WILLIAM SCOTT, R.A. (1913-1989) – Blue Cup and Pears sold for £289,000 over a top estimate of £180,000
The Modern British and Irish Art evening sale at Christie’s in London realised a total of £23,781,300 / $30,226,032 / €27,776,558, a 23% increase year on year. Registered bidders from 15 countries highlighted the global appeal of Modern British and Irish artists. The sale was led by L.S. Lowry’s masterpiece Sunday Afternoon, which sold for £6,290,000, the second highest price achieved for a work by Lowry at auction. The painting was presented from the Collection of Sir Keith and Lady Showering and had not been exhibited publicly for 57 years.
The appeal of female artists continued as Women’s History Month is celebrated. Pauline Boty’s powerful tribute to Marilyn Monroe, Epitaph to Something’s Gotta Give realised a world auction record for the artist (£1,310,500). Barbara Hepworth’s Sculpture with Colour (Oval Form) Pale Blue and Red, a unique hand-carved work that fuses the constructivist principles Hepworth had pioneered in the late-1930s and a newly awakened sensibility towards her local landscape in Cornwall, achieved £3,549,000.
(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for February 9, February 21 and March 13, 2024)
PAUL HENRY RHA (1876-1958) – COTTAGES BY A LAKE, ACHILL, CONNEMARA MADE 220,000 AT HAMMER
Paul Henry’s Cottages by a Lake, Achill, Connemara was the top lot at Whyte’s sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin this evening. It made a hammer price of €220,000. Jug and Pear 1983 by William Scott made €120,000 at hammer, Waves at Bowmore, Rosses Point 1936 by Jack B Yeats made 85,000 and The Last General Absolution of the Munsters at Rue du Bois by Fortunino Matania made 61,000. Among the other leading prices A Professional Man by Jack B Yeats made 34,000, Little Waves, Achill by Grace Henry made 30,000, Tide Coming In, Ballycastle, Co. Mayo made 28,000, Fair Day, Roundstone 1959 by Frank McKelvey made 26,000, Autumn Coastline by Donald Teskey made 18,000, Sunshower by Dan O’Neill made 18,000, Wild Cherry by Norah McGuinness made 14,000, Like a Dream by Barbara Warren made 12,500, Beyond the Bog by Patrick Collins made 11,500, Captive Man of ’83 from 1983 by Rowan Gillespie made 11,500, Surface, 1995 by Linda Brunker made 9,500 and a Facsimile of the Book of Kells made 18,000.
In the catalogue note to Barbara Warren’s Like a Dream estimated at €4,000-€6,000 (pictured below) Adelle Hughes of Whyte’s pointed out that the work feels distinctly Modern and European yet the feeling it inspires also sits comfortably within the traditional West of Ireland scene. Warren’s death at the age of 91 in 2017 marked the end of a living connection to a generation of pioneering Irish female artists like Mainie Jellett, Evie Hone, May Guinness, Norah McGuinness and Elizabeth Rivers who, like Warren, studied in Paris with Andre Lhote.
UPDATE: THE AUCTION REALISED 1.2 MILLION
BARBARA WARREN – LIKE A DREAM MADE 12,500 AT HAMMER
WILLIAM SCOTT CBE RA (1913-1989) – JUG AND PEAR, 1983 UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 120,000 AT HAMMER
Jug and Pear, an oil on canvas by William Scott, is among the highlights at Whyte’s sale of Important Irish Art on March 11. Signed and dated, and with exhibition labels on the reverse, it is estimated at €120,000-€180,000. The catalogue for the sale is online and it includes work by Paul Henry, Jack Butler Yeats, Lilian Lucy Davidson, Frank McKelvey, Grace Henry, Harry Kernoff, Nano Reid, Norah McGuinness, George Campbell, Daniel O’Neill, Barbara Warren, Patrick Collins, William Scott, Louis le Brocquy, Donald Teskey, Linda Brunker and many more well known artists.
William Scott CBE, RA, 1913-1989 AN ORCHARD OF PEARS NO.1 (1976). UPDATE: THIS MADE €135,000 AT HAMMER
This 1976 work by William Scott comes up at de Veres current sale of Outstanding Irish Art and Sculpture, which runs until June 13. The English summer of 1976 was marked by a heatwave that resulted in an abundant harvest in the apple and pear growing area around Scott’s Sommerset studio. A flourishing pear tree growing against the studio wall prompted him to do an extensive series of 17 paintings, collectively called ‘An Orchard of Pears’, throughout the autumn and winter of 1976/77. They were shown at Gallery Kasahara in Osaka, appealing to the Japanese taste for understatement. This painting was the first of these and it is estimated at €150,000-€200,000.
