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  • Archive for March, 2020

    IRISH BANKNOTES AT UK AUCTION

    Saturday, March 7th, 2020

    The words “Charity” and “Bank” are hardly synonymous but the first sale devoted entirely to Irish banknotes by UK specialist auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb in London on March 12 will include 120 lots from the archive of AIB (formerly the First Trust Bank) to be sold in aid of charity.  There are around 200 other lots from various other sources. The archive includes proofs, specimens and high grade issued notes from the Provincial Bank, AIB and First Trust Bank. Among the most prized lots are four uncut sheets of 35 First Trust Bank £10 proofs from the 1994-96 issue estimated at £2,000-2,600 and three uncut sheets of 24 First Trust £100 dating from March 1, 1996 (£1,500-2,000). 

    Adrian Moynihan, Head of AIB (NI) said: “With a long and proud history of supporting the Northern Ireland community, AIB is delighted to bring forward for auction its banknote archive in the hope and anticipation that it will raise significant money for two local charities.” Proceeds will be split between Age Northern Ireland and the Alzheimer’s Society.

    Prime lots from other sources include a rare and attractive high denomination Bank of Ireland £20, dating from November 1915, which is expected to make £3,000-£3,600.  The auction will be preceded on March 11 by A sale of Irish Coins and Medals at Dix Noonan Webb which includes an extremely rare Free State (1921-1937) Proof Florin from 1934.

    Provincial Bank of Ireland £5 note proofs. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £900

    LARGE FORMAT BACON TO HIGHLIGHT NEW YORK SALE

    Friday, March 6th, 2020
    Francis Bacon – Triptych Inspired by the Oresteia of Aeschylus

    Francis Bacon’s large-format Triptych Inspired by the Oresteia of Aeschylus will highlight the Contemporary Art evening auction at Sotheby’s in New York on May 13. It will be offered with an estimate in excess of $60 million.

    Inspired by Aeschylus’s trilogy of Greek tragedies dating to the 5th century B.C. this dates to 1981. The artist revisits the same classical text that inspired Three Studies for Figures at the Base of the Crucifixion at the Tate Collection, London. It is one of the 28 large-format triptychs Bacon created between 1962 and 1991 and reveals in a single work the entire range of an iconography developed over three decades of painting. Sotheby’s describe it as one of his most ambitious, enigmatic, and important works.

    Acquired in 1984 by the Norwegian Collector Hans Rasmus Astrup the triptych has been in the care of Astrup Fearnley Museet in Oslo since 1993. Hans Rasmus Astrup explained that the museum; “is meant to be a lasting resource for the public, as it builds on the existing collection and grows beyond it. With this single sale we can ensure that the museum and collection are here in perpetuity.”

    Bacon’s theme of divine punishment is found in Aeschylus’ most famous trilogy, The Oresteia, in which Clytemnestra murders her husband Agamemnon in revenge for the sacrifice of their daughter, Iphigenia. When the son Orestes finds out, he kills his mother to avenge his father’s death, provoking the avenging Furies, also called the Eumenides, who determine to drive Orestes insane as punishment.

    WHERE THE MOUNTAINS OF MOURNE SWEEP DOWN TO THE SEA

    Friday, March 6th, 2020

    A sculptural installation to mark the centenary of the death of Percy French was unveiled today at the Slieve Donard Hotel, Newcastle, County Down where the mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea. One of Ireland’s greatest songwriters, composers and entertainers French is best known as writer of humorous songs like Phil The Fluther’s Ball, Slattery’s Mounted Foot, Are You Right There Michael, Come Back Paddy Reilly to Ballyjamesduff and, most famously, The Mountains of Mourne.

    Commissioned by Hastings Hotels, who own the Slieve Donard Hotel, the installation is designed by Andrew Todd of Tandem Design, who has worked on Titanic Belfast and King John’s Castle in Limerick, and is produced by local craftspeople. It consists of the words of The Mountains of Mourne interwoven in three metal panels.

    Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye

    BECKETT BY LE BROCQUY AT WHYTE’S ART SALE

    Friday, March 6th, 2020

    An image of Samuel Beckett by Louis le Brocquy is among the lots at Whyte’s sale of Irish and International Art in Dublin on March 9. The watercolour on tissue paper is signed and dated 1992 and is estimated at 15,000-20,000. The sale features work by Jack Yeats, Paul Henry, William Conor, Beatrice Glenavy, William Sadler, Nathaniel Hone The Elder, Louis le Brocquy, Tony O’Malley, Donald Teskey and many other Irish artists. Viewing gets underway at the RDS tomorrow.

    UPDATE: THIS MADE 19,000 AT HAMMER

    (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for March 1, 2020).

