antiquesandartireland.com

Information about Art, Antiques and Auctions in Ireland and around the world
  • ABOUT
  • About Des
  • Contact
  • Archive for February, 2023

    HIGH GOTHIC REVIVAL MIRROR WITH INTERESTING PROVENANCE

    Wednesday, February 22nd, 2023
    UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,500 AT HAMMER

    There is an interesting provenance to this 19th century High Gothic Revival hall mirror at Mullen’s timed classic and contemporary interiors auction which runs until February 26. Lot 192 at this auction of 894 lots last came up at the Shelton Abbey, Arklow sale in 1950. That auction on behalf of the Earl of Wicklow was conducted by Allen & Townsend, Dublin and Clark, Delahunt of Wicklow. The mirror, in the manner of Augustus Pugin, has arched gothic plates in a cluster column and a gilt foliate capped frame. Lot 192 is estimated at €1,500-€2,500.

    1969 SELF-PORTRAIT BY BACON AT CHRISTIE’S IN MAY

    Wednesday, February 22nd, 2023
    Francis Bacon – Self-Portrait (1969). UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $34,622,500

    Francis Bacon’s landmark Self-Portrait from 1969 is among 16 exceptional modern and post war paintings from the collection of S.I. Newhouse to be sold at Christie’s in New York next May. There are masterworks by artists including Picasso, de Kooning, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Brice Marden and Lee Bontecou. The Bacon portrait is estimated at in excess of $20 million and the entire collection at more than $144 million.

    Alex Rotter, Christie’s Chairman, 20th and 21st Century Art, remarked: “S.I. Newhouse’s brilliance was undeniable and his art collecting held a rare quality of excellence. As a collector, he bought and sold with the deepest levels of consideration and intention—which over decades, led to the evolution of a singular collection. Last November, we saw with the Collection of Paul. G. Allen that the market for true masterpieces is as strong as ever. Building on this momentum, we could not be prouder to present this selection of masterpieces from the S.I. Newhouse Collection this May.”

    S.I. Newhouse (1927-2017) ranks among the most revered connoisseur art collectors in modern history. He is credited with redefining the contemporary art market in the 1980s, with his acquisition of Jasper Johns’s False Start; in the 1990s, with his acquisition of Andy Warhol’s Orange Marilyn; and in the 2010s, with the 2019 sale of Jeff Koons’ 1986 sculpture Rabbit at Christie’s New York for $91,075,000, establishing the record price for work by any living artist. As the co-owner of a media empire that included Condé Nast, publisher of leading publications such as The New YorkerVogueVanity Fair, and Architectural Digest, as well as newspapers across America, Mr. Newhouse was a visionary cultural figure whose enduring impact continues to inform and inspire generations worldwide.

    FLOATING DIPTYCH BY SEAN SCULLY AT SOTHEBY’S NEW YORK

    Tuesday, February 21st, 2023
    Sean Scully – Floating Diptych Black White. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $279,400

    Floating Diptych Black White by Sean Scully comes up at a timed online sale running at Sotheby’s in New York on February 23. The oil on aluminium in two parts was acquired by the present owner at Galerie Lelong, New York in 1997, the year in which it was executed. Lot 114 at Part II of the Mallin Collection is now estimated at $30,000-40,000.

    The sale embodies Joel and Sherry Mallins’ unique and innovative curatorial eye. Incorporating a variety of media and artists, from sculptures by Robert Irwin, Michael Heizer, Tau Lewis, and Tara Donovan to video artworks by Marina Abramovic and Ann Hamilton. The sale provides a glimpse into the remarkable works of art that emerge from the Mallin’s legendary Buckhorn Sculpture Park and Artbarn in Pound Ridge, New York.

    THE NORMAL PEOPLE PUB MEMORABILIA SALE BY VICTOR MEE

    Monday, February 20th, 2023

    This pine bar back with barley twist columns and tongue and groove backing comes up as lot 304 at Victor Mee’s three day Normal People pub memorabilia and collectibles sale. On offer are contents from Killoran’s Pub, Tubbercurry, Co. Sligo. The pub was used for the filming of the global TV hit and Emmy and Golden Globe nominated Normal People, based on the novel by Sally Rooney. A total of 1,378 lots will come under the hammer during three days of sales on February 28, March 1 and March 2. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    PAINTINGS RESTORED THANKS TO TEFAF FUND

    Sunday, February 19th, 2023

    A c1650 artwork by Michaelina Wautier at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp and an Egon Schiele painting  at the Neue Galerie, New York are to be restored with grants from The European Fine Art Foundation.  TEFAF has announced the two museums as recipients this year of its annual grant for the preservation of artistic and cultural heritage.  Two Girls as Saints Agnes and Dorothea by Wautier (pictured here) has been at the Royal Museum in Antwerp since 1910.  It was not definitely identified as a work by Wautier until 2003.  The artist made a name for herself in the 17th century and has begun to regain renown since the early 2000’s.  Town Among the Greenery (The Old City III) by Schiele was gifted to the Neue Galerie in 2006. TEFAF Maastricht takes place from March 11-19.