The pears are carefully placed, huddled around a central point emphasised by the circular plate while simultaneously drawing your eyes away from it. Notice the way the outward tilt of the pears pulls away from the centre, and how the pear at the right edge further unsettles the composition’s stability. Scott is a master of animating empty space by creating subtle visual tension between objects. His genius is that, as a viewer, we’re never conscious of this.
Still Life on White with Beans (1978) by William Scott. UPDATE: THIS MADE 160,000 AT HAMMER
The high end of the art and antiques market continues to perform strongly and this augurs well for Morgan O’Driscoll’s scorching Irish and International online art sale which runs until the evening of April 18. There is a wealth of desirable art in this, his most expensively estimated sale yet, on view at the RDS this weekend and on Monday. With 180 lots on the online catalogue headed by internationally acclaimed painters like Sean Scully, Bridget Riley, William Scott, Paul Henry, Andy Warhol and Sir William Orpen this is an exciting sale. Plenty of internationally known names feature alongside Irish artists on the catalogue.
Teddy Roosevelt by Andy Warhol UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
A 1986 screenprint of Teddy Roosevelt by Andy Warhol is estimated at €50,000-€70,000, Homage to Degas, an etching by Alex Katz, is estimated at €7,000-€10,000 and a woodcut in colours by Damien Hirst has an estimate of €8,000-€12,000.The most expensively estimated lot is a dramatic oil on linen by Sean Scully. Raval Rojo (€400,000-€600,000) is signed and dated 2004 and was purchased by the present owner at the Kerlin Gallery in 2005. An oil on canvas by William Scott from 1978, Still Life on White with Beans is estimated at €100,000-€150,000 and Paul Henry’s brooding Western Landscape has an estimate of €80,000-€120,000. These three widely differing works demonstrate the broad range and creativity of Irish art at the highest levels.
Untitled (1972) by Bridget Riley UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
An untitled 1972 gouache and pencil on paper by the acclaimed British artist Bridget Riley is estimated at €60,000-€90,000. A signed and numbered artist print by Andy Warhol of Teddy Roosevelt, number 31 from a run of 50 artist proofs, is estimated at €50,000-€70,000. There is a similar estimate on an oil on canvas by George Barret of A Landscape with Figures and Ruins of Melrose Abbey, Roxburghshire. There are classical works by Dan O’Neill, Donald Teskey, Evie Hone, Gerard Dillon and Sir William Orpen and some highly collectible work by artists from John Shinnors and Hughie O’Donoghue to Norah McGuinness, Evie Hone and Tony O’Malley. The sculpture section is headed by Seated Dog (1967) by the late British artist Lynn Chadwick (€20,000-€25,000) and there is work by Elisabeth Frink, Imogen Stuart, John Behan, F.E. McWilliam and others. Many of the works on offer, like a 1945 view of Glengarriff from Garnish Island by Letitia Marion Hamilton (€3,000-€5,000), Evening Field by William Crozier and Washing Line by Basil Blackshaw, each estimated at €4,000-€6,000 are more afffordable and would enhance any collection.
William Scott OBE RA (1913-1989) – Two Pears (1977). UPDATE: THIS MADE 60,000 AT HAMMER
A 1977 oil on canvas by William Scott – Two Pears – is among a very strong offering of art at Morgan O’Driscoll’s online art auction which runs until January 30. There will be no less than five watercolour works by Jack B. Yeats, three of them featured in The Turf Cutter’s Donkey by Patricia Lynch with illustrations by Yeats. Lot 15, The Turf Cutter’s Donkey, has never been on the auction market before. Estimates for these range from 5,000-25,000. Among other artists featured are Donald Teskey, John Shinnors, Hughie O’Donoghue, Mainie Jellett and James Arthur O’Connor. The William Scott is estimated at 50,000-70,000. The catalogue will go live on January 18.
