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  • Archive for May, 2022

    A NON-STOP SOFA MAKES 15,500 AT DE VERES

    Tuesday, May 24th, 2022
    THIS NON STOP SOFA MADE 15,500 AT HAMMER

    A rare 1970’s ‘Non Stop’ sofa by Ueli Berger, Eleanore Peduzzi-Riva and Hans Ulrich for De Sede, Switzerland made a hammer price of 15,500 at de Veres Art and Design auction in Dublin today. This iconic piece of 20th century design is upholstered in black leather and felt composed of 20 individual pieces that zip together. It can configure into a number of different positions and broken down into smaller sofas if needed. It earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s largest sofa with an example that boasted more than 400 connected sections. This version has 20 sections and measures 5m in a straight length.

    RARE PHOTOGRAPH OF SIR ERNEST SHACKLETON AT SOTHEBY’S

    Monday, May 23rd, 2022
    FRANK HURLEY – SHACKLETON ON THE ENDURANCE. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £6,048

    THIS rare 1914 photograph of polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton on his ship Endurance is lot 109 at Sotheby’s sale online sale of Travel, Atlases, Maps and Photographs which runs until the afternoon of May 24. It is estimated at £5,000-7,000. Frank Hurley was the official photograph on Shackleton’s Imperial Trans Antarctic Expedition which set out in 1914 and was marooned until August 1916.

    DESIGN FURNITURE AND ART AT DE VERES

    Sunday, May 22nd, 2022
    Frattini desk c1960. UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,400 AT HAMMER

    This rosewood c1960 Model 530 desk by Gianfranco Frattini for Bernini is lot 17 at de Veres art and design auction which runs online until May 24. The sale is on view from today in Dublin. The desk is estimated at 1,500-2,500. The sale features Danish and Italian furniture and lighting by some of the major designers of the 20th Century including Arne Vodder, Arne Jacobsen, Finn Juhl, Niels Moller, le Corbusier, major labels Desede, Roche Bobois, B + B Italia and Cassina. There is art by Felim Egan, Robert Ballagh, Martin Gale, Terry Frost, Barrie Cooke, William Crozier and a variety of other artists.

    A BUSY WEEK OF AUCTIONS IN IRELAND COMING UP

    Saturday, May 21st, 2022
    Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Lynch at Sheppards. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    Great Irish Interiors at Sheppards, collectibles at Whyte’s and Mullen’s, art at Morgan O’Driscoll and James Adam, an Irish collection at Sotheby’s in London, design at de Veres and antique furniture at Woodwards should get a busy summer season off to a flying start over the next week or so. Kicking off with an Eclectic Collector sale online at Whyte’s in Dublin today buyers at all price points will find plenty to choose from.  Wine drinkers who enjoy Chateau Lynch Bages will no doubt be fascinated by a portrait at Sheppards of Jean Baptiste Lynch (1749-1835), Mayor of Bordeaux, Count of the French Empire, lawyer and son of Thomas Lynch who produced high quality wines under the name Cru de Lynch which eventually morphed into Lynch-Bages.  The Lynch family – one of the Tribes of Galway – fled persecution in Ireland in the 17th century and this portrait is from the Derk estate in Co. Limerick, thence by descent.  Lot 23 is estimated at €15,000-€25,000.

    Three days of sales at Sheppards get underway next Tuesday (May 24). Viewing starts in Durrow today and the catalogue with a fascinating selection of antique furniture, Chinese and African collectibles, ceramics, chandeliers, sllver, jewellery and collectibles is online.

    Along with Robert Emmet’s 1803 Proclamation Whyte’s sale today offers 1916 Rising and War of Independence documents and medals, Seamus Heaney signed first editions, Polar exploration volumes, maps, banknotes and coins and entertainment and sporting memorabilia. A Butterfly Spin by Damien Hirst  and a silkscreen print of John Wayne by Andy Warhol feature at Morgan O’Driscoll’s  online sale of affordable art which runs until next Monday evening (May 23) A strong selection of 20th century classic design furniture and Irish art will come under the hammer at de Veres next Tuesday afternoon (May 24).  There is Danish and Italian furniture and lighting by designers including Arne Jacobsen, Finn Juhl, le Corbuser, Mies van der Rohe and Arne Vodder and art by Felim Egan, Robert Ballagh, Francis Tansey, Terry Frost and William Crozier.

