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  • Archive for August, 2018

    THE HISTORY OF NOW

    Thursday, August 30th, 2018

    The art of visionary collector David Teiger is to the sold at Sotheby’s in a sale titled The History of Now.  Sotheby’s will sent the $100 million collection through a series of global sales set to launch with a dedicated evening auction in London this October.  For visionary collector, patron and museum trustee David Teiger, art took precedence over all else. Redefining the meaning of connoisseurship and great collecting, Teiger considered himself a custodian of the work as opposed to its owner. A consummate collector who maintained clarity of vision and purpose over so many styles and decades in a way few collectors could, he built a kaleidoscopic collection daringly ahead of its time.

    The History of Now in London on October 5 will present Teiger’s esteemed private collection. Following his exceptionally generous lifelong support of museums, curators and institutions, proceeds from the series of sales will benefit Teiger Foundation – soon to be one of the world’s largest and most significant contemporary art foundations – set up to support and promote excellence in contemporary art.

    Lisa Dennison, Chairman, Sotheby’s Americas, said: “David’s extraordinary generosity and long tradition of supporting artists, curators, gallerists, and museums was unique. He fully understood the eco-system of the art world, and his patronage extended to a broad range of individuals and institutions in order to empower them to do their best work. His legacy will live on in his Foundation and the initiatives they will sponsor to support Contemporary Art.”

    Peter Doig, Buffalo Station I (1997-8), Estimate in excess of £6million

    Chris Ofili, Afromantics (2000-2), Estimate in excess of £1million

    GET TO THE WORLD’S OLDEST OPERATIONAL LIGHTHOUSE FOR CULTURE NIGHT

    Thursday, August 30th, 2018

    Hook Lighthouse

    The world’s oldest original operational lighthouse will join the National Culture Night celebrations in Ireland on Friday, September 21. The 846-year-old Hook Lighthouse in Co. Wexford will offer free guided tours of the medieval tower at 6 pm, 7 pm and 8 pm.   Places on these tours must be booked in advance on www.hookheritage.ie

    There will be a 45-minute tour of the medieval tower with insights and stories of times gone by with some help from a number of historical characters along the way. Having climbed the well worn 115 steps of the tower visitors will be rewarded with breathtaking views of the South East coast of Ireland from the balcony at the top of the lighthouse at the entrance to Waterford harbour.  Hook Lighthouse, which with the nearby village of Crooke in Co. Waterford  is said to have given rise to the expression “by hook or by crook” , was built by William Marshal, the Earl of Pembroke, who built Tintern Abbey and Kilkenny Castle.

    ENGLISH CLOCK EXHIBITION AT BONHAMS, LONDON

    Wednesday, August 29th, 2018

    An exhibition of early English clocks at runs at Bonhams, New Bond Street, London from September 3-14.  The main objective is to ignite a new public interest in exquisite clocks. Drawn from two private clock collectors it will also feature third party loans, including contributions from the Science Museum, the Clockmakers’ Company and the Collection of the 5th Lord Harris from Belmont House. The specimens on display are very rarely in the public eye and many are being displayed together almost certainly for the first time.
    Curator Richard Garnier explained: “In researching the exhibition – that displays the early development of the pendulum clock – I’ve discovered that, in England, clock case design and materials pre-dated cabinetmaking of the period. Clocks were the pinnacle of English fashion and featured expensive woods such as ebony and kingwood, leading the way in cabinet making. It seems that the common wisdom – that clock cases followed developments in the furniture trade – is wrong. It was in fact furniture that seems to have been influenced by clocks, as these new mechanical timepieces were the ultimate in designer technology and became leaders in the development of cabinetmaking.”

    GREAT SINGLE OWNER COLLECTION AT CHRISTIE’S NEW YORK

    Wednesday, August 29th, 2018

    The Elizabeth Stafford Collection – the single owner collection of fine and decorative art from which Brancusi’s bronze Portrait of Nancy Cunard which made $71 million in May – comes up at Christie’s New York on November 21. This dedicated collection sale of approximately 290 lots will offer superb French furniture, Old Master paintings and drawings, decorative arts, and Sèvres porcelain.

