antiquesandartireland.com

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

    • Archive for February, 2014

    IRISH LOTS AT STYLISH BONHAMS AUCTION

    Monday, February 17th, 2014
    Built in 1713 The Old Rectory near Canterbury is considered one of Kent's finest small Queen Anne country houses.

    Built in 1713 The Old Rectory near Canterbury is considered one of Kent’s finest small Queen Anne country houses.

    A number of Irish lots feature at the sale of contents of The Old Rectory in Kent at Bonhams in London on March 12. They are from the collection of architect, interior decorator and garden designer Giles Newby Vincent, whose Belgravia based company Giles Vincent Design numbers Elton John and Lord Heseltine among its clients. The outstanding private collection of carefully selected pieces ranges from fine early 18th century furniture, painting and silver to Delftware and antique textiles. Among the Irish pieces are a George III silver table, a chairback settee of similar vintage, an 18th century bog oak kettle stand and a George II Irish silver mug by Thomas Sutton, Dublin 1727.

    The collection is to be sold to fund Giles’s latest project – refurbishing a dilapidated old villa in the South of France overlooking the sea near Saint Tropez. He comments; “Although I love many of these pieces – it has been a labour of love to assemble them – it is time for a new chapter.  I hope they will now find new owners who will appreciate them as much as I have.” The Old Rectory near Canterbury will be offered for sale in spring 2014.

    A George III Irish carved mahogany silver table (£5,000-8,000).

    A George III Irish carved mahogany silver table (£5,000-8,000).  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    A very small 18th century Irish bog oak kettle stand (£2,000-3,000).

    A very small 18th century Irish bog oak kettle stand (£2,000-3,000).  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    A George III mahogany double chairback settee (£5,000-7,000).

    A George III mahogany double chairback settee (£5,000-7,000).  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    A George II Irish silver mug by Thomas Sutton Dublin 1727 (£1,000-1,500).

    A George II Irish silver mug by Thomas Sutton Dublin 1727 (£1,000-1,500).  UPDATE: THE tankard sold for £1,250.

    Posted in AUCTIONS, COLLECTIBLES, FURNITURE | Comments Off on IRISH LOTS AT STYLISH BONHAMS AUCTION

    DEATH OF RENOWNED IRISH ARTIST PATRICK SCOTT

    Friday, February 14th, 2014
    Patrick Scott, Meditation Painting 28, 2006, Gold leaf & acrylic on unprimed canvas. Collection Irish Museum of Modern Art, Donation, the artist, 2013.

    Patrick Scott, Meditation Painting 28, 2006, Gold leaf & acrylic on unprimed canvas. Collection Irish Museum of Modern Art, Donation, the artist, 2013.

    The Irish artist Patrick Scott died today aged 93. A two centre exhibition of his work due to open at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) tomorrow and at Visual in Carlow will go ahead.   IMMA has expressed their sympathy to Eric Pearce, partner of Patrick Scott and the artists family, saying he had been a defining figure of Irish art for over 70 years.  In a statement the museum said that the exhibition due to open tomorrow (February 15) is testament to his extraordinary career, life and achievements as an artist. He will be sorely missed by the arts community and IMMA is honoured to pay tribute to one of Ireland’s most important artists with this major exhibition on which Patrick Scott worked closely with the curator Christina Kennedy who is Head of Collections at the museum. It is Eric Pearce and the family’s wish that the launch of the exhibition Patrick Scott:  Image Space Light proceeds as planned tomorrow afternoon, at 3.30pm, as a celebration of Patrick Scott’s life and work.

    Scott had his first exhibition in 1941 with the White Stag Group.  This latest exhibition brings together more than 100 pieces that illustrate the breadth and longevity of his career as an architect, designer and artist. The exhibition at IMMA concentrates on Scott’s early works from the 1940s to the early 70’s while VISUAL displays works from the 1960’s to the present.  On winning a National Prize at the Guggenheim International Award in 1960 and representing Ireland at the XXX Venice Biennale in the same year, Patrick Scott became a full-time artist.

    The artist Corban Walker has been invited to guest-curate a selection of Patrick Scott’s works for the Link Gallery in VISUAL. Focusing on the theme of the grid in Scott’s work and responding to Scott’s graphic design work, Walker has also created a site-specific installation for the window area in the Link Gallery.

