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  • Archive for November, 2015

    MUCH TO INTEREST COLLECTORS AT ADAMS SUNDAY INTERIORS

    Thursday, November 19th, 2015

    The Sunday interiors sale at James Adam at St. Stephen’s Green in Dublin on November 22 offers much of interest to a wide cross section of collectors.  The catalogue, which lists 496 lots, is online. Here is a small selection:

    SAMUEL SPODE (1798-1872) 'Gladiateur' (1,000-2,000).

    SAMUEL SPODE (1798-1872) ‘Gladiateur’ (1,000-2,000).  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    AN EARLY 19TH CENTURY BRASS HEXAGONAL HALL LANTERN (400-600)

    AN EARLY 19TH CENTURY BRASS HEXAGONAL HALL LANTERN (400-600)  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 740

    A PAIR OF EARLY VICTORIAN GILTWOOD, PLASTER AND GESSO RECTANGULAR OVERMANTLE MIRRORS (6,000-8,000).

    A PAIR OF EARLY VICTORIAN GILTWOOD, PLASTER AND GESSO RECTANGULAR OVERMANTLE MIRRORS (6,000-8,000).  UPDATE: THIS LOT SOLD FOR 7,000 AT HAMMER

    Alfred de Breanski Junior (1877 - 1957) Early Morning, Derwentwater (3,000-4,000).

    Alfred de Breanski Junior (1877 – 1957)
    Early Morning, Derwentwater (3,000-4,000).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 2,800

    A LOUIS QUINZE STYLE KINGWOOD VITRINE (1,500-2,500)

    A LOUIS QUINZE STYLE KINGWOOD VITRINE (1,500-2,500)  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 1,600

    AN ARTS AND CRAFTS WALNUT UPRIGHT SHEET MUSIC CABINET (400-600).

    AN ARTS AND CRAFTS WALNUT UPRIGHT SHEET MUSIC CABINET (400-600). UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 400

    A RESCUED RUBENS FOR IRELAND’S NATIONAL GALLERY?

    Wednesday, November 18th, 2015
    Sir Peter Paul Rubens – Portrait of a Bearded Man (£2-3 million) © Christie’s Images Limited 2015

    Sir Peter Paul Rubens – Portrait of a Bearded Man (£2-3 million) © Christie’s Images Limited 2015

    It looks as if the Rubens from Russborough and other artworks scheduled to auctioned at Christie’s last July have now been rescued for the relatively impecunious Irish state. Rubens Head of a Bearded Man was the main lot in a planned sale of works from Russborough in Co. Wicklow designed to raise funds to maintain the house and grounds.  It is reported that the businessman Denis O’Brien has bought the Rubens for more than two million euro, though he has refused to confirm this.

    The Russborough Foundation said the process of finding donors for the works is ongoing. Under the S1003 scheme designed to encourage donations to Irish cultural institutions a taxpayer can write off 80% of the purchase cost with a ceiling of six million in respect of any single year. It is also reported that businessman John Gallagher has paid just under one million for another one of the works, The Adoration of the Shepherds by Adriaen Van Ostade, with the intention that it goes on display at the National Gallery. The businessman Lochlann Quinn has already acquired A Village Kermesse near Antwerp by David Teniers the Younger from the Russborough collection for the National Gallery.  All the works had been in storage and had not been seen in public for many years.

    (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for May 1, 2015).

    A RECORD PRICE FOR A PORTRAIT BY L.S. LOWRY

    Wednesday, November 18th, 2015
    L.DS. Lowry - Father and Two Sons.

    L.DS. Lowry – Father and Two Sons.

    A 1950 work by one of Britain’s best loved artists – L.S. Lowry’s Father and Two Sons – sold for a record £1.6 million at Sotheby’s in London last evening. The work is considered to be his most important portrait and offers a timeless glimpse into street life.  It sold for £1,625,000, a record price for a portrait by the artist.  From the collection of Frank Cohen and was owned by Monty Bloom, a key Lowry patron in the later part of his career.