    Additionally, several highlights from the collection will be offered across the fall sales of Old Masters, European Art and the Impressionist and Modern Art Evening, Day and Works on Paper sales featuring the artists Corot, Claude Lorrain, Monet, Pissarro and Sisley, among others.  A Love Affair with France: The Elizabeth Stafford Collection Christie’s Paris from September 6-10, during the Biennale in Paris, and to Hong Kong from September 28-October 3.

    MASTERPIECE BY JOHN LUKE AT SOTHEBY’S IRISH SALE

    Monday, August 27th, 2018

    Pax by John Luke UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £225,000

    Pax by John Luke (1906-1975) comes up at Sotheby’s Irish sale in London on September 11.  It was painted in 1943. When first shown in Belfast at the annual exhibition of the Ulster Academy in 1944 reviewers noted that his characteristic blend of modernism, fantasy and technical precision had a new resolve.

    A major turning point Pax was named for the peace the artist found at Killylea in Co. Armagh. The painting had departed from his work of the 1930’s by fully realising his desire to arrange and represent in a personal and orderly manner the spatial relations of forms and masses. It broke a four year cycle of depression during which he had ceased painting. A small work, measuring just 29.5 by 39 cm it is estimated at 380,000-120,000.  It is from the collection of 16 oils from Pittsburgh based Joseph and Brenda Calihan which is at the core of the sale.

    Highlights from the sale will be on view at the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin from August 30 to September 1.

    ORIGINS AT LISMORE CASTLE ARTS

    Sunday, August 26th, 2018

    Origins, an exhibition from the 2018 undergraduate art shows across Ireland, opens at Lismore Castle Arts today.  Curated by Belfast based Alissa Kleist the three artists selected this year are Jesse James Hallaway (Limerick School of Art and Design), Gary Reilly (NCAD) and Anna O’Riordan (Crawford, Cork). Open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sunday from noon to 5 pm at St. Carthage Hall the show continues until October 14.

    An artwork by Anna O’Riordan

    An artwork by Anna O’Riordan

    LEGENDARY ASSEMBLAGE OF POST WAR AND CONTEMPORARY ART AT CHRISTIE’S

    Friday, August 24th, 2018

    UNTITLED BY ALEXANDER CALDER COURTESY CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2018

    One of America?s most legendary assemblages of Post-War and Contemporary art will come up at Christie’s in New York in November. The collection of Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson includes consummate examples from artists including David Smith, Alexander Calder, David Hockney, Vija Celmins, Martin Puryear, Philip Guston and Jasper Johns as well as Pablo Picasso and Alan D’Arcangelo will come up at Christie’s in New York in November. The pre-sale estimate is in the region of $30-50 million.

    The collection demonstrates over half a century of scholarship and dedication by Harry ?Hunk? and Mary ?Moo? Anderson. Encompassing approximately 200 lots, the present grouping represents a poignant representation of the Andersons? collecting vision, ranging from Post-War and Contemporary to Impressionist and Modern Art and Prints and Multiples to American Paintings. The selection will be sold over several auctions beginning with the Evening and Morning Sales of Post-War and Contemporary art in November followed by an Online Only sale in December.

    Inspired by a single visit to the Louvre Museum in the 1960s, the collection has come to encompass the very best in creative expression, providing a stimulating intellectual outlet for not just the Anderson family, but the countless students, scholars, and museum-goers who have benefitted from the Anderson’s profound generosity.

    ASIAN ART WEEK AT CHRISTIE’S, NEW YORK

    Thursday, August 23rd, 2018

    There will be a series of auctions, viewings, and events at Christie’s in New York from September 7-14 to mark Asian Art Week.  This year there will be eight distinct auctions featuring over 900 lots spanning all epochs and categories of Asian Art from Chinese archaic bronzes through contemporary Indian painting.

