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  • Archive for June, 2017

    MASTERPIECE GETS UNDERWAY TODAY

    Thursday, June 29th, 2017

    Masterpiece, which has established itself as one of the world’s leading international fairs, gets underway in London today. It brings together 150 the world’s top gallerists and specialists. Masterpiece Presents, a new large-scale dedicated exhibition space which to transform the entrance, is launched this year. Boundaries are once again being stretched this year. The most contemporary work is a brand new immersive installation by Chilean artist Iván Navarro, known internationally for his socio-politically charged sculptures of neon, fluorescent and incandescent light. He represented Chile at the 53rd Venice Biennale. Navarro’s installation has been commissioned for the Fair by Paul Kasmin Gallery.  The fair continues until July 5.

    THE STUDIO: THE PAINTING OF A NUDE
    Walter Sickert AT PIANO NOBILE

    JUAN GRIS (1887 – 1927)- NATURE MORTE, 1916 AT DICKINSON

    A PAIR OF 3-LIGHT CANDELABRA WITH FIGURES OF BACCHANTES AND PUTTI AFTER CLAUDE I BALLIN (1615-1678) AND NICOLAS DELAUNAY (1646-1727), MASTER IN 1672 AND « DIRECTEUR DE LA MONNAIE DES MÉDAILLES » IN 1696 AT STEINITZ

    A SERIES OF ANTHROPOMORPHIC STILL-LIFE PAINTINGS OF THE SEASONS
    Giovanni Paolo Castelli, called lo Spadino at Colnaghi

    WARHOL’S FIRST SELFIE SELLS FOR £6 MILLION

    Wednesday, June 28th, 2017

    Andy Warhol – Self Portrait 1963-64.

    Andy Warhol’s first “selfie” sold for £6 million at Sotheby’s contemporary art evening auction in London tonight.  The work, from his  first series of self-portraits, million / $7.7  was at auction for the first time 30 years after the artist’s death in 1987.  After achieving renown for his candid portrayals of luminaries including Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Kennedy and Elizabeth Taylor in the early 1960s, Self-Portrait represents the moment that Warhol stepped out from behind the camera and into the glare of its flashbulb.  This painting belongs to the very first sequence of self-portraits created by Warhol and was based on the first image in a strip of photo booth portraits.  The use of such unconventional source material was, at this time, fiercely innovative.

    “In the age of Instagram, Warhol’s fabled prediction that ‘in the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes’ has never felt more prophetic, and the artist’s first self-portraits – created using a strip of photographs taken in a New York dime store photo-booth – have never felt more relevant to contemporary culture. This is a work of immense art historical importance that marks the watershed moment when Warhol joined the canon of the greatest self-portraitists,” James Sevier, Senior Specialist, Contemporary Art, remarked.

    The sale totalled £62.3 million, an increase of 20% on last year. Au Untitled work by Jean Michel Basquiat from 1983  made £6.4 million.

    NEW WORLD RECORD FOR MAX BECKMANN AT CHRISTIE’S

    Tuesday, June 27th, 2017

    Max Beckmann, Hölle der Vögel (Birds’ Hell) c CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2017

    Max Beckmann’s Hölle der Vögel (Birds’ Hell) (1937-38) achieved a new world record price for the artist of £36,005,000 at Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale on June 27.  The work continues the Germanic tradition of using gruesome allegorical scenes at the same time as taking aspects of Classicism and mythology to turn reality into a timeless evocation of human suffering.

    In this sense, the painting transcends the time and political situation in which it was created to become a universal symbol of humanity like Pablo Picasso’s Guernica of the same period. Begun in Amsterdam in 1937 and completed in Paris at the end of 1938 it ranks amongst the clearest and most important anti-Nazi statements that the artist ever made.

    The sale totalled £149.5 million.  Three lots made over £20 million, the Beckmann, Picasso’s Femme ecrivant (Marie-Therese) which made £34.8 million and Van Gogh’s Le moissonneur (d’apres Millet) which made £24.2 million.

    RUGS GET SHEPPARDS OFF TO A GOOD START AT COOLATTIN

    Tuesday, June 27th, 2017

    THIS CHELABERD EAGLE KAZAK CAUCASIAN RUG MADE 8,500 AT HAMMER

    Persian and Irish rugs and runners got Sheppards two day country house collections sale at Coolattin House, Co. Wicklow off to a good start today.  The first lot, a bespoke Gavin Morton and G.K. Roberstson 21st century Donegal design carport made 3,900.  Lot two, a Kazak rug made 8,500 and lot three, a bespoke C.F.A. Voysey Donegal design carpet made 3,700. A North West Persian Heriz carpet made 3,800 and a large Turkish Isparta carpet on gold ground sold for 8,000. Later in the morning a 19th century ormolu and pietra dura clock garniture sold for 6,500 and a nude attributed to Roderic O’Conor estimated at 2,000-3,000 sold for 7,500.

    Later in the auction a 19th century satinwood and marquetry Carlton House desk sold for 18,500, a pair of Dublin Edwardian wing back armchairs made 14,000, a pair of Japanese Imari urns made 17,500 and a pair of 19th century kingwood and parquetry commodes made  13,500.  Prime lots from the morning session on June 28 included a pair of 18th century bronze canons from Malahide Castle which sold for 17,000 at hammer and a late 17th century Brussels tapestry which made 26,500.   A pair of 19th century carved gilt wood console tables sold for 46,400 and a 19th century bureau plat made 36,000.

    (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for June 25, 2017)

    AN ALBERS TO BENEFIT CORK’S GLUCKSMAN GALLERY

    Monday, June 26th, 2017

    Josef Albers – Colour Study for Homage to the Square  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £168,750

    A colour study for Homage to the Square by Josef Albers (1888-1976) to be sold to benefit Cork’s Lewis Glucksman Gallery comes up at Sotheby’s contemporary art day auction in London on June 29.   Made in 1976 the oil on paper is estimated at £80,000-120,000. It is to be included in the catalogue raisonne currently being prepared by the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, who donated the work.

