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There was a world record for a print by Banksy at Christie’s London Editions sale today. His Balloon Girl – Colour AP (Purple) sold for £791,250 over a top estimate of £350,000. The Banksy I Can’t Believe You Morons Actually Buy This Sh*t sale was 100% sold by lot and brought in £2,121,250. This is the highest total achieved for a dedicated Banksy auction. The London Editions achieved a combined total of £4,374,125.
This distinctive Victorian chaise longue covered in Irish beetled linen is at the Pimlico Road sale at Sotheby’s online until September 30. The unique process of ‘Beetling’ involves linen being dampened and wound around an iron cylinder. The linen is then passed through a machine and pounded with heavy wooden blocks. This technique produces a hard, flat surface with a glaze and makes the linen fabric less porous.
The sale features property from ten galleries and shops on London’s Pimlico Road and offers everything from country house articles to cutting edge contemporary design. There are more than 200 lots with estimates from £400 to £120,000.
Among the works Dublin sculptor John Behan is famous for are his depictions of famine ships in bronze. A rare depiction on canvas of a famine ship by the artist comes up at Whyte’s timed online auction running now. The acrylic on paper has rippling which has led to cracking of the paint. It is estimated at 300-500. According to the auctioneers the sale of over 260 lots with guides from as low €60 to a top estimate of €5,000 will encourage both first-time buyers and seasoned bidders. Many famous Irish artists are represented and the auction runs to October 5.
The Carnal Series is the title of these pieces by the sculptor Edward Delaney, RHA (1930 – 2009). They come up as part of a collection of sculptures by the artist at Fonsie Mealy’s autumn fine art sale in Castlecomer on September 28, 29 and 30. The set of four variant silver alloy statues depicting alternative poses of sexual acts, each initialled and hall marked, gifted by the sculptor to the Honourable Garech Browne, are estimated at 2,000-3,000. There are a number of works by Edward Delaney from the Luggala collection of Garech Browne in the auction.
A 19th century walnut bedroom suite once possibly at Castle Freke comes up at the online Lynes and Lynes sale in Carrigtwohill, Co. Cork on September 26. The nucleus of this 368 lot auction is two long undisturbed house contents, one at Monkstown, other at Rossa Street Clonakilty. No less than six watercolours by Lady Kate Dobbin emerged from the house in Monkstown. There is silver, period furniture, old swords, jewellery, glass, porcelain and antique paintings.
It is known that lot 120, the walnut bedroom suite estimated at just €800-€1,200, emerged from one of the great west Cork house auctions of times past. Mr. Lynes speculates that this could well have been the three day contents auction of Castle Freke conducted by the venerable Cork firm of Marshs in October 1919. Books on offer include Elephant and Seladang Hunting in the Federated Malay States, London 1905 by Theodore R. Hubback (€1,000-€1,500).
A communal three handled drinking vessel previously on loan to the National Museum kicks off three days of online sales at Sheppards in Durrow on September 22, 23 and 24. The design of the Liam McCarthy Cup is based on this particular medieval Celtic vessel, known as a mether. Found at Corran, Co. Armagh it is estimated at €8,000-€12,000.
With everything from a portrait of an old man wearing a turban in the style of Rembrandt to a Japanese ivory chest this Legacy of the Big House sale offers an extraordinary range of art, furniture, Oriental pieces and collectibles. The Morgan Family collection of portrait miniatures is brimful of interest not least because of the portrait of Capt. Tony Morgan by Frederic Buck. This is almost certainly the same Tony Morgan who witnessed the charge of the light brigade in 1854. Reports of this most famous incident of British military history are littered with references to him. Frederic Buck was a successful artist in Cork at a time when it was a busy port of embarkation for troops during the Peninsular War. He fulfilled many orders for portraits for officers going to war. Based at Bunalun near Skibbereen the Morgan family were descendants of the Welsh born pirate captain whose name is synonymous with a brand of rum.
Art on offer includes a limited edition bronze of Arkle and Pat Taaffe by Emma McDermott (€8,000-€12,000), a Head Study of a young girl after Renoir (€80,000-€120,000) and An Irish Jig by Nathanial Grogan (€1,500-€2,500). The auction offers a selection including silver, antique furniture, old maps, garden furniture, jewellery, an Irish taxidermy collection, Oriental porcelain, garden furniture, rugs and collectibles including a collection of more than 200 Irish whiskey labels from 1840-1950 (€5,000-€8,000).
Around 200 valuable books stolen from a warehouse near Heathrow in 2017 have been recovered in Romania. They include first editions of Galileo and Isaac Newton. They were found buried under the floor of a house in the region of Neamt, in north-eastern Romania, on Wednesday. A Romanian organised crime gang was responsible for the theft. The BBC reports that thirteen people have been charged, 12 of whom have already pleaded guilty. The books were being stored in a warehouse ahead of being transported to a specialist book auction in Las Vegas, in the US, when they were stolen.
Works from a range of Modern British masters, including Elisabeth Frink, Bridget Riley, Graham Sutherland, Patrick Caulfield, Henry Moore and Walter Sickert come up at Christie’s Modern British Art sale on September 29. Irish art is represented by sculpture by F.E. McWilliam and paintings and drawings by Augustus John, William Orpen, Mary Swanzy and James Humbert Craig.
One of the largest, most complete and widely studied Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons ever discovered will come up at Christie’s in New York on October 6. Named “STAN” after the paleontologist who first found the skeleton’s partially unearthed hip bones, the T. rex is an extraordinary surviving specimen from approximately 67 million years ago.
The skeleton comes to auction from the Black Hills Institute in South Dakota, where it has been displayed for the last two decades. After a meticulous museum-quality re-mounting, It comes to auction with an estimate of $6-8 million.
UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $31.8 MILLION
Should Dublin move to Level 3 lockdown – as seems likely – it might mean that some upcoming auctions will be postponed. One of the biggest of the up and comings is Whyte’s Irish and International Art Auction scheduled to take place on September 28. This sale will be postponed if Dublin moves to Level 3, which prevents all indoor gatherings apart from weddings and funerals. UPDATE: THIS SALE HAS NOW BEEN POSTPONED TO OCTOBER 19.