    An Irish George III oval mirror at Sotheby’s. UPDATE: THIS MADE £10,080

    The sale of Monte Alverno: An Irish Collection at Sotheby’s in London next Thursday will give Irish and international collectors a chance to pick up something Irish and special like Regency peat buckets, gilt mirrors, antique furniture and art ranging from 18th century bird gouaches by Samuel Dixon through to Yeats, James Arthur O’Connor, John Luke and Patrick Swift.A pair of Georgian peat buckets and a pair of Edwardian demi-lune side tables are among the top antique furniture lots at Woodwards  sale in Cork next Saturday (May 24).  Among the Georgian lots are a three pillar dining table, a library table, a card table, a wine cooler, a bureau, a chest of drawers and a lowboy. An Edwardian inlaid sofa table and an office mahogany desk are among around 300 lots here.Next week is bookended by a sale of history, militaria and collectibles at Mullens of Laurel Park.

    Photograph of a female climber in Victorian days at Mullen’s  UPDATE: THIS LOT MADE 380 AT HAMMER

    Among the first photographs of rock climbers in action were those taken by the Abraham family at Keswick in the Lake District.  Mullens will offer a box of 50 glass stereoscope slides of 19th century images from Cumberland and North Wales featuring climbers in tweeds, flat caps and, in one memorable image, a skirt. In those Victorian times there was no lack of equality on the mountains.  The sale kicks off with a skull of a Great Irish Elk.  There is a poetry book inscribed by Roger Casement in Pentonville Prison on the night before his execution to Fr. Murnane of The Presbytery, Bermondsey.

    RARE 18TH CENTURY VIEWS OF DUBLIN BAY AT JAMES ADAM

    Saturday, May 21st, 2022
    William Ashford (1746-1824) – A Two Views of Dublin Bay looking North and South. UPDATE: THESE MADE 340,000 AT HAMMER

    A rare pair of 1774/5 views of Dublin by William Ashford, first president of the Royal Hibernian Academy, will highlight the James Adam sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin on June 1. The Two Views of Dublin Bay looking North and South were commissioned by Thomas Dawson, 1st Baron Dartrey and were sold at Christie’s in London the following year with the firm’s founder James Christie wielding the gavel.  They are estimated at €500,000-€700,000. Works by many of our best known artists over a 250 year span are included in this sale with over €2 million in estimates.  The Bridge, Skibbereen by Jack B Yeats was exhibited at The Dublin Society of Painters in 1920 and is now estimated at €400,000-€600,000. One of the most recently painted works in the sale is a monumental 2008 oil by Hughie O’Donoghue, The Yellow Man II (€40,000-€60,000).  Among the artists represented by significant works in this sale of 118 lots are George Barret, Sir John Lavery, Gerard Dillon, Tony O’Malley, Edward Maguire, Barry Flanagan, Dan O’Neill and William Scott.

    An unusual highlight at an art sale is an original copy of the Irish Proclamation with an estimate of €150,000-€200,000.

    SOTHEBY’S WEEKLONG NEW YORK SERIES MAKES OVER $1 BILLION

    Friday, May 20th, 2022
    Sean Scully – Song sold for a record $2,046,500

    After four days of consecutive auctions, the Contemporary evening auction tipped Sotheby’s weeklong series over one billion US dollars. The $210.5 million Contemporary evening auction in New York last night was powered by towering figures of contemporary art, with Francis Bacon’s triumphant finale to his Pope paintings realising $46.3 million. Also leading the sale were: Cy Twombly’s Untitled ($38 million), Andy Warhol’s Elvis ($21.6 million), Ed Ruscha’s Cold Beer Beautiful Girls ($18.8 million) and Georg Baselitz’s Women of Dresden – Visit from Prague ($11.2 million, a new artist record). The evening’s final lot, Sean Scully’s Song ($2 million), earned the artist a new auction record.