Jack Butler Yeats RHA(1871-1957) The Turf Cutters Donkey watercolour and ink on paper. UPDATE: THIS MADE 27,000 AT HAMMER
WILLIAM SCOTT CBE RA (1913-1989) – STILL LIFE WITH SAUCEPAN, 1968. UPDATE: THIS MADE 72,000 AT HAMMER
Still Life with Saucepan by William Scott made a hammer price of €72,000 at Whyte’s sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin last night. Whyte’s reported a strong sale despite the economic downturn, with many buyers looking for a hedge against inflation. The auction grossed €1.25 million with 75% of lots sold. The top price was €160,000 for Sunshine and Blossom by Walter Osborne, Turf Stacks in the West by Paul Henry made €130,000 and Unloading the Turf Boat, Aran by Sean Keating made €75,000.
WILLIAM SCOTT (1913-1989) – Blue and Brown Still Life with Knife (1975). UPDATE: THIS MADE 34,000 AT HAMMER
Viewing gets underway at the RDS in Dublin today for the Irish and International online art sale by Morgan O’Driscoll on November 1. Pictured here is Blue and Brown Still Life with Knife, a gouache and pastel on paper by William Scott from 1975. It is estimated at 20,000-30,000. In a catalogue note to the work Dr. Peter Murray said: “Since the early 1930s, perhaps more than any other Irish artist of the twentieth century (apart from Jack Yeats), Scott’s work has been exhibited worldwide. In 1953, as well as showing at the Sao Paul Bienal, he was introduced by Martha Jackson (at whose New York gallery he had several exhibitions), to Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline and Mark Rothko. Five years later, he represented Britain at the Venice Biennale, and showed also at galleries in Turin, Milan, Munich and other cities.”
The sale is led by Village by the Marsh, a classical Paul Henry landscape, and there is art by Yeats, Lavery, Crozier, Shinnors and many more leading artists. The catalogue is online.
Village by the Marsh by Paul Henry. UPDATE: THIS MADE 210,000 AT HAMMER
A classical Paul Henry landscape leads an Irish and International art sale by Morgan O’Driscoll on November 1 which also boasts significant works by artists varying from Jack B. Yeats and Sir John Lavery to William Scott, William Crozier and John Shinnors. An impressive canvas by George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson features a three masted frigate off Haulbowline in Cork Harbour in 1846 with a rowing boat in the foreground and a small paddle steamer in the background. It is estimated at €25,000-€35,000.
Village by the Marsh by Paul Henry is estimated at €200,000-€300,000. My River (1950) and Through the wood to the sea (1951) by Jack B Yeats are estimated respectively at €60,000-€80,000 and €50,000-€70,000. The auction is on view in Skibbereen today and tomorrow and at the RDS in Dublin from next Friday until October 31. The catalogue is online.
Seascape, Large Frigate off Haulbowline, Cork Harbour (1846) by George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson. UPDATE: THIS MADE 32,000 AT HAMMER
WILLIAM SCOTT, R.A. (1913-1989) – Frying Pan – Still Life, 1947. UPDATE; THIS MADE £756,000
Frying Pan – Still Life by William Scott at Christie’s Modern British and Irish Art evening sale in London on October 19 dates to 1947. It is emblematic of Scott’s approach to painting following the Second World War. At first glance, the simple arrangement of culinary objects speaks of the Northern Irish austerity that Scott experienced in his youth. Concurrently, however, the artist’s sophisticated exploration into the arrangement of colour, form and spatial geometry reflects a preoccupation that ensued throughout the artist’s celebrated career. According to the catalogue notes in this work Scott demonstrates a masterful approach to composition – the ovoid shapes that reverberate across the canvas work in harmony with the linear diagonals that permeate the scene. The alignment of the eggs, positioned carefully on the table-top, create a subtle dynamism as they lead the eye towards the frying pan, whose crisp silhouette against the rich yolk-yellow of the background foreshadows the use of the motif as the most recognisable icon of his later work. The estimate is £300,000-£500,000.
The sale will be led by L.S. Lowry’s Going to the Match, which is being offered by The Players Foundation. Estimated at £5,000,000-8,000,000, the painting is poised to set a new world auction record for the artist. The catalogue is online.
LAURENCE STEPHEN LOWRY, R.A. (1887-1976) – Going to the Match. UPDATE: THIS MADE £7,846,500 A NEW WORLD AUCTION RECORD FOR LOWRY
