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    • Archive for December, 2017

    SOTHEBY’S SCORES WORLDWIDE SALES OF $4.7 BILLION IN 2017

    Thursday, December 21st, 2017

    Untitled (1982) by Jean MIchel Basquiat sold for $110.5 million.

    Auctions at Sotheby’s in 2017 totalled $4.7 billion worldwide, a 13% increase over 2016.   It led all international houses in Asia with an annual auction total of $850 million.  Asian clients contributed $1.6 billion to Sotheby’s sales in 2017 and online buyers spent more than $180 million.

    The top lot of the year at Sotheby’s was Jean Michel Basquiat’s Untitled from 1982.  It set a $110.5 million auction record for the artist and for any work of American art.  The price comfortably exceeded the previous record for the artist, as well as the pre-sale estimate of $60 million and was achieved after a 10-minute contest between multiple bidders.

    It was bought by collector and entrepreneur, Yusaku Maezawa, founder of e-commerce giant, Start Today, and ZOZOTOWN, the virtual mall on Japan’s largest fashion e-commerce site. It is to be housed in a museum based in Mr. Maezawa’s hometown of Chiba, Japan.

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    MEALY’S CHRISTMAS SALE HAS MUCH TO NOTE

    Monday, December 18th, 2017
    The Winter Sale at Mealy’s in Castlecomer on December 19 is more than a Christmas special.  It contains much of interest to collectors across a wide variety of price ranges. Antique furniture afficionados will be particularly interested in a Regency serving table by the Dublin makers Mack Williams and Gibton.  It is estimated at 4,000-6,000.  An Irish cellarette by the same makers is estimated at 2,500-3,500.
    The selection of Oriental and Chinese porcelain includes a Chinese Wanli blue and white Kraak dish with an estimate of 4,000-6,000.  The centre roundel is decorated with three ducks and a river bank.  There are vases, plates, lamps and bowls to choose from.

    The sale offers rugs, carpets, a selection of Manchester United match programmes, a collection of the Georgian Society records of Domestic Architecture and Decoration in Ireland and an unusual wooden pedal horse (350-450), a happy relic from the ghost of Christmas past. There is art and furniture ranging from a heavy brass club fender (300-500) to an 18th century carved walnut drop leaf dining table (500-700), a French walnut bureau plat (1,400-1,500), a George III secretaire cabinet (1,500-1,700), a Regency settee (300-500) and a Victorian dining table (700-1,100) and a small Georgian chest on chest among more than 350 lots.   The catalogue is online. Here is a small selection;

    A Regency serving table by Mack Williams and Gibton  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD.

    A crested mahogany wine cooler  UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,100 AT HAMMER

    A Cbinese Wanli blue and white Kraak dish  UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,000 AT HAMMER

    A man o war firing a salute by Adriaen van Diest (1655-1704  UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,600 AT HAMMER

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    WAR WORKS OF WILLIAM ORPEN AT NATIONAL GALLERY

    Saturday, December 16th, 2017
    To mark the centenary of William Orpen’s visit to France as an official war artist the National Gallery of Ireland is exhibiting some of his war works.  Serving with the British Army he recorded the aftermath of the Battle of the Somme, a lifeless wasteland, the result of prolonged trench warfare, mining and heaving bombardment.

    In his 1921 memoir An Onlooker in France the artist wrote of the horror he had experienced. Drawing on this text the exhibition  explores a selection of his aftermath paintings.  The artist Garrett Phelan was commissioned by the National Gallery to produce art in response to Orpen’s experience and has created works in sound and clay acquired directly from the Somme. Aftermath, the War Landscapes of William Orpen, runs until February 11.

