antiquesandartireland.com

Norah McGuinness (1901-1980) – Spring Planting made 1,600 at hammer.

An arresting feature of the current market for Irish art became apparent at James Adam in Dublin last night. The sale highlights – Spring Planting by Norah McGuinness and Hidden Landscape by Patrick Collins, made well over their estimates.  There is no shortage of money or competition for the best works in todays market, selling everything else is hard work. Both were highlights of the ESB  Collection which was offered on December 16. The sale of 148 works brought in 160,000 and 84.25% sold.

The McGuinness sold for a hammer price of 16,000 over an estimate of 5,000-7,000 and was the top lot at the auction. The Collins made 14,000 at hammer, over an estimate of 7,000-10,000.  Forest Field by Colin Crotty sold for 1,300 over a top estimate of 700, Charles Tyrrell’s Spree made 8,000 at hammer, which was the top estimate.  Another Tyrrell, Cross Flow, made 6,500 with an estimate of 5,000-8,000.  The catalogue cover lot, Cecil Maguire’s Claddagh Quay, Galway sold for a hammer price of 9,000 over an estimate of 3,000-5,000.  Fergus O’Ryan’s Autumn Flood, Annamoe broke its top estimate of 2,000 by making a hammer of 2,100 and John Skeltons The Road to the Sea, the Rosses made 2,100 over a top estimate  of 1,500. Collecting Driftwood by John Skelton made 2,200 over a top estimate of 1,200 and a Still Life by Peter Collis made 1,600 over  a top estimate of 1,200.

GIOVANNI ANTONIO CANAL, CALLED CANALETTO
Venice 1697 – 1768
LONDON, A VIEW OF THE OLD HORSE GUARDS AND BANQUETING HALL, WHITEHALL SEEN FROM ST. JAMES’ PARK

A view of London by Canaletto is a highlight at Sotheby’s sale of Important Old Master Paintings in New York next January 29. London, A View of the Old Horse Guards and Banqueting Hall, Whitehall seen from St. James’ Park  is estimated at $4-6 million. The picture is a rare record of the Old Horse Guards (seen from across St James’s Park) which was demolished just months after Canaletto painted it (the prospect of its imminent demolition is what prompted Canalleto to paint and record it for posterity.) The building was then replaced with the large Palladian style grade I listed building that we know today. In May of 1746, Canaletto transferred his studio to London in pursuit of fresh challenges following two decades of prolific Venetian vedute painting.

It is from a group of paintings assembled by noted collector J.E. Safra. The 17 works represent a wide range of styles and genres including the Dutch Golden Age and 18^th century Italian and French art.  Most of them have been off the market for at least 20 years.  They will go on exhibition in New York alongside Sotheby’s Old Master Week sales from January 24.

A Bronze Bacchic Figure Supporting The Globe by Adriaen de Vries

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam was purchaser of the 1626 Bronze Bacchic Figure Supporting The Globe by Adriaen de Vries at Christie’s Exceptional Sale in New York last night. Purchased for $27,885,000 it was the top lot in the auction and set a world record for the artist and for any early European sculpture.

“Adriaen de Vries is the Dutch Michelangelo and his works are equally rare.Therefore it is absolutely great that we have been able to buy this fabulous sculpture for the Netherlands with the very generous support of many private donors and institutional funds.” said Wim Pijbes, General Director of the Rijksmuseum.

No other statue by de Vries has been in Dutch art collections until now. This bronze is considered to be one of his best works. It was rediscovered by chance in the courtyard of Schloss Sankt Martin (Austria) in 2010, where it had been since c. 1700. Most likely it was sold by the Dutch heirs of the sculptor after his death in 1626.  Support from the Rembrandt Association (and the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfund), BankGiro Lottery, the Rijksmuseum Fund, the VSBfund, the Mondriaan Fund, a private donation and the Rijksmuseum International Circle, enabled the Rijksmuseum to acquire this important work of art.

Donald Johnston, Christie’s Head of European Sculpture, commented: The sale of Adriaen de Vries’s Bacchic Figure Supporting the Globe sets a new world record for any piece of early European Sculpture. This rediscovered bronze caught the imagination of a wide range of scholars, dealers and private collectors around the world, and we could not be more pleased that this masterpiece has ultimately found its way to the Rijksmuseum.  We now look forward to building on the success of the de Vries with our upcoming sale of the Abbott Guggenheim collection of European sculpture and early clocks to be held by Christie’s New York on 27 January, and our stand alone sculpture sale in Paris on 16 June.

Louis le Brocquy – Sick Tinker Child.

Louis le Brocquy’s Sick Tinker Child sold for £266,500 at Sotheby’s sale of British and Irish art in London today.  Le Brocquy’s Fantail Pigeons sold for £98,500 and his image of W.B. Yeats sold for £74,500. William Orpen’s Portrait of Vivien St. George made £134,500 and The Fishing Fleet, Co. Galway by Paul Henry sold for £98,500. The Silver Lake by Paul Henry sold for £27,500 and Girl at a Door by Gerard Dillon made £32,500. There’s Life in the Fire Yet by Jack Butler Yeats sold for £50,000.

The top lot of the sale was Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s Venus Verticordia, his most sensuous and only nude painting, which sold for £2,882,500.  This was the highest price for a watercolour by Rossetti at auction.

(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for November 10, November 15, October 9 and August 28, 2014).

A total of 148 works from the art collection of the ESB  will be sold at James Adam in Dublin on December 16.  Many of the works will be sold without reserve and estimates are reasonable. The sale is being held because of the reduction of buildings occupied by the ESB.  Proceeds will be used to continue the ESB’s archive and heritage activities.  The catalogue is online. Here is a small selection:

Nancy Wynne Jones (1922-2006) – The Edge of the Mountains (700-1,000).  UPDATE: THIS MADE 800 AT HAMMER.

Fergus O’Ryan (1911-1989) – March Day near Laragh, Co. Wicklow (1,000-2,000).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 1,400 AT HAMMER

Charles Tyrrell (b 1950) – Cross Flow (5,000-8,000).  UPDATE: THIS MADE 6,500

Liam Treacey (1934-2004) Misty Day, Recess, Connemara (600-800).  UPDATE: THIS MADE 300 AT HAMMER

John Skelton (1924-2009) – Autumn Sunlight, The Green, Dublin (1,500-2,500).UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,800