    An exhibition of prints, paintings and works on paper by Patrick Scott runs at the Taylor Galleries in Dublin until March 1.

    Posted in ART | Comments Off on DEATH OF RENOWNED IRISH ARTIST PATRICK SCOTT

    THE RAREST AND MOST FAMOUS STAMP IN THE WORLD

    Friday, February 14th, 2014
    The British Guiana One-Cent Magenta.

    The British Guiana One-Cent Magenta.  UPDATE: IT MADE A WORLD RECORD $9.5 MILLION.

    THE rarest and most famous stamp in the world – unseen in public since 1986 – comes up at a dedicated evening sale at Sotheby’s in New York on June 17.  The legendary and unique British Guiana One-Cent Magenta is estimated at $10-20 million.  This would mark a new world auction record for a stamp.

    On offer from the estate of John du Pont, who purchased it in 1980, it has not been seen publicly since 1986 when it was exhibited at  the Ameripex ’86 International Stamp Show in Chicago.   du Pont, heir to a chemical industry fortune and an avid collector, bought it for  $935,000 in 1980. The stamp will travel this spring to locations including London and Hong Kong, before returning to New York for exhibition in Sotheby’s York Avenue galleries beginning 14 June. It was  rediscovered by a 12-year-old Scottish boy living in South America in 1873, and from there passing through some of the most important stamp collections ever assembled.

    David Redden, Director of Special Projects and Worldwide Chairman of Sotheby’s Books Department, commented: “I have been with Sotheby’s all my working life, but before I knew about the world’s greatest works of art, before I knew about the Mona Lisa or Chartres Cathedral I knew about the British Guiana. For me, as a schoolboy stamp collector, it was a magical object, the very definition of rarity and value, unobtainable rarity and extraordinary value. That schoolboy of long ago would be bemused and astonished to think that he would one day, years later, be temporary guardian of such a world treasure.”

    In 1852, British Guiana began receiving regular postage stamps manufactured in England by Waterlow & Sons. But in 1856, a shipment of stamps was delayed, which threatened a disruption of postal service throughout British Guiana. The postmaster turned to the printers of the local Royal Gazette newspaper, and commissioned a contingency supply of postage stamps: the one-cent magenta, a four-cent magenta, and a four-cent blue. The sole-surviving example of the one-cent magenta was first rediscovered not far from where it was initially purchased. In 1873, L. Vernon Vaughan, a 12-year-old Scottish schoolboy living with his family in British Guiana, found the stamp among a group of family papers.

    UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR A RECORD BREAKING $9.5 MILLION.

    Posted in AUCTIONS, COLLECTIBLES | Comments Off on THE RAREST AND MOST FAMOUS STAMP IN THE WORLD

    BACON PORTRAIT OF GEORGE DYER MAKES £42.2 MILLION

    Thursday, February 13th, 2014
    Francis Bacon - Portrait of George Dyer Talking.

    Francis Bacon – Portrait of George Dyer Talking made £42.2 million.

    Francis Bacon’s portrait of his lover George Dyer sold for £42.2 million at Christie’s in London on February 13. It became the most expensive work of Post War and Contemporary art sold at auction in Europe.  The sale totalled £124,192,000 and there were record prices for six artists, including Bridget Riley and Domenico Gnoli. The auction sold 83% by lot and 95% by value.

    Gerhard Richter’s Abstraktes Bild (1989) sold for £19,570,500; Jeff Koons’s Cracked Egg (Magenta) (1994-2007) sold for £14,082,500; Damien Hirst’s Mickey sold for £902,500;  Domenico Gnoli’s Black Hair (1969) sold for £7,026,500; Bridget Riley’s Chant 2 sold for £2,882,500 and  Jenny Saville’s Plan (1993) sold for £2,098,500.
    Francis Outred, International Director and Head of Post-War & Contemporary Art, Christie’s Europe said: ““The astonishing energy and depth of bidding at this evening’s auction follows on from the record auction of Post-War and Contemporary Art in New York last November,  and it is fitting that this sale, like that one,  was led by a Francis Bacon masterpiece. The strong results were underpinned by the quality of the works and driven by global demand, with both new and established bidders from Europe, America and Asia competing at the sale”.
    (See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for January 15 and January 22, 2014).