    Sir William Orpen – Sketch in a desolate landscape

    Sir William Orpen – Man with a cigarette

    Sir William Orpen – Thiepval II

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    MUCH TO TEMPT COLLECTORS AT MEALY’S CHRISTMAS SALE

    Friday, December 15th, 2017

    There will be much to tempt collectors at Mealy’s Christmas sale in Castlecomer on December 19.  This is a sale of 650 lots of  art, antiques and collectibles from various private estates.  Viewing gets underway at noon on Sunday. The catalogue is online. Here is a sample:

    The Georgian Society records of 18th century domestic architecture in Ireland.  UPDATE: THIS LOT MADE 370 AT HAMMER

    A French Empire gilt boudoir mantle clock  UPDATE: THIS MADE 180 AT HAMMER

    A compostion marble bust of Diana.  UPDATE: THIS MADE 270 AT HAMMER

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    A CHRISTMAS COLLECTION AT JAMES ADAM

    Monday, December 11th, 2017

    The James Adam sale of the Christmas Collection Parts I and II will take place in Dublin on December 12 at 11 am and 6 pm respectively.  The first sale, with 381 lots, will feature vintage ports and wines, silver, jewellery and watches.  The most expensively estimated lot is an 18 carat gold Birmingham cigarette case dating from 1871 (4,000-6,000).  The evening sale of 215 lots features art.  The top lot is Howth Harbour, Evening by Harry Kernoff estimated at 2,000-4,000.  Here is a small selection:

    Louis le Brocquy HRHA (1916-2012)
    Sackville Street (litho) 1,000-1,500  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    Harry Kernoff RHA (1900-1974) Howth Harbour, Evening (2,000-4,000)  UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,800 AT HAMMER

    A LARGE GEORGE I IRISH SILVER GILT TWO HANDLED PRESENTATION CUP AND COVER, Dublin 1715, mark of Anthony Stanley (2,000-3,000)  UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,500 AT HAMMER

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    A GREAT YEAR FOR CHRISTIE’S IN FRANCE

    Sunday, December 10th, 2017

    Jean-Paul Riopelle, Untitled (1953).

    Christie’s French Post-War and Contemporary Art Sales achieved a combined annual total of 96,553,150 this year, the highest realised to date. Led by Jean-Paul Riopelle’s monumental 1953 painting Untitled, December auctions brought in 21,447,000.  The Riopelle made 4,882,500,, a new world record at auction for the artist. There were records too for Friedensreich Hundertwasser’s Ville vue d’au-delà du soleil (523,500) and Pierrette Bloch’s Sans titre (12,50 ).

    Paul Nyzam, Head of Evening Auction, Post-War and Contemporary Art, Christie’s, Paris said: “The outstanding totals for the December season follow the success of our October FIAC auctions, which underlined continued growth with a 110% increase on the equivalent sales from 2016.”

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    EL GRECO TOPS CHRISTIE’S OLD MASTERS AUCTION

    Friday, December 8th, 2017

    El Greco – Saint Francis and Brother Leo in Meditation

    El Greco’s Saint Francis and Brother Leo in Meditation was the top lot at Christie’s Old Masters evening sale in London on December 7.  From the Collection of Stanford Z. Rothschild, Jr. it sold for £6,871,250.  This is the second highest price for the artist at auction.

    The sale totalled £21,772,000.  There was a new world record for Bartholomäus Spranger with Mercury carrying Psyche to Mount Olympus, which  made £3,368,750.  The sale saw registered bidders from 30 countries, across five continents.

    Henry Pettifer, Head of Christie’s Old Master Paintings EMERI: “2017 is the second consecutive record year for Old Masters at Christie’s. With 78% of lots selling above estimate, tonight’s sale was 93% sold by value, the second highest sell-through rate by value for Old Masters, Christie’s London. The sale proved the healthy demand for 16th and 17th century Dutch and Flemish paintings, demonstrated by the highly competitive bidding for the works by Spranger, Rembrandt, Ruisdael and Teniers, among others. We were pleased to see El Greco’s superb Saint Francis and Brother Leo in Meditation set the second highest price for the artist at auction, and for the new record for the Spranger which is one of the finest mannerist pictures to come to the market in recent memory.”

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    ART AND COLLECTIBLES AT WHYTE’S CHRISTMAS SALE

    Thursday, December 7th, 2017

    Original works by many well-known names in the art world along with a range of collectibles at affordable prices will all feature at Whyte’s annual Christmas auction in Dublin at 6 p.m.  on December 11.  The sale will include 100 works by the renowned Donegal artist, Robert Taylor Carson, offered by his estate.

