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  • Archive for August, 2018

    AN ILLUSTRATED JOURNEY THROUGH INNER CITY DUBLIN

    Saturday, August 18th, 2018
    Everyone, Everywhere, Everyday is an illustrated journey through inner city Dublin inspired by James Joyce’s Ulysses. Artist Eva Kelly sets out to capture the energy and stream of life of contemporary Dublin by tracing  part of the journey made by Leopold Bloom starting at The Oval pub on Abbey St. and concluding in College St.
    Applying the idea of the flaneur observing city life each scene was drawn and photographed from different perspectives.  From this 12 illustrations were made showing exterior spaces, streets, people, interior view points from a cafe, bus window and various shops.
    The exhibition is on show at the Gallery at the Mill Theatre, Dundrum Town Centre until September 30.

    LADY LUCAN’S ESTATE AT BONHAMS IN OCTOBER

    Friday, August 17th, 2018

    Thomas Heapy, A family portrait – presumed to be the wife and children of Richard Bingham. Photo: Bonhams.

    The estate of the late Lady Lucan will lead Bonhams  Private Collections sale in London on October 3.  She was married to John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan, who disappeared in 1974, shortly after the attempted murder of his, by then, estranged wife and the murder of the nanny of their children, Sandra Rivett. At the inquest into Rivett?s death, Lucan was identified as her killer, the first member of the House of Lords to be named in court as a murderer since 1760.

    Lord Lucan was never found.  The presumption is that he died. Probate to his estate was granted in 1999 and a death certificate issued in 2016.  Lady Lucan died in 2017.

    Proceeds from the sale will be donated to Shelter, a charity whose objective is to see safe, secure and affordable housing for everyone.

    A SEPTEMBER SUNDAY STROLL BY JACK YEATS AT SOTHEBY’S

    Wednesday, August 15th, 2018

    Jack B. Yeats – Sunday Evening in September, 1949  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £394,000

    Sunday Evening in  September, 1949 by Jack B. Yeats will highlight Sotheby’s Irish art sale in London on September 11. Estimated at £300,000-500,000 it features a young couple taking a stroll on St. Stephen’s Green and is described by Sotheby’s as an evocative ode to the city, of carefree evenings and a timeless tour de force.

    The sale will be led by a single-owner selection of works from the Joseph and Brenda Calihan Collection. In 16 oils, the Calihan Collection represents a distillation of Irish art across a hundred-year period, from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries. The group is characterised by the exemplary and individual qualities of each piece. The collection of the Pittsburgh based couple includes works by Jack B Yeats, Paul Henry, Gerard Dillon and John Luke, and carries a combined estimate in the region of €1.6 million.  The works will be on view at the RHA on August 30 and September 1.

    THE YAMANAKA RETICULATED VASE AND ITS CONTROVERSIAL COUSIN

    Monday, August 13th, 2018

    The Yamanaka Reticulated Vase

    The Yamanaka reticulated vase, one of the most complex porcelains ever conceived by Tang Ying for the Emperor Qianlong, will come up at Sotheby’s autumn series of sales in Hong Kong. It is a pair to a vase which sold at hammer at Bainbridges for £43 million in 2010 to a Chinese billionaire who subsequently baulked at fees of 20%.  That sale eventually fell through after a two year stalemate and the vase was eventually sold in a deal brokered by Bonhams to an unidentified buyer from the Far East who is believed to have paid up to £25 million for it.

    Carved and exquisitely painted with four pairs of fish below Rococo-inspired motifs on a yellow sgraffiato ground, the exceptional famille-rose reticulated vase is skillfully modelled with an inner blue-and-white vase, which can be glimpsed through the openwork lattice, placing it among the most complex and rarest porcelains from the Qianlong period ever to have emerged on the market.

    It was included in the 1905 Yamanaka Exhibition in New York and acquired by a private Japanese collector in 1924.

    UPDATE:  This sold for HK$149,091,000 / US$19,009,102 / £14,637,024, almost three times the pre-sale estimate 

    RARE AND COLLECTIBLE FASHION AT CHRISTIE’S NEW YORK

    Monday, August 13th, 2018
    A special one off auction of rare and collectible fashion items from premier luxury vintage dealers What Goes Around Comes Around is to be held at Christie’s, New York on September 18. It will feature one of a kind items and vintage pieces from designers like Hermes and Chanel.
    The live auction is timed to immediately follow New York Fashion Week and is expected to attract considerable international participation.
    Highlights from the sale include a Hermes Rouge Impérial Porosus Crocodile Lisse Kelly Sellier Bag, Philippe Barland x Chanel Limited Edition Blue Carbon Surfboard, Hermès Vert Celadon Alligator Lisse Kelly Sellier Bag, Hermès Yannick Manier 30’s Bag, MONSTER x Chanel Black Quilted Adjustable Headphones and a customized Rolling Stones Leather Jacket hand-painted by Charlotte Watts (Charlie Watts’s granddaughter) for the 2016 Rolling Stones exhibition launch. Pictured is a selection from the sale.