    Posted in ART, AUCTIONS | Comments Off on BACON PORTRAIT OF GEORGE DYER MAKES £42.2 MILLION

    FREUD LETTERS SELL FOR OVER 30 TIMES THE ESTIMATE

    Thursday, February 13th, 2014
    A portrait of a boy by Lucian Freud sold for £122,500.

    A portrait of a boy by Lucian Freud sold for £122,500.

    A remarkable group of 11 previously unpublished letters – written by a young Lucian Freud to his first girlfriend, Felicity Hellaby – sold today at Sotheby’s for £122,500 – over thirty times the pre-sale estimate.

    This study of a bird by Lucian Freud made £134,500.

    This study of a bird by Lucian Freud made £134,500.

    Written in an uneven hand, peppered with illustrations, and providing a fascinating insight into the artist’s early preoccupations, the letters attracted fierce bidding from a wide range of potential buyers. They were sold alongside three drawings, also given by Freud to Felicity.  The first – a charming study of a bird – sold to a telephone bidder for £134,500 against an estimate of £12,000-£18,000. The second – a striking portrait of a boy with a letter to Felicity in one corner and a playful reference to John Craxton in another – opened at a dramatic £100,000. Competitors quickly withdrew and that first determined bid won the day, making for a final all-in price of £122,500 against the opening estimate of £15,000-20,000. A portrait of Felicity doubled its high estimate, bringing the total for the collection to £412,000 against a pre-sale high estimate of £58,000.

    (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for February 10, 2013).

    Posted in ART, AUCTIONS, COLLECTIBLES | Comments Off on FREUD LETTERS SELL FOR OVER 30 TIMES THE ESTIMATE

    RICHTER TOPS SOTHEBY’S £87.9 MILLION CONTEMPORARY SALE

    Wednesday, February 12th, 2014
    The scene at Sotheby's tonight.

    The scene at Sotheby’s tonight.

    Gerhard Richter’s Wand (Wall) was the top lot at Sotheby’s Contemporary Art evening sale today.  It made £17.4 million in a sale which brought in £87.9 million and attracted bidders from 40 countries.  Richter had kept the work in his own collection for 15 years and it was the third highest price for one of his paintings.  Cy Twombly’s Untitled (Rome), the second largest of his works, sold for £12.2 million after a prolonged bidding battle, significantly over the estimate of £5-7 million. This is an auction record for the artist.

    CY TWOMBLY (1928 - 2011) UNTITLED (ROME) Sold for a record £12,178,500

    CY TWOMBLY (1928 – 2011)
    UNTITLED (ROME) Sold for a record £12,178,500

    Andy Warhol’s red canvas Mao (1973) made £7.6 million.  This was almost 20 times what it made when last at auction in 2000 when it sold for £421,000.  Lucian Freud’s Head on a Green Sofa (1960-61) sold for £2.9 million and a rediscovered work by Frank Auerbach, Morning – Mornington Place, sold for £1.8 million.  Tenor from 1985 by Jean Michel Basquiat made £4,338,500 and Rosso Plastica by Alberto Burri sold for £3,666,500.  

    German works brought strong prices:  Sigmar Polke’s Rokoko made £2,546,500; Martin Kpppenberger’s Egg Woman made £1,818,500 and Thomas Struth’s Self Portrait sold for £482,500.

    Here is a video from Sotheby’s on Richter’s Wand.

    Posted in ART, AUCTIONS | Comments Off on RICHTER TOPS SOTHEBY’S £87.9 MILLION CONTEMPORARY SALE

    A VIDEO FROM WHYTE’S ABOUT WALTER OSBORNE’S SUNSHINE AND SHADOW

    Wednesday, February 12th, 2014

    Here is a video in which Ian Whyte talks about Walter Osborne’s Sunshine and Shadow, (La Rue de l”Apport) Dinan, 1883 which is lot 35 in the Dublin sale of Irish and British Art at Whyte’s on February 24.  It is estimated at 70,000-90,000.  UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR 69,000

    Posted in ART, AUCTIONS | Comments Off on A VIDEO FROM WHYTE’S ABOUT WALTER OSBORNE’S SUNSHINE AND SHADOW

