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Winnipeg couple buys 'Love You Forever' art

A Winnipeg couple known for philanthropy has snapped up the original illustrations from Robert Munsch's bestseller 'Love you Forever.'

A Winnipeg couple known for philanthropy has snapped up the original illustrations from Robert Munsch's international bestseller Love You Forever.

John Buhler, head of Winnipeg-based agricultural equipment manufacturer Buhler Industries, and his wife Bonnie have bought the entire lot of 15 full-colour illustrations and one framed group of drawings that Sheila McGraw created for the original version of the beloved book.

The series includes a rare work that was only published in the first printing of the book and replaced in later printings.

"If we had broken them up and sold them individually, I would have been the ... unhappiest man in the world," David Loch, art dealer for the drawings, told CBC News on Friday. "That would have been the wrong thing to do."

The asking price for the series had been listed as $300,000 but Loch declined to reveal the final selling price.

The Buhlers are high-profile philanthropists in Manitoba, with local hospitals, farm associations, schools and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights among groups that have benefited from their contributions. Loch, owner of the Loch Gallery in Winnipeg and its satellite location in Toronto, is known in the industry for buying on behalf of Canada's most renowned collector, Kenneth Thomson.

Love You Forever is the story of a mother who sings a song of love to her son at each stage of his development.

The short but poignant book, first published in 1986, became No. 1 on the New York Times children's bestseller list. It has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and even received a prominent mention on the hit U.S. sitcom Friends on an episode in its final season.

The Loch Gallery in Toronto will exhibit the illustrations from Dec. 3-14, with Munsch and McGraw scheduled to appear on Dec. 10 to sign hardcover copies of the book.

According to Loch, the Buhlers plan to enjoy the works – a mix of pastel, crayon, pencil crayon and marker on paper – privately for a while before putting them on public display.

Loch welcomes the news the works will eventually be displayed again. "If we'd sold them to some wealthy individual who simply wanted to keep them, that would also be the wrong thing to do."

McGraw has said she decided to sell the drawings after almost 20 years because she felt they should be "viewed and enjoyed instead of being hidden away."