antiquesandartireland.com

Information about Art, Antiques and Auctions in Ireland and around the world
  • ABOUT
  • About Des
  • Contact
  • Archive for January, 2012

    COLOURS BURST FROM PAPER AT RICHARD GORMAN’S KERLIN SHOW

    Thursday, January 19th, 2012

    THE colours which seem to burst from the paper in Richard Gorman’s exhibition at the Kerlin Gallery in Dublin until February 25 are a tremendous antidote to the dark light of winter in these latitudes.  Kozo is the title of this show of new work presented unframed on handmade Japanese echizen kozo washi paper.  The Irish artist uses techniques including dyed paper pulp poured into moulds and gouache on paper he made himself. Richard Gorman made the paperworks at Iwano Heyzabouro paper mill in Imadate Fukui in West Japan over a period of ten years from 1999 – 2009.

    Gorman has exhibited widely and regularly since the mid-1980s, especially in Dublin, London, Milan and Tokyo.

    Richard Gorman Lime Lean, 2011. (Click on image to enlarge).

    Richard Gorman Flip Ultra, 2011. (Click on image to enlarge).

    Richard Gorman Chop Orange, 2011. (Click on image to enlarge).

    PORCELAIN LECTURE AND ROADSHOW IN DUBLIN TO MARK CHINESE NEW YEAR

    Thursday, January 19th, 2012

    This Qianlong vase sold for 110,000 at Sheppards in Durrow.

    The patterns, provenance and pitfalls of collecting Chinese porcelain will be discussed at  lecture marking the Chinese New Year in Dublin. Professor Alan Fletcher, a late medieval scholar attached to UCD, will talk about collecting antique Chinese porcelain at the Shelbourne Hotel. Organised in association with Sheppard’s Irish auction house at Durrow in Co. Laois  the lecture is one of a number of events making up the 5th Dublin Chinese New Year Festival.

    It is all happening on Sunday, January 29 between noon and 4 p.m.  The illustrated lecture, which will examine recent market trends and present examples of Chinese ware, will be followed by a road show where people can bring Chinese porcelain for an assessment including authenticity and current market value.

    Admission is free but places are limited. If you would like to attend please email philip.sheppard@sheppards.ie

    DRAWINGS BY MASTERS INCLUDING LEONARDO ON LOAN FOR TEFAF SILVER JUBILEE

    Wednesday, January 18th, 2012

    Leonardo's drapery study (click on image to enlarge).

    MASTER drawings by artists including Leonardo, Guercino, Rembrandt and Peter Paul Rubens will feature at The European Fine Art Fair’s (TEFAF) Silver Jubilee celebrations at Maastricht in March.  Among highlights of an exhibition loaned by the Fondation Custodia in Paris will be a Drapery study by Leonardo da Vinci, a closely related study by Lorenzo di Credi, a Study of a nude child for the infant Christ, seated on the Virgin’s knee by Guercino and The healing of the mother-in-law of St Peter by Rembrandt van Rijn.

    Turkish Delight (1974) by Alexander Calder (1898-1976) to be exhibited at TEFAF 2012 by Salis & Vertes. (Click on image to enlarge).

    In sharp contrast the first-ever BMW Art Car, created by the American artist Alexander Calder in 1975, is to be shown at TEFAF 2012. The BMW Art Car project was founded in 1975 by French racing driver  Hervé Poulain who asked Calder to produce a bodywork design for the car Poulain drove in the Le Mans 24 Hours race. Many  renowned artists, including David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons, have since created BMW art cars. Calder’s abstract mobiles were some of the most innovative sculptures of the 20th century. Among the exhibitors at TEFAF with works by Calder are Salis & Vertes of Zürich and Salzburg who will show Turkish Delight (illustrated on the right) made in in 1974.

    TEFAF runs from March 16-25 2012 in Maastricht, The Netherlands. (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for January 5, 2012)

    ELIZABETH TAYLOR’S VAN GOGH ESTIMATED AT £5-7 MILLION AT CHRISTIE’S

    Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

    Edgar Degas (1834-1917) Autoportrait painted c1857-1858 (£350,000 - £450,000). Copyright Christies Images 2012. (Click to enlarge). UPDATE: THIS MADE £713,250

    Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) Vue de l'asile et de la Chapelle de Saint-Rémy Painted in Saint-Rémy, Autumn 1889, £5-7 million. Copyright Christies Images 2012. (Click on image to enlarge). UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR £10.1 MILLION.

    A landscape by Vincent van Gogh, Vue de l’Asile de la Chapelle de Saint-Remy is the most valuable painting from Elizabeth Taylor’s 38 artworks to be sold at Christie’s in London in February. The painting, estimated at £5-7 million, was subject of a restitution claim by the heirs of a German Jewish art collector. The claim was not upheld by US Supreme Court.