    Louis le Brocquy (1916-2012) – Image of Samuel Beckett

    BOOK OF KELLS FACSIMILE AT FONSIE MEALY SALE

    Friday, March 6th, 2020

    A facsimile of The Book of Kells – the most precious illuminated manuscript of the early Middle Ages – is among the lots at Fonsie Mealy’s Spring rare book sale in Castlecomer on March 11. It is from the first and only complete fine art facsimile, a limited edition of 1,480 books published by authority of the Board of Trinity College, Dublin. Published by Verlag, Luzern it comes in a specially created presentation box and is estimated at 6,000-8,000. More than 900 lots will come under the hammer.

    UPDATE: THIS MADE 6,000 AT HAMMER

    AFFORDABLE ART ONLINE AT MORGAN O’DRISCOLL

    Wednesday, March 4th, 2020

    More than 450 lots will come under the hammer at Morgan O’Driscoll’s auction of affordable art on Tuesday March 10. Artists whose work will feature are Jack B Yeats, Harry Kernoff, Banksy, Salvador Dali, Antony Gormley, John Kingerlee, Georges Braque, Kenneth Webb and John Butler Yeats. The catalogue is online.

    JACK BUTLER YEATS (1871-1957) Roadside Thatched Cottage (1,200-1,800). UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,600 AT HAMMER

    ITS ON WITH THE SHOW AT TEFAF MAASTRICHT

    Wednesday, March 4th, 2020

    Coronavirus nothwithstanding TEFAF, the European Fine Art Fair, is looking forward to welcoming visitors from all over the world. March 5 is early access day when it opens by invitation only, Friday is preview day, again by invitation only, and the fair proper runs from March 7 to March 15. Further to the Dutch authority’s advice, TEFAF is taking extra precautionary measures, such as additional all-day cleaning services and distribution and placement of hand sanitizers at the fair. The local health authorities will set up an information desk in the entrance area at the MECC.

    Heading into the 33rd edition, TEFAF Maastricht continues to be a pillar of the art market, providing a vital destination for collectors to explore the diversity of 7,000 years of art history. This outstanding fair provides collectors with the opportunity to acquire some of the finest works available on the market. Among many highlights this year is Three Dancers in Yellow Skirts,  a c1891 oil by Edgar Degas (1834 – 1917). It is being exhibited by Hammer Galleries.

    Edgar Degas – Three Dancers in Yellow Skirts

    CHAMPION PRICE FOR ADVERTISING PRINT

    Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020

    An advertising print featuring New York and Chicago baseball players estimated at €80-100 sold for a hammer price of €17,500 at Sheppards in Durrow today. The print, for E and J Burke Finest Pale Ales and Extra Foreign Stout depicted the two players drinking companionably, one with ale from a barrell, the other with stout.

    The brothers Edward (1827?-1887) and John Burke (1829-1892) were Irish distillers, brewers, bottlers and importers, cousins of Benjamin Lee Guinness and grandsons of the first Arthur Guinness. The company they founded in. 1847 was in business in New York City from 1874 to 1953. A six story brick warehouse at 616 W 46th St. served as headquarters and storage from 1913-1922.

    A Chinese Qing hardwood and silk throne screen with six embroidered panels made €42,000 at hammer. It had been estimated at €30,000-60,000.

    WARHOL’S BEETHOVEN SCREENPRINTS AT SOTHEBY’S

    Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020

    A rare complete set of Beethoven screenprints by Andy Warhol comes up at Sotheby’s sale of prints and multiples in London on March 19. This year marks the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth. Warhol spared no effort in transforming the idealised and iconic portrait of the composer by Karl Stieler, into the rock star persona portrayed within this set of four screenprints. Created shortly before Warhol’s death in 1987 they are estimated at £200,000-300,000.

    FOILED ARMED BANK RAID IN BELFAST RECALLED AT AUCTION

    Monday, March 2nd, 2020

    A foiled armed Belfast bank raid in 1974 is recalled in a lot to come under the hammer at Dix Noonan Webb in London on March 4. A group of three Queen’s Gallantry Medals awarded to RUC Detective Constable James Patrick Hardy will be offered with an estimate of £4,000-5,000. He was one of two policemen who spotted the getaway car speeding away from a robbery at the Trustee Savings Bank at Glengormley in November 1974. Tbey gave chase and the getaway car crashed into the security fence at the Corr’s Corner Roadhouse.

    A newspaper account quoting the second RUC man, Detective Sergeant George McMullen is included. Sgt. McMullen said: “When the car stopped four armed men got out and we ordered them to halt. After repeated warnings we drew our pistols and opened fire, hitting and wounding one man. He and one of the others stopped and after a further chase we caught all four.” More than £1,800 in cash was recovered and the robbers were subsequently brought to trial.

    UPDATE: THIS LOT SOLD FOR £3,600