A large-scale painting of a grim reaper figure riding in a carnival bumper car by Banksy entitled “Brace Yourself!” sold for $2,032,000 – over three times its original estimate of $600,000 – at Julien’s Auctions in Hollywood. It was the first time the work came to auction. The buyer was Miguel Garcia Larios, owner of vintage specialist RCNSTRCT Studio in Hollywhood. Banksy created the artwork in 2010 for a local British band known as “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” who shared the same name the artist wanted to use for his about to be released 2010 directorial debut film. To avoid any copyright issues, the band agreed to Banksy’s offer to create a unique painting for the group if they were to change their name to “Brace Yourself!” According to the original email correspondence, Banksy humorously offered to paint a smiley face on Death if the band felt the imagery was too dark. A portion of the proceeds from the sale will benefit MusiCares® the music charity.
Raval Rojo by Sean Scully comes up as lot 31 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s Irish and International online art sale on April 18 with an estimate of €400,000-€600,000. Just one day after the catalogue went online it has already received 25 bids and is currently standing at €105,000. It is signed by Scully and dated 9.04. It was purchased by the current owner at the Kerlin Gallery in Dublin in 2005. If memory serves me correctly it was displayed in that show to gobsmacking effect on the rear wall of the rectangular white space at Kerlin. In a catalogue note Aidan Dunne explains: “The Red Ravine referred to in the Catalan title, and the simmering palette of warm earth hues, relate the painting to his Barcelona studio”.
The sale offers many other fine examples of the work of prominent Irish and international artists.
HENRI MATISSE (1869-1954) – Jazz, Tériade, Paris, 1947 the complete set of twenty pochoirs in colors, 1947 $400,000-600,00
A single owner collection with over four hundred lots of Twentieth Century editions is to be sold by Christie’s across a series of live and online sales in April. The sales on April 18-19 are anchored by an unprecedented selection of complete portfolios, including an exceptionally rare example of Barnett Newman’s Cantos ($2,000,000-3,000,000), David Hockney’s A Rake’s Progress ($250,000-3,50,000), and Andy Warhol’s Flowers ($2,000,000-3,000,000),. Modern highlights from the collection include Henri Matisse’s Jazz ($400,000-600,000), El Lissitzky’s Victory Over the Sun ($200,000 – 300,000) and a rich selection of prints by László Moholy-Nagy.
Other artists featured in depth include Donald Judd, Jasper Johns, Josef Albers, Blinky Palermo, Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinksy among many others. Assembled over decades many of these works are coming to market for the first time in several years. The collection of one of the most important selections of Prints and Multiples to ever be auctioned is billed by Christie’s as The Sale of the Century: An Important Corporate Collection of Prints and Multiples. The collection is expected to achieve more than $10,000,000.
HARRY WINSTON ‘THE BRIOLETTE OF INDIA’ DIAMOND AND DIAMOND NECKLACE Briolette cut diamond of 90.38 carats, marquise and pear shaped diamonds, platinum, two portions of the chain are detachable and may be worn as bracelets, pendant detachable, unsigned, one bracelet with maker’s mark (Jacques Timey)
With a pre-sale estimate of more than $150 million the exquisite jewellery collection of the late Mrs. Heidi Horten (1941-2022) is the largest and most valuable ever to come to auction. It is poised to join and eclipse the previous record sales at Christie’s for The Elizabeth Taylor Collection (2011) and the Maharajas & Mughal Magnificence auction (2019), which are the only two jewellery collections to date to achieve more than $100 million.
Consigned by the Heidi Horten Estate and coming up in Geneva on May 12 the collection will be devoted to philanthropy, per Mrs. Horten’s wishes. All proceeds will benefit The Heidi Horten Foundation, established in 2020 to support the museum of modern and contemporary art she founded in Vienna, Austria — The Heidi Horten Collection as well as medical research and other philanthropic activities, which have been supported by her for many decades.
HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:
The stunning 90 carat Briolette of India Diamond Necklace by Harry Winston, originally sold by Cartier in 1909
A Three Strand Natural Pearl Necklace also by Harry Winston, highlighted by a cushion shaped pink diamond clasp of 11 carats
The Sunrise Ruby and Diamond ring of 25 carats by Cartier, pigeon blood in colour and of exceptional purity
A very important selection of Bulgari creations from the 1970s to present day, retracing more than five decades of the firm’s signature Italian craftsmanship
An exceptional Diamond Bracelet by Harry Winston
The Great Mughal Emerald Pendant Necklace by Harry Winston
Heidi Horten wearing her important pearl necklace
Heidi Horten (née Jelinek) was born and raised in Vienna, Austria. She attended the Hospitality Management School of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and went on to work as a secretary in a Viennese law firm. From an early age, Heidi Horten was exposed to objects of great beauty, first through her father, who was an engraver, and later during her first marriage (to Helmut Horten), when she began to refine her eye for jewellery and works of art. After Mr. Horten’s death, Mrs. Horten was passionately involved in areas as diverse as social welfare, sports and medical research, which had been supported by her for decades. As of the 1990s, Mrs. Horten began building her private collection of modern and contemporary art. Her first significant independent art purchases were works by Moise Kiesling and Emmanuel Mané-Katz, acquired at auction in Tel Aviv in 1994. Her collection grew steadily over the following two decades, and, in 2018, was first unveiled to the public when a selection of 175 works was presented at the Leopold Museum under the title WOW! Moved by the tremendous success of the exhibition, Mrs. Horten began to plan for the future of her artworks, establishing a permanent home for them at The Heidi Horten Collection, modern art museum in Vienna. The grand opening took place on June 2, 2022, which Mrs. Horten proudly attended online, just ten days before she passed away.