    The art collection of the late actress, which will feature in sales on February 7 and 8, includes an Edgar Degas self-portrait and works by Camille Pissarro, Auguste Renoir and 22 paintings and drawings by Augustus John.  Elizabeth Taylor’s art dealer father Francis became John’s American agent when he moved his business to California at the outbreak of the Second World War.  The collection includes a portrait of John’s daughter Poppet, bought in 1979 an a 1915 depiction of Galway fisherfolk.

    UPDATE: The grand total for the complete Elizabeth Taylor Collection, calculated when the gavel fell on the final lot in London on February 8, amounted to £117,247,761 pounds sterling or $183.5 million dollars. The 38 works of art in the collection sold for £15.6 million sterling.  This included 13 works by Augustus John which made  £192,825 against an estimate of £152,000 for the group.

    This 1915 depiction of Galway Fisherfolk by Augustus John (1878-1961) is from the Elizabeth Taylor art collection to be sold at Christie's in February. It is estimated at 2,900-3,900 euro. (Click on image to enlarge). UPDATE: THIS MADE £5,625.

    Augustus Edwin John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961) Portrait of Poppet, the artist's daughter, £40,000-60,000. Copyright Christies Images 2012. (Click on image to enlarge). UPDATE: THIS MADE £85,250.

    Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) Pommiers à Éragny Painted in 1894, £900,000-£1.2 million. Copyright Christies Images 2012. (Click on image to enlarge). UPDATE: This made £2,953,250

    WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE BOOK AT AUCTION IN NEW YORK

    Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

    Audubon's Great Blue Heron. (Click to enlarge).

    Audubon's Columbia Jay. (Click to enlarge).

    WHAT could turn out to be the world’s most expensive book will be auctioned by Christie’s in New York on January 20.  John James Audubon’s The Birds of America: The Duke of Portland Set is estimated at $7-10 million, but could go higher.  Completed and published over eleven years from 1827 to 1838, this magnificent four volume set of 435 hand-colored engravings is one of only a few known unbound copies in existence.  At the present time, 107 copies remain in institutions and 13 are in private hands. A new world record for a printed book sold at auction was established at Sotheby’s in London for another copy in December 2010 when one sold for  £7,321,250.

    The monumental format of this work (double elephant folios of over 3 ft. high) was due to Audubon’s insistence on life-size illustrations and his determination to depict all the known species found in North America. (All images copyright Christie’s Images).  (See post on antiquesandartireland.comfor December 7, 2010).

    UPDATE:  IT SOLD FOR $7.9 MILLION WHICH WAS WITHIN ESTIMATE BUT FAR SHORT OF THE RECORD OF AN EQUIVALENT $11.5 MILLION DOLLARS  IN 2010 IN LONDON.

    Audubon's Carolina Parrot. (Click on image to enlarge).

    Audubon's Wild Turkey. (Click to enlarge).

    A GIFT FROM GEORGE WASHINGTON AT CHRISTIE’S

    Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

    This Sheffield silver plated wine cooler was a gift from George Washington. (Click to enlarge). UPDATE: IT MADE $782,500

     

     

    THIS Sheffield plated silver wine cooler, a gift from George Washington, is at Christie’s sale of Important American Silver in New York on January 19. He gave it to the founding father and first US Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in 1797.

    The four-bottle wine cooler is an exceptionally well documented historical object, symbolizing the famous partnership between Washington and Hamilton in the early days of the republic. Never before seen by the public, it is being sold by direct descendants of Alexander Hamilton. It is estimated at $400,000-600,000.

    UPDATE:  It sold for $782,500 in a sale of 88 lots that brought in a total of $2,028,000.

    THE ORCHARD BY EDITH SOMERVILLE AT DOLAN’S CORK AUCTION

    Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

    The Orchard by Edith Somerville at Dolan's art auction in Cork. (Click to enlarge). UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,400

    The Drawing Room by Norman Teeling at Dolan's Cork art auction. It is estimated at 750-850. (Click on image to enlarge). UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 875 EURO

    An oil on board by the painter, illustrator and writer Edith Somerville (1858-1949) features at Dolan’s art auction at Rochestown Park Hotel, Cork on January 22.   The artist – who is best known as co-author with her cousin Violet Martin of Some Experiences of an Irish RM – studied with Whistler in Paris.  She was a suffragette and president of the Munster Women’s Franchise League, as well as being master of the West Carbery Foxhounds and organist at St Barrahane’s Church at Castletownshend in west Cork from 1875 to 1945.
    There are 228 lots on the Dolan’s Cork catalogue.

    SCORCHING ORPEN SWAGGER PORTRAIT AT SOTHEBY’S

    Monday, January 16th, 2012

    Sir William Orpen: Portrait of Rosie, Fourth Marchioness of Headfort (£300,000-500,000). (The earrings in this portrait made 42,500 Swiss francs at Sotheby's in Geneva in 2011). Click on image to enlarge. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £577,250.

