, 45.7 x 61 cm
oil on board
Estimate: $2,500 - $3,500 CDN
Sold for: $13,750 CDN (premium included)
The Great Outdoors: A Selection of Landscapes on Thursday, January 27, 2022
Rocky Shore - Georgian Bay by Frank Shirley Panabaker sold for $13,750
Frank Shirley Panabaker
Rocky Shore - Georgian Bay
15 1/2 x 19 1/2 in, 39.4 x 49.5 cm
oil on board
Estimate: $3,000 - $5,000 CDN
Sold for: $13,750 CDN (premium included)
February 2017 - 4th Session on Thursday, February 23, 2017
Windy Day, Georgian Bay by Frank Shirley Panabaker sold for $11,800
Frank Shirley Panabaker
Windy Day, Georgian Bay
16 x 20 in, 40.6 x 50.8 cm
oil on board
Estimate: $3,000 - $5,000 CDN
Sold for: $11,800 CDN (premium included)
November 2015 - 7th Session on Saturday, November 28, 2015
Winter's Quiet by Frank Shirley Panabaker sold for $11,800
Frank Shirley Panabaker
Winter's Quiet
30 x 25 in, 76.2 x 63.5 cm
oil on canvas
Estimate: $10,000 - $15,000 CDN
Sold for: $11,800 CDN (premium included)
November 2015 - 4th Session on Saturday, November 28, 2015
Beech Woods by Frank Shirley Panabaker sold for $11,250
Frank Shirley Panabaker
Beech Woods
22 x 28 in, 55.9 x 71.1 cm
oil on canvas
Estimate: $2,500 - $3,500 CDN
Sold for: $11,250 CDN (premium included)
Fine Canadian Art on Saturday, May 27, 2023
Harvest in the Dundas Valley by Frank Shirley Panabaker sold for $10,925
Frank Shirley Panabaker
Harvest in the Dundas Valley
19 x 25 in, 48.3 x 63.5 cm
oil on canvas
Estimate: $4,000 - $6,000 CDN
Sold for: $10,925 CDN (premium included)
May 2008 - 5th session on Saturday, May 31, 2008