    This season includes four thematic auctions, Qianlong’s precious vessel, a single lot sale dedicated to a revered bronze formerly in the Emperor’s collection, Masterpieces of Cizhou Ware, rare Chinese ceramics, Fine Chinese Jade Carvings from private collections and the Ruth and Carl Barron collection of fine Chinese snuff bottles.

    The week begins with Fine Chinese paintings led by a contemporary painting by Ma Xinle (born 1963) Horses ($250,000-350,000).

    Qi Baishi (1863-1957) – Chicks, hanging scroll.

    Ma Xinle (born 1963) – Horses

     

     

    ONE OF THE GREATEST COLLECTIONS OF IRISH ART

    Wednesday, August 22nd, 2018

    Jack B. Yeats (1871-1957) – A Misty Morning, 1942.  UPDATE: THIS MADE £286,000

    The paintings amassed by Brian P. Burns, billed as one of the greatest collections of Irish art in private hands, will come up at Sotheby’s in London on November 21.  It spans artists from the 18th century to the present day reaching over 200 works at its peak.  More than forty years ago, Brian P. Burns made a bet with himself: “Isn’t it possible that the Irish could be just as brilliant in the visual arts as they have been in music and literature?” His collection is a personal response to the challenge he set and he has been generous with loans of his art to exhibitions in America and Ireland. Sotheby’s will offer 100 works form the collection with estimates ranging from £1,000 to £300,000.

    Brian P. Burns, whose grandfather emigrated to Boston from Sneem in 1892, remarked: “Some have asked why Eileen and I have chosen this time to return a large group of paintings from our Irish art collection to the market. Many years ago, when I started collecting, I was advised by Desmond Fitzgerald, the 29th Knight of Glin; Desmond Guinness, and other art advisors in Ireland to remember that no matter how many paintings I might acquire, I was only a custodian of them during my lifetime. Now at 80-plus years old, and with a collection of more than 200 works, it seemed an appropriate time. We have ensured that a number of paintings will be displayed in Chicago, New York and Boston before they “go across the pond” to be exhibited in Dublin and London before their sale this November.

    There are works by Yeats, Roderic O’Conor, Sir John Lavery, Sir William Orpen, Walter Osborne, William Leech, Nathaniel Hone, James Brenan, Rowan Gillespie and many other Irish artists and sculptors. Highlights will be exhibited at the RHA in Dublin from August 30 to September 1.

    UPDATE: THE ENTIRE COLLECTION BROUGHT IN £3.3 MILLION.

    CHRISTIE’S TO OFFER ARTWORK CREATED BY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

    Monday, August 20th, 2018

    As part of the ongoing dialogue over artificial intelligence and art Christie’s is set to become the first major auction house to offer a work of art created by an algorithm. Portrait of Edmond de Belamy ($7,000-10,000), created by artificial intelligence and conceived by the Paris-based collective Obvious, which will be included in the Prints & Multiples auction in New York from October 23-25. It is estimated at $7,000-10,000.

    The portrait depicts a gentleman, possibly French and — to judge by his dark frock coat and plain white collar — a man of the church. The work appears unfinished: the facial features are somewhat indistinct and there are blank areas of canvas. The portrait, however, is not the product of a human mind. It is one of a group of 11 unique portraits of the fictional Belamy family conceived by the Paris based collective Obvious consisting of Hugo Caselles-Dupré, Pierre Fautrel and Gauthier Vernier.

    Obvious is engaged in exploring the interface between art and artificial intelligence, using a method known as a ‘generative adversarial network’ or the acronym GAN. This series is referred to as “La Famille de Belamy,” was named as a tribute to the inventor of GANs, Ian Goodfellow (“Goodfellow” is roughly translated to “Bel ami” in French). Created by an algorithm composed of two parts, The Generator and the Discriminator, the system was fed a data set of 15,000 portraits.

    antiquesandartireland.com has to ask if this is some sort of flash in the pan or does it represent a new future.  No doubt AI can be taught the technical details of how to paint but can it ever evoke an emotional human response or can it achieve the essential human dimension that marks a great work of art?

    UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR $432,000