    A statement from the Bethany, Connecticut based foundation said:   The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation is delighted to sell this powerful Homage to the Square on behalf of the Glucksman Gallery. We feel that this particular oil on paper represents the bold experimentation and true dedication to human seeing, and the thrills of courageous art,  consistently achieved at this superb museum at University College Cork, Ireland. The small, innovative staff of the Glucksman, diligent and tenacious people of vision, embody the values the Alberses held most dear.

    A LARGE SALE BY SHEPPARDS AT COOLATTIN IN CO. WICKLOW

    Sunday, June 25th, 2017

    The great Irish country house collections sale by Sheppards of Durrow at Coolattin House in Co. Wicklow on June 27 and 28 features 1341 lots.  The sale will  be broken into four sections, at 10.30 a.m. and 2 p.m. on each day.  The catalogue is online. Here is a small selection:

    LATE SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY BRUSSELS TAPESTRY (6,000-9,000)  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 26,500 AT HAMMER

    NINETEENTH-CENTURY SATINWOOD AND MARQUETRY CARLTON HOUSE (15,000-25,000)  UPDATE: THIS MADE 18,500 AT HAMMER

    PAIR OF EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY IRISH MAHOGANY SIDE TABLES (5,000-8,000) UPDATE: THESE MADE 13,500 AT HAMMER

    NORTH WEST PERSIAN HERIZ CARPET (4,000-6,000) UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,800 AT HAMMER

    ART, FURNITURE AND COLLECTIBLES AT HEGARTY’S IN BANDON

    Friday, June 23rd, 2017

    The country house auction at Hegarty’s in Bandon on June 25 features part two of the collection from The Glebe House in Skibbereen.  Collectibles include an early Worcester plate with the Arms of Cork and the auction will feature a selection of  antique furniture, silver, art, collectibles and jewellery.  The catalogue is online. Here is a small selection:

    One of the main rooms in the sale.

    A rosewood campaign secretaire  UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,750

    A William IV rosewood side table  UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,050 AT HAMMER

    A Cork Mansion House service plate at Hegarty’s  UPDATE: THIS MADE 480 AT HAMMER

    THE £120,875 STRAWBERRY AND NIGHT OF FALLING RECORDS AT SOTHEBY’S

    Thursday, June 22nd, 2017

    Lucian Freud Strawberries – oil on copper

    The record for Kandinsky was broken twice in one night, there was a new record for Miro and Lucian Freud’s actual size strawberries made £120,875 per strawberry at a sterling night at Sotheby’s in London last night.  Three works made over £20 million for the first time in any London auction. The Actual Size and Impressionist and Modern evening sales brought in a combined total of £148.9 million. Kandinsky’s Murnau – Landschaft kit grunem Haus made a new record for the artist of £21 million followed just six lots later by Bild kit weissen Linien which sold for £33 million. Femme et oiseau by Joan Miro from his Constellation series sold for £24.6 million. A unique cast by Giacometti made £17.9 million. A small group of strawberries by Lucian Freud made £1.2 million.

    Helena Newman, Global Co-Head of Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art Department & Chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, said: “To have three landmarks in the development of 20th Century art by Kandinsky, Miró and Giacometti come to the market in a single sale tonight was momentous. These key works stand as turning points in the history of art, and tonight auction history was made when the record for Kandinsky broken not just once but twice and an unprecedented three works sold over £20m in a single London Evening Sale. The strength at the very highest level of the market was echoed across price points – and sizes. Collectors were out in force, participating from a record number of locations around the globe, with the level of Asian buyers as numerous as those from the US, underscoring the enduring importance of London as a key driver of the global art market.”

    Joan Miró’s Femme et oiseaux

    Helena Newman finds bids during the sale of Wassily Kandinsky’s Bild mit weissen Linien for £33 million.

    AN ONLINE SALE OF AFFORDABLE IRISH ART

    Wednesday, June 21st, 2017

    An online sale of affordable Irish art runs at Morgan O’Driscoll until June 26.

    GRETTA O’BRIEN – SUMMER REFLECTION (600-800)  UPDATE: THIS MADE 550 AT HAMMER

    The catalogue, which is online, lists 330 lots. Here is a small selection:

    LOUIS LE BROCQUY (1916-2012 )Head of Strindberg 17/100 (600-900)  UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,600 AT HAMMER

    BRIAN BALLARD (B.1943) Irises in a Blue Jug (900-1,200) UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,100 AT HAMMER

    Liam Belton – Vessels with Eggs (2008) litho 27/50 (300-500)  UPDATE: THIS MADE 240 AT HAMMER

    WORLD AUCTION RECORD PER CARAT FOR AN EMERALD

    Wednesday, June 21st, 2017

    The Rockefeller Winston emerald

    There was a world auction record per carat at Christie’s in New York last night when The Rockefeller Emerald sold for $5,511,500.  This amounted to $305,000 per carat.  The octagonal step-cut emerald is approximately 18.04 carats.

    It was sold to jeweller Harry Winston. CFO Robert Scott was bidding in Christie’s Rockefeller Plaza saleroom with instructions from Harry Winston CEO Nayla Hayek to “bring this magnificent gem home at any price.” Following the sale, Nayla Hayek commented “Harry Winston is immensely proud to own the finest emerald in the world which once belonged to one of America’s most important dynasties.”

    The sale of magnificent jewels totalled $26.1 million and was 83% sold by lot and 89% by value. There was strong results for jewels from Louis Comfort Tiffany once part of The Garden Museum Collection in Japan.