    Frank Cohen commented: “I’ve always championed Modern British art and I passionately believe that Lowry ranks alongside other great painters like Frank Auerbach, Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud. I’m not alone in that opinion – I recall being in the Wolseley, London, when I spotted Lucian sitting at his usual corner table. We’d known each other over the years and got talking. One of the questions I posed was ‘who are your favourite artists?’ to which he replied, without hesitation, ‘Auerbach and Lowry’. And Freud knew a thing or two about painting as we all know…

    I bought Father and Two Sons back in the late 90s as a present to myself after selling my DIY business. It was a lot of money at that time but I couldn’t resist as it had always reminded me of the very first job I had after leaving school at 15. I worked for Perring’s Furniture stores, which was run by Abi Stolberg and Louis Rosenblatt, as the ‘tea–boy’ in the offices, earning £2, 14 shillings and seven-pence a week. When the boss used to arrive at work – he was the clerk of the company – he’d walk in every morning with his bowler hat on, flanked on either side by two minders with winged collars. That image stayed with me forever until I found this Lowry”.

    Sotheby’s sale of Modern and Post War British Art brought a record of £389,000 for Peter Lanyon for Dry Wind, an oil on canvas.  There was also a record for a work on paper by Dame Barbara Hepworth, whose Forms in Movements (Circle) sold for £257,000.

    YEATS AND LAVERY AT CHRISTIE’S NEXT WEEK

    Monday, November 16th, 2015

    Works by Lavery and Yeats feature at Christie’s modern British and Irish art sale in London on November 25 and 26.  The evening sale on November 25 features The Boat Builder by Jack B. Yeats and The Maid was in the garden hanging out clothes by Sir John Lavery.  Each work is estimated at £300,000-500,000.  The boat builder was for many years in the collection of Sir Peter Scott, who was credited with designing the North Atlantic Fleet camouflage scheme during the Second World War.  He was a son of Scott of the Antarctic.

    There is work by le Brocquy, Yeats, Paul Henry, Roderic O’Conor and William Scott at various estimates from £15,000-80,000.

    Jack Butler Yeats, R.H.A. (1871-1957) The Boat Builder

    Jack Butler Yeats, R.H.A. (1871-1957)
    The Boat Builder UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £422,500

    Sir John Lavery, R.A., R.S.A., R.H.A. (1856-1941) The Maid was in the Garden Hanging out the Clothes

    Sir John Lavery, R.A., R.S.A., R.H.A. (1856-1941)
    The Maid was in the Garden Hanging out the Clothes  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £338,500

    A COPPER SAUCEPAN FROM THE SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL

    Monday, November 16th, 2015
    The Sebastopol saucepan.

    The Sebastopol saucepan.  UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR £300

    One of the more unusual items at Thomas del Mar’s auction of arms and militaria in London on December 2 is a copper saucepan.  Not just any copper saucepan. This one has strong historic connections and is from the Crimea. It is inscribed:  “taken from the ruins of Sebastopol, the day after the fall, Septr 9, 1855” by A Farquharson, cook of the S.S. Imperatrix. It is estimated at £150-200.

    The siege of Sebastopol had lasted a year, from September 1854 to September 1855 and is regarded as one of the classic sieges of all time. It was the final episode of the Crimean War.

    BONHAMS SALE OF MODERN BRITISH AND IRISH ART

    Sunday, November 15th, 2015
    Basil Blackshaw’s Blond Traveller is one of a number of Irish lots at Bonhams sale of Modern British and Irish Art at New Bond Street in London on November 18.  In 1984/85 the artist undertook a series of traveller paintings using sitters that he had met and become interested in.  The works were acclaimed for their raw colour and immediacy.  Blond Traveller is estimated at £18,000-25,000.

    A John Lavery view of house tops, Tetuan (37 miles east of Tangier) is estimated at £20,000-30,000, as is a west of Ireland oil by Paul Henry entitled Cabins on a Lough. The auction features 12 pieces by the acclaimed British sculptor Dame Elisabeth Frink, who died in 1993.  A seated nude by Roderic O’Conor is estimated at £8,000-12,000. Other Irish artists featured include Daniel O’Neill, Gerard Dillon and Louis le Brocquy in a catalogue of 101 works in total.  Whytes, de Veres, Adams and Morgan O’Driscoll will all hold auctions of Irish art in Dublin in coming weeks.  UPDATE: The Henry and the Blackshaw were both unsold.

    Blond Traveller by Basil Blackshaw at Bonhams in London next Wednesday.

    Blond Traveller by Basil Blackshaw at Bonhams in London next Wednesday.

