A painting bought at a Vancouver garage sale and believed to be the work of iconic Canadian artist Tom Thomson has been sold at auction for $110,000, considerably less than its estimated value.

The untitled oil painting, measuring just 28 by 21 centimetres, was expected to draw $250,000 or more in the auction at Maynards Fine Art and Antiques in Vancouver Wednesday night.

The buyer's identity has not been made public.

The garage-sale buyer, who also has remained anonymous, bought the Thomson oil painting, along with a watercolour sketch by Group of Seven artist Frederick Varley, for $100 and later took the paintings to Maynards for appraisal.

Maynards' director of Canadian and contemporary art, Kate Bellringer, had a number of experts examine the paintings and the consensus was that the works were indeed painted by Thomson and Varley.

This watercolour by the Group of Seven's Frederick Varley went for $6,500 in Vancouver Wednesday. (CBC)

Bellringer estimated the value of the Thomson at between $150,000 and $250,000, but thought it would be sold for a higher price at auction.

The Thomson painting depicts a sunrise or sunset over a lake and hills, typical of many works the artist did in Ontario's Algonquin Park before his death in 1917. He was considered a major influence on the Group of Seven.

The value of the Varley watercolour, an impressionistic cityscape of Sheffield, England, was pegged between $4,000 and $7,000 and drew a sale price of $6,500 at the auction.