    The Now evening auction realised $72.9 million. Work by women artists achieved $28 million (nearly double the $10.3–14.4 million estimate) and work by artists of colour realised $35.1 million (above the $15.9–22.9 estimate) or nearly half of the auction’s total sale value. In one energetic hour, nine out of 23 lots set records: Adrian Ghenie’s  Degenerate Art ($9.3 million), Matthew Wong’s  The Night Watcher  ($5.9 million), Avery Singer’s Happening  ($5.3 million), Christina Quarles’s Night Fell Upon Us Up On Us ($4.5 million), Jennifer Packer’s Fire Next Time ($2.3 million), Simone Leigh’s Birmingham ($2.2 million), Anna Weyant’s  Falling Woman ($1.6 million), Lucy Ball’s Special Guest ($907K, in her auction debut), and Virgil Abhloh’s Unique” Efforescence” Desk ($151K for a dedicated work of art).

    DID A CONSTABLE BEACH AT CASTLECOMER?

    Thursday, May 19th, 2022
    BEACHED BOATS AT BRIGHTON ATTRIBUTED TO JOHN CONSTABLE. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    Beached Boats at Brighton, a painting attributed to one of Britains most enduringly popular artists John Constable (1776-1837), is the top lot at Shepards three day Great Irish Interiors sale from May 24-26. The oil on board in a gilt frame is estimated at 20,000-30,000. From a private family collection at Littlehamton in Sussex Sheppards say it is likely to have come from one of the sales at Fosters who sold the contents of Constable’s studios on behalf of his family from 1838 to 1875. The tiny work measures just three and a half by four and a half inches. The sale of 1,204 lots features art, antique furniture and a wide variety of collectibles. The catalogue is online and viewing gets underway in Durrow tomorrow.

    YEATS ONCE OWNED BY PETER O’TOOLE AT BONHAMS

    Thursday, May 19th, 2022
    The Train through the Woods by Jack Butler Yeats. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    A painting by Jack B Yeats once in the collection of actor Peter O’Toole comes up at Bonhams sale of Modern British and Irish Art in London on June 22. Painted in 1925 The Train through the Woods is estimated at £40,000-60,000. There is art in the sale by Hughie O’Donoghue and Sir John Lavery.

    ANTIQUE IRISH FURNITURE AT SOTHEBY’S SALE IN LONDON

    Thursday, May 19th, 2022
    Mid 18th century Irish side table. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    A fascinating collection of  antique furniture and art comes under the hammer at Sotheby’s in London on May 26.  Monte Alverno: An Irish Private Collection will offer a collection of English and Irish furniture from a Dalkey home with views over the Irish Sea.  There is some beautifully carved and patinated Irish furniture from the mid 18th century through to later pieces by Hicks of Dublin as well as gilded mirrors and Chinese works of art.

    Among the Irish furniture lots of note is a pair of George III style demi lune side tables, a mid 18th century open armchair, a pair of Regency convex mirrors by Richard Jackson,  a George II style side table by Hicks, a Regency telescopic extending dining table, a harlequin set of 15 George II style dining chairs and a George III oval cut glass mirror.  A B. Yeats, William Scott, John Luke, Patrick Swift, James Arthur O’Connor and other renowned Irish artists.  The catalogue is online.

    (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for May 4, 2022)

    A NEW ANSWER FROM EINSTEIN AT MORGAN O’DRISCOLL SALE

    Thursday, May 19th, 2022
    Einstein by Mr. Brainwash. UPDATE: THIS MADE 5,800 AT HAMMER

    Einstein by Mr. Brainwash comes up as lot 17 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s current online auction of Irish art, which goes on view in Skibbereen from today. It is estimated at 5,000-7,000. The catalogue for the sale of paintings and sculpture, which runs until May 23, is online now.