    Cabins by a Lough, West of Ireland by Paul Henry

    Cabins by a Lough, West of Ireland by Paul Henry

    THE NATIONAL ANTIQUE FAIR AT LIMERICK THIS WEEKEND

    Saturday, November 14th, 2015
    The two day National Antique, Art and Vintage Fair is at the South Court Hotel today and tomorrow. Silver on offer includes a pair of Limerick buttons c1780 by George Moore and a pair of Cork buckles c1785 by John Warner at Weldons, Celebration in White, an oil by Mark O’Neill at Treasures Irish Art of Athlone and an oil on canvas by Erskine Nichol at George Stacpoole of Fr. Tom and Myles, a scene from The Colleen Bawn by Dion Boucicault.  A member of the Royal Scottish Academy, Erskine Nichol taught art in Dublin from 1845-50 during the Famine.  Another rarity at George Stacpoole is an Askeaton print from T. Stafford’s Pacata Hibernia 1633.
    There is 18th and 19th century furniture, Victorian and contemporary art,  jewellery, rare books, crystal, watches, stamps, coins, banknotes, train sets, tin plate toys, Star Wars posters, militaria, fishing tackle, porcelain and Waterford crystal are among the thousands of items on display.

    The Abbey The Castle of Askeaton from T. Staffords Pacata Hibernia 1633

    The Abbey The Castle of Askeaton from T. Staffords Pacata Hibernia 1633

    A demantoid and diamond brooch in the shape of a shamrock

    A demantoid and diamond brooch in the shape of a shamrock

    A pair of Cork silver buckles by John Warner c1785

    A pair of Cork silver buckles by John Warner c1785

     Erskine Nicholl (1825-1904) - Fr. Tom and Myles from Boucicault's The Colleen Bawn

    Erskine Nicholl (1825-1904) – Fr. Tom and Myles from Boucicault’s The Colleen Bawn

    NOVEMBER ART SALES AT SOTHEBY’S TOTAL $1.153 BILLION

    Friday, November 13th, 2015
    This rare large scale Mao by Andy Warhol sold for $47.5 million.

    This rare large scale Mao by Andy Warhol sold for $47.5 million.

    The November auctions of Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary art and the collection of Alfred Taubman totaled  $1.153 billion at Sotheby’s in New York. The company announced today that it will achieve its highest annual sales in these categories in 2015. The Taubman sale achieved $419.7 million; Impressionist and Modern sales on November 5 and 6 achieved $360.1 million and contemporary art on November 12 brought in $373.2 million.

    The series included Cy Twombly’s Blackboard painting which, at $70.5 million, was the most highly priced lot sold at Sotheby’s during 2015.

    AN ORIGINAL PROCLAMATION AT SOTHEBY’S

    Friday, November 13th, 2015
    An image of part of the Proclamation.

    An image of part of the Proclamation.

    An original copy of the Proclamation comes up at Sotheby’s in London on December 15 estimated at £80,000-120,000. The Proclamation of the Independence of the Irish Republic is at a sale of English Literature and History. It is one of a small number, probably less than 50, printed at Liberty Hall during Easter Sunday, 1916. Around 2,500 were intended to be produced, but only about 1,000 were printed and most were destroyed during the storming of Liberty Hall and the ensuing street fighting.

    This copy was acquired at the time of the Rising by a Dublin resident and has remained with the family ever since.

    RUNNING SALES TOTAL OF $1.05 BILLION AT CHRISTIE’S, NEW YORK THIS WEEK

    Friday, November 13th, 2015
    Lucio Fontana (1899-198) - Concetto spaziale, La Fine di Dio sold for $29.1 million

    Lucio Fontana (1899-198) – Concetto spaziale, La Fine di Dio sold for $29.1 million

    It has been one hell of a week at Christie’s in New York where the running total for this weeks sales now totals $1.05 billion. Post War and Contemporary art sales so far this week total $555.1 million and sales of Impressionist and Modern Art so far amount to $487.8 million.

    At $170.4 million Modigliani’s Nu Couche made the second highest price ever paid for a painting at auction in a sale that also saw world records for Balthus ($9.9 million) and Jean Helion ($3.4 million).  There was 14 post war and contemporary world records including Lichtenstein, Fontana, Bourgeois, Oldenburg, Gonzales-Terres and Mike Kelley.

    Results for Impressionist and Modern day sales, works on paper and companion online sales are yet to come in.