    A FIVE STAR SUMMER AUCTION IN CONG, CO. MAYO

    Sunday, August 12th, 2018
    Furniture from the family owned five star luxury Red Carnation Hotels in Geneva, London, Guernsey and some items from Ashford Castle will be sold by auctioneer Aidan Foley in Cong, Co. Mayo on August 13. Live bidding is available through easy live auctions.
    The no reserve sale of surplus items offers a wide variety of lots from a metamorphic billiards table to desks, chairs, couches, soft furnishings, Persian rugs, wall hangings and collectibles including an 1806 letter signed by Napoleon Bonaparte.
    Red Carnation Hotels acquired and extensively refurbished Ashford Castle, one of Ireland’s most luxurious hotels, after a receivership sale in 2013.  Auctioneer Aidan Foley first conducted a sale of surplus items from the Ashford Castle refurbishment in 2014.  The auction was 100% sold and was followed by two further highly successful sales of surplus items in 2016 and 2017.
    Among the notable lots that changed hands at previous sales were a bronze bust of John Wayne as The Quiet Man cast from the original statue in the village of Cong, the setting in 1951 for the film starring John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara.  Cast by Mayo based sculptor Mark Rode it sold for 3,900.  At last years sale the Black Yamaha piano played by Stevie Wonder at the wedding reception of Rory McIlroy sold for 7,800 over a top estimate of 3,000.
    Some of the lots on offer this time round previously changed hands at sales at Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Bonhams. Among these is a collection of 19th century tapestry borders, the decorative edges that surround many tapestries are a collectible item in their own right.  A sale like this appeals both to serious collectors with deep pockets and those in search of an unusual bargain lot with the provenance of a guaranteed luxury decorative setting.
    (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for August 4, 2018)

    A selection from the sale.

    A three seater chesterfield sofa  UPDATE: THIS MADE 580 AT HAMMER

    A metamorphic billiards table  UPDATE: THIS MADE 740 AT HAMMER

    INTERVIEW MAGAZINE SIGNED BY ANDY WARHOL AT IRISH AUCTION

    Saturday, August 11th, 2018

    Interview magazine signed by Andy Warhol  UPDATE: THIS MADE 420 AT HAMMER

    An Interview magazine signed by Andy Warhol is among the lots at Morgan O’Driscoll’s online sale of affordable art which runs until August 13 between 6,30 pm and 11.30 pm.  Interview was an American magazine founded by Andy Warhol and British journalist John Wilcock in 1969. Nicknamed “The Crystal Ball of Pop”  it featured intimate conversations between some of the world’s biggest celebrities artists, musicians and creative thinkers.  It continued after Warhol’s death but the magazine is to fold at the end of this year.

    Morgan O’Driscoll’s online auctions of affordable Irish art have proved popular.  This one features a wide variety of 385 lots ranging from Sir Frederick William Burton, Markey Robinson, Martin Finnin, Norman Teeling and sculptors Patrick O’Reilly and Leo Higgins.  The catalogue is online.  Here is a small selection:

    Sir Frederick William Burton RHA (1816-1900)
    A Country Church  UPDATE: THIS MADE 650 AT HAMMER

    Niall Campion Baltimore Harbour, Co Cork  UPDATE: THIS MADE 650 AT HAMMER

    Still Life – Vase of Flowers by Markey Robinson  UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,200 AT HAMMER

    SIR EDWARD BARRY’S WINES OF THE ANCIENTS

    Wednesday, August 8th, 2018

    Sir Edward Barry’s wine observations

    The earliest major work in English on the wines of the ancients, and the first book in English that discusses modern wines is among the current offerings from London specialist booksellers Peter Harrington.  It was written in the 18th century by Dublin based Professor Edward Barry.

    A doctor by training Edward Barry served as physician-general to the forces in Ireland, and professor of physic in the University of Dublin 1745-61.  Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1732 he became a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in 1740 and its president in 1749.  He entered the Irish House of Commons in 1744, representing Charleville in Co. Cork until 1760.

    The first and only edition of Sir Edward Barry’s Observations, historical, critical and medical on the Wines of the Ancients 1775 is priced at £2,250.

    MONIR AT THE IRISH MUSEUM OF MODERN ART

    Wednesday, August 8th, 2018

    Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian

    Sunset Sunrise, a retrospective of Iranian artist Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian opens at the Irish Museum of Modern Art on August 9. Now in her mid-nineties this is her first solo exhibition in Ireland. More than 70 works are on display with 1970’s sculpture,  jewellery, embroidery, collages and drawings fresh from the artist’s studio in Iran.

    Farmanfarmaian was one of the first Iranian students to study in the US after World War II. Between 1945 and 1957 she worked alongside iconic American artists such as Jackson Pollock, Frank Stella, Louise Nevelson and Andy Warhol.  In 1957 she returned to Iran and was abroad when the Islamic Revolution broke out in 1979. This marked an exile until 1992.  Now firmly re-established in her native country she is considered one of the most important Iranian artists working today. The Monir Museum opened in 2017 and is the first museum in Iran dedicated to a female artist.
    Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian said“The Irish and the Iranians share a love of poetry in their cultures. My poetry is in my art, and I am honoured to share it in this IMMA exhibition”.  The opening is to be performed by international curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, co-director, Serpentine Galleries, London.

    NAPOLEON LETTER AT AUCTION IN CONG

    Saturday, August 4th, 2018
    An 1806 letter by Napoleon Bonaparte, Persian carpets, a pair of marble pedestals, two mid 20th century designer sofas by Pierre Lottier, a collection of 19th century tapestry borders, art and garden furniture will feature at Aidan Foley’s auction in Cong, Co. Mayo on Monday, August 13.

    The Red Carnation Group, owners of Ashford Castle, has instructed Mr. Foley to sell furniture from their five star hotels in Geneva, London, Guernsey and Ashford. His previous sales of residual contents from Ashford Castle proved huge crowd pullers. Some of the lots on offer on August 13 previously changed hands at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Bonhams.  The catalogue will be available online on August 9.

    An 1806 letter by Napoleon  UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,400 AT HAMMER

    A selection of lots from Aidan Foley’s sale