    A scorching Orpen swagger portrait of Rosie, Fourth Marchioness of Headfort will highlight Sotheby’s sale of British and Irish art in London on May 10, 2012.  It is one of two portraits of the  4th Marquis and Marchioness of Headfort by Sir William Orpen.  Rose commissioned the portraits and they were almost invariably exhibited in the same exhibitions, although – save for one occasion at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool – not actually hung together. They were first exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in the 147th Summer Exhibition of 1915.

    Sir William Orpen, R.A., R.H.A. (1878-1931). Portrait of Geoffrey, Fourth Marquis of Headfort (£60,000-80,000). Click on image to enlarge. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD.

    Rose Boote, later 4th Marchioness of Headfort (1878-1958) was a Gaiety Girl who sang the part of Maisie ‘The Messenger Boy’ in 1900 under her professional name of Miss Rosie Boote. She was the daughter of a comedian from Nottingham and a straw hat sewer.  ‘Gaiety Girls’ was the name given to the chorus line girls who sang in musical comedy spectacles at the Gaiety Theatre on the Strand, London.

    The marriage surprised and intrigued Edwardian society. Even Queen Victoria was said to have commented. The Marquis was from one of the most prominent Protestant families in Ireland and Rose was a Catholic. He was one of the most eligible young men of the day who succeeded to the title and estates in Ireland totalling about 22,000 acres on the death of his father in 1894. After the marriage Rose left the theatre and lived at Headfort House in Ireland and in London. They had three children. He died in 1943, she lived until 1958.   Never before on the market Portrait of Rosie, Fourth Marchioness of Headfort is estimated at £300,000-500,000 and Portrait of Geoffrey, Fourth Marquis of Headfort is estimated at £60,000-80,000.  They came to Sotheby’s by family descent.

    In 2012 Sotheby’s is re-designing its traditional auctions of Victorian and Edwardian Art, and Irish Art. These sales will be re-titled British and Irish Art: Victorian/Early 20th Century/Sporting/Marine/Scottish/Irish.

     

    NEW YORK’S WINTER ANTIQUES SHOW GETS UNDERWAY ON JANUARY 20

    Sunday, January 15th, 2012

    London dealers Robert Young Antiques will bring this Northern European Folk Art Marriage Cupboard inscribed and dated "1790". Pine with exceptional original painted decoration and retaining original metalwork hinges. (Click to enlarge)

    New York’s eagerly awaited Winter Antiques Show, the annual January Armoury Show, gets underway on Friday, January 20 and runs to January 29.  Leading dealers from the United States and around the world will be in attendance at what is the most prestigious annual antiques fair in the US.  Here is a small selection of this year’s offerings.  (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for January 2):

    New York's Hirschl & Adler Galleries will bring this centre table attributed to Anthony Gabriel Quervelle (b. Paris, 1789- d. Philadelphia, 1856). Philadelphia, c. 1825-30. Mahogany (secondary woods: ash, mahogany, chestnut, partially painted verde antiques). (Click on image to enlarge)

    Paris dealers Les Enluminures. Renaissance Diamond Ring. The Netherlands, c. 1500. Gold and diamond. (Click on image to enlarge).

    New York based Jonathan Boos will offer Marsden Hartley's (American, 1877-1943). Berlin Series, No. 1. c. 1913. (Click on image to enlarge).

    London (Pimlico Road) dealers Keshishian will show this fine and rare Agra carpet. India, c. 1890. (Click on image to enlarge)

    Colchester, Connecticut dealers Nathan Liverant and Son have a Federal Card Table, featuring five legs with inlaid stringing, bookend and icicle decoration. Providence or Newport, Rhode Island, 1790-1815. (Click on image to enlarge).

    APPETISING SELECTION OF IRISH ART AT MORGAN O’DRISCOLL’S FEBRUARY SALE IN CORK

    Thursday, January 12th, 2012

    An appetising selection of Irish art is due to come under the hammer at the Morgan O’Driscoll auction in Cork on February 20. Around 280 lots will be offered including works by Jack B. Yeats, Paul Henry, Walter Osborne, William Crozier and a number of other market leading artists. The venue for the auction is the Radisson Blu Hotel at Little Island, Cork.  Mr. O’Driscoll plans to hold a viewing in Dublin at the D4 Hotel on the weekend before the sale.

    Jack B. Yeats RHA The Pilot (aka. The Captain Goes Aboard), an oil on board measuring nine inches by 14 inches estimated at 50,000-70,000. (Click on image to enlarge). UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 48,000

    This small oil on board by Paul Henry RHA features his most classical themes. It is estimated at 20,000-30,000. (Click on image to enlarge). UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 16,000