    VALUE IN IRISH ART MARKET AT WHYTE’S SALE

    Wednesday, February 12th, 2014

    THE rich tend to go shopping in a recession so why are more of them not buying Irish art, contemporary and classic?  This question is a teasing one, especially in a week when the London contemporary art sales have already started to deliver new records for Italian art.  In Ireland the quality is there and so are the bargains.  There is value in the market. The purchase by Donald Trump of Doonbeg Golf Course on the west coast in County Clare is the latest in a series of high profile investments by wealthy non-nationals in Irish assets.  Fota Golf Club in Cork, venue for the Irish Open Golf Championships this year, has been bought by a Chinese investor. The market for Irish art has not benefitted as much as it could have from this trend. The internet is undoubtedly delivering new collectors and buyers to Irish auctioneers, but anecdotally much of this tends to be led by the Irish abroad.  

    An opportunity to redress this arises at Whyte’s sale of Irish and British art in Dublin on February 24.   There are 216 lots on the catalogue.  It includes works by Walter Osborne, Sir John Lavery, Dan O’Neill, Louis le Brocquy, Gerard Dillon, Leo Whelan, Harry Kernoff,  Barrie Cooke, Cecil King, Markey Robinson, Frank McKelvey, James Arthur O’Connor, William Sadler and George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson.  Here are some examples.  The catalogue is online.

    FIGURES BY A RIVER by James Arthur O’Connor (8,000-10,000).

    FIGURES BY A RIVER by James Arthur O’Connor (8,000-10,000).  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    ANCESTRAL HEAD, 1965 by Louis le Brocquy (35,000-45,000).

    ANCESTRAL HEAD, 1965 by Louis le Brocquy (35,000-45,000).  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    A LADY IN WHITE (A PORTRAIT OF LADY LYLE) by Sir John Lavery (30,000-50,000).

    A LADY IN WHITE (A PORTRAIT OF LADY LYLE) by Sir John Lavery (30,000-50,000).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 27,900

     

    Posted in ART, AUCTIONS | Comments Off on VALUE IN IRISH ART MARKET AT WHYTE’S SALE

    THE RICHNESS OF ARTE POVERA AT CHRISTIE’S

    Wednesday, February 12th, 2014
    Alberto Burri’s Combustione Plastica (1960-1961) sold for £4,674,500.

    Alberto Burri’s Combustione Plastica (1960-1961) sold for £4,674,500.

    Michelangelo Pistoletto’s Lei e Lui – Maria e Michelangelo sold for £1,986,500

    Michelangelo Pistoletto’s Lei e Lui – Maria e Michelangelo sold for £1,986,500

    THE richness of Arte Povera kicked off a week of contemporary sales in London at Christie’s last night.   The Italian contemporary art sale entitled Eyes Wide Open: An Italian Vision set a benchmark for Arte Povera and realised £38,427,400 million.  The top lot was Alberto Burri’s Combustine Plastica which made £4,674,500.  There were record prices for 13 artists incuding Burri, Fabro, Kounellis, Merz and Pistoletto.

    The Post War and Contemporary evening auction at Christie’s tomorrow includes masterpieces by Francis Bacon, Gerhard Richter and Jeff Koons.  The entire sale is expected to realise £87-105.7 million.

    (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for Friday, January 17).

    Posted in ART, AUCTIONS | Comments Off on THE RICHNESS OF ARTE POVERA AT CHRISTIE’S

    KERNOFF TOPS THE BILL AT IRISH ART ONLINE SALE

    Tuesday, February 11th, 2014
    Harry Kernoff RHA (1900-1974) - The Twelve Pins, Renvyle, Connemara - sold for 19,000.

    Harry Kernoff RHA (1900-1974) – The Twelve Pins, Renvyle, Connemara – sold for 19,000.

    Peter Curling (b.1955) - The Country Winner - sold for 11,500.

    Peter Curling (b.1955) – The Country Winner – sold for 11,500.

    A rare Connemara painting by Harry Kernoff topped the bill at Morgan O’Driscoll’s online sale of Irish art which ended last night.  The Twelve Pins, Renvyle, Connemara made 19,000.  A racing image by Peter Curling – The Country Winner – sold for 11,500.  Another horse picture, Approaching the Last by Liam O’Neill made 8,000.

    (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for  January 28, 2014).

    Posted in ART, AUCTIONS | Comments Off on KERNOFF TOPS THE BILL AT IRISH ART ONLINE SALE

    « Older Entries
    Newer Entries »