Watching the Boats by Markey Robinson is lot number 8 at Whyte’s Spring online art auction which runs until April 3. The catalogue is online and viewing gets underway on Molesworth St. today. This is a sales designed to encourage both first time buyers and established collectors. The painting illustrated here is estimated at €500-€700.
QUEEN ANNE DRESSING MIRROR BY JOHN AND FRANCIS BOOKER courtesy Dreweatts
This c1710 black and gilt japanned dressing mirror by Francis and John Booker comes up at Dreweatts online sale at Newbury in Berkshire on March 29. The printed label on the reverse reads: ‘Frans. & John Booker Efsex Bridge DUBLIN’ and the estimate is £1,200-1,800. Francis and John Booker took over their father John’s business when he died in 1750. The elder John Booker was recorded as a ‘Looking Glass merchant’ when he married early in 1711 or 1712 and his sons were listed in the Dublin trade directories from 1761-1772. The presence of the mid 18th century Francis and John Booker trade label on this japanned dressing mirror of an earlier date could be accounted for by the brothers selling items from their father’s stock from an earlier period.
A 17th/18th century birthing chair at Sheppards. UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,800 AT HAMMER
The growing market for collectibles and memorabilia is reflected in an increasing number of sales by auctioneers across the board. A 17th/18th century Irish yew wood birthing stool will lead Sheppards Irish Vernacular Part II sale in Durrow on March 28. This rarity has an estimate of €5,000-€8,000. An 18th century Irish Penal Cross has a well carved figure with a skull and crossbones at the base and is estimated at €2,000-€3,000, as is an 18th century Irish mether, the sort of four handled Celtic friendship drinking vessel on which the design of the Liam McCarthy Cup is based. At Sheppards you can take your pick between an Irish jaunting side car or a classic Honda 50 cc motorcycle. Among the earlier examples of Irish life are an 18th century sycamore hedge chair, a cock fighting dugout stool and a dugout chair. All are conversation pieces.
There are flour bins, griddle pans, copper measures, a one legged milking stool, a metal bound milk churn, pine dressers and tables, bookshelves, plate racks and even an early Irish dugout food cupboard. More and more collectors are opting for objects like these, laden with memory and redolent of a vanished lifestyle or homeplace. Sheppards will offer 368 lots online from Durrow.
A home bar styled as a VW camper van front at Aidan Foley’s sale. UPDATE: THIS MADE 480 AT HAMMER
Further up the country, at Blacklion, Co. Cavan there is viewing today and tomorrow for a retirement sale at McNean antique and salvage which Aidan Foley will conduct online only on March 27 and 28 The catalogue, with 1,232 lots, is online and features lots of enamel signs, road signs, street signs, vintage car parts, pub signs, garden furniture and Victorian mahogany furniture. With everything from a home bar styled like the front of a VW camper van to a decorative dug out canoe to a larger than life unique sculptural carved teak figure of a bull this sale will be a draw. Part one of the auction at McNeans last year drew enormous interest from right around Ireland.
The top lot this time round is a 1970 Rover 3.5 litre V8 (€8,000-€10,000). There are enamel signs advertising Player’s Please and Will”s Capstan cigarettes, once ubiquitous in Ireland. A London Underground Boston Manor sign might do it for all the Irish who once lived in west London and managed to make it home, an antique cast iron clothes wringer might still function and save money for someone energetic and if you feel so inclined you could light up a dark corner with an Esso petrol pump globe. The selection on offer is memory jogging for all sorts of reasons and the market likes it.
In Dublin James Adam plan to hold their first Irish Vernacular sale on April 12. This is a new auction category for Adams and the sale will feature original furniture featured on the set of The Banshees of Inisherin.
John Shinnors – White Ship, Estuary, October. UPDATE: THIS MADE 7,000 AT HAMMER
Art by John Shinnors, Pauline Bewick, Carey Clarke, Tony O’Malley and William Crozier features at de Veres timed online March Irish art auction which runs until next Tuesday (March 28), There are 142 lots on this interesting catalogue, including three late 1950’s gouaches of scenes in France by the late Cork artist John O’Leary. The sale much to whet the appetite at across the board rates.Colourful watercolours by the late Pauline Bewick are full of the joy of spring, there is a particularly cheerful work titled Bog Cuts by Brian Bourke, an interesting Lake Study by John Luke, a watercolour of harbour boats in Spain by William Crozier, colourful works by Mary Theresa Keown and Desmond Carrick,, flower studies by Stella Steyn, Brigid Ganly, Carey Clarke, Phoebe Donovan and others, still lifes, abstractions and a collection of oils by Richard Kingston.
William IV chest of drawers. UPDATE: THIS MADE 500 AT HAMMER
This William IV bow fronted chest of drawers with patinated flame mahogany to the front comes up at Hegarty’s evening sale in Bandon on March 29. The estimate is €500-800. There is a selection of jewellery, furniture and silver on offer and the catalogue is online.
PATRICK COLLINS HRHA – The Brave Bull UPDATE: THIS MADE 11,000 AT HAMMER
The Brave Bull by Patrick Collins is part of an exhibition called Dessel by Hermans at 10 Wicklow St. in Dublin from March 24-27. This is a show and auction of Modern and Contemporary Irish art. Taken from the old Irish word for sunwise, Dessel will feature a selection of works from Ireland’s most prominent and compelling artists, with established Irish art sharing wall space with the most contemporary works from fledgling artists.
Bidders are invited to view the works at Wicklow Street over the weekend. The auctions starts on Monday March 27 at 7 pm.