    There is some rare and interesting wine and whiskey, jewellery and silver from the early 1800s to the 1920s. Other attractive lots include rare limited edition books,  entertainment and sporting memorabilia and collectibles.  The catalogue is online. Here is a small selection:

    Chateau D’ Yquem Sur Saluces 1962. Two bottles. (150-200)  UPDATE; THIS SOLD FOR 220 AT HAMMER

    Locke’s Kilbeggan Single Malt Irish Whiskey, 1946, one bottle. (400-600)  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 750

    Cinema poster – Carry on Cowboy (500-700)  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    A Chinese blue and white porcelain garlic-mouth bottle vase. (2,000-3,000)  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 1,900

    Markey Robinson (1918-1999) STILL LIFE WITH JUG AND FRUIT (700-900) UPDATE:THIS WAS UNSOLD

    Robert Taylor Carson HRUA (1919-2008) CONNEMARA WOMAN ADMIRING THE PONIES, 1999 (600-1,200)  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

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    NEW £7.2 MILLION RECORD FOR JOSEPH WRIGHT OF DERBY

    Wednesday, December 6th, 2017

    Joseph Wright of Derby, A.R.A. An Academy by Lampligh

    One of Joseph Wright of Derby’s most important candlelit pictures, and one of the last major works by the artist remaining in private hands, made a £7,263,700 record for the artist at Sotheby’s in London tonight.

    An Academy by Lamplight, painted in 1769, is a supreme example of Wright’s dramatic rendering of light, which in itself is a kind of metaphor for the Enlightenment movement with which he was so closely associated: the introduction of light into darkness acting as a metaphor for the transition from religious faith to scientific understanding and enlightened rationalism. Almost certainly the picture that Wright exhibited at the Society of Artists in 1769, this rare painting was first securely recorded in the collection of Sir Savile Crossley, 1st Baron Somerleyton (1857-1935), the scion of a great carpet manufacturing dynasty from Halifax, and has remained in the possession of his family ever since. It had been estimated at £2.5-3.5 million.

    The previous record for the artist was set in 2007 when Portrait of Robert Shore Milnes, with his horse and groom beyond sold for £3,647,830 at Sotheby’s New York.

    Two recently rediscovered landscapes by John Constable attracted competitive bidding: a first sketch for The Opening of Waterloo Bridge, c. 1819–20  made £2,289,000:  Dedham Vale with the River Stour in Flood, c. 1814-17 made £1,809,000.

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    THE WORLD DESCRIBED c1726 AT FONSIE MEALY

    Tuesday, December 5th, 2017

    The World Described; or A New and Correct Sett of Maps, shewing the Several Empires, Kingdoms, Republics, Principalities, Provinces & c., in all known parts of the Earth sold for a hammer price of 30,000 at Fonsie Mealy’s rare books sale in Dublin today.  Hermann Moll’s C1726 opus is complete with fine contemporary hand coloured folding maps with 30 large hand coloured maps.  Map Number 7, of North America, shows California as an island.

    The London cartographer’s maps are entitled: 1. The World in Two Hemispheres 2. A Map of the Whole World 3. Europe 4. Asia 5. The East-Indies 6. Africa 7. North-America 8. The Dominions of the King of Great Britain on the Continent of North-America 9. The North Part of America 10. The West-Indies 11. South-America 12. A New and Exact Map of the Coasts Countries and Islands within the limits of the South Sea Company 13. Moscovy, Poland, Prussia, Little Tartary 14. Denmark & Sweden 15. A New Map of the Baltick 16. Great-Britain 17. The South Part of Great-Britain 18. The North Part of Great-Britain 19. Ireland 20. Germany 21. The Electorate of Brunswick – Lunenburgh 22. A New Map of the Course of the Rhine 23. The United Provinces of The Netherlands 24. Flanders or The Austrian Netherlands 25. France 26. Spain & Portugal 27. Italy 28. The Upper Part of Italy 29. The Turkish Empire 30. An Historical Map of the Roman Empire

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