    PUZZLES AND PORTRAITS AT JAMES ADAM ART SALE

    Saturday, February 18th, 2023
    PAUL HENRY – COTTAGES BY THE LAKE. UPDATE: THIS MADE 120,000 AT HAMMER

    Is it Kerry or Connemara?  A little bit of mystery surrounds the location of a small classical work by Paul Henry at the James Adam spring sale of Important Irish Art on March 1.   The title of this 1930’s work is Cottages by the Lake, Outer Killary, Connemara. The late art historian Dr. Brian Kennedy, author of the catalogue raisonne on Paul Henry, thought otherwise.  He reckoned that that this might well be a Co. Kerry painting possibly mislabelled at a gallery.  In the mid 1930’s Henry produced a number of Kerry landscapes using similar type brushstrokes.   Last at auction in 1977 Adams now estimate it at around €120,000.

    The auction will include a selection of works from the collection of senior counsel Paddy McEntee including eight lots by Edward McGuire RHA.  Seven are portraits.  In a catalogue note Aidan Dunne writes that the renowned defence barrister was a committed supporter of the artist. Brian Fallon, whose portrait is included, wrote that McGuire was “possibly thefinest portrait painter of his generation, and was possibly the finest portraitist
    since John Butler Yeats”. There are portraits of Nobel laureate Sean McBride, painter Patrick Collins and writers and poets Sidney Bernard Smith, John Jordan and Paul Durcan.  The McEntee collection includes three full sized cartoons by Harry Clarke for stained glass windows, two for the Church of the Assumption, Bride Street in Wexford and a single lancet window Church of Ireland in Killiney. The Wexford windows are among a very small number in memory of soldiers who fell in WWI in Catholic churches.  Executed in 1918 they commemorate Lt. William Henry O’Keefe who was killed at the age of 21. The Killiney window commemorates local solicitor Clifford Lloyd who lived at Ayesha Castle, now home to the musician Enya.

    Edward McGuire – Portrait of the artist Patrick Collins. UPDATE: THIS MADE 5,500 AT HAMMER

    SINEAD O’CONNOR AS VENUS AT WHYTE’S SALE OF IRISH ART

    Friday, February 17th, 2023
    STRANGE DAYS, 2003- JIM FITZPATRICK (B.1946). UPDATE: THIS MADE 19,000 AT HAMMER

    Strange Days 2003 by Jim Fitzpatrick, which depicts singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor comes up as lot 89 at Whyte’s sale of Important Irish Art on March 6. Originally commissioned for Dublin nightclub, Lillie’s Bordello it was ultimately purchased by the sitter at her then husband’s insistence – he didn’t like the idea of an image of his naked wife on display in a nightclub! It references Roderic O’Conor’s Reclining Nude (NGI) – in turn a tribute to Velázquez’ Rokeby Venus. The oil on canvas is estimated at €20,000-30,000.

    The view through the window shows the Pigeon House area of Dublin, an area of particular significance for O’Connor – she was living nearby at the time and it was included at her request. Jim Fitzpatrick is a Dublin born painter and graphic designer whose work draws strongly on Ireland’s Celtic mythology. For the past forty years his work has become familiar to many in the form of posters, book jacket designs and album covers. He has also written and illustrated numerous books and designed a stained-glass window for Bewley’s Café‚ in Mary Street, Dublin. He created the graphic reproduction of Alberto Korda’s photograph of Ché Guevara that has become a worldwide icon.
    He has long been a friend of O’Connor’s and designed the cover for her album Faith and Courage released in 2000.

    FIRST PUBLISHED NOVEL BY JAMES JOYCE AT FONSIE MEALY SALE

    Friday, February 17th, 2023
    UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,250 AT HAMMER

    A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce from the first English edition published by The Egoist in 1916 leads Fonsie Mealy’s online rare book and collectors sale. The first English edition, one of only 750 copies of Joyce’s first novel, is estimated at €1,500-2,000. The online timed sale opens today and runs until March 1. The catalogue is online and there will be viewing in Castlecomer on February 27 and 28. The selection on offer ranges from Brian Merriman to Edna O’Brien, Seamus Heaney to Liam O’Flaherty, Anthony Trollope to John McGahern.

    There is an album and record sleeve signed by Jimi Hendrix, a complete set of Georgian Society records, a set of 18th century Georgian Society architectural records and a Brazil jersey signed by Pele among the 945 lots.

    VISITORS FLOCK BACK TO THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF IRELAND

    Thursday, February 16th, 2023
    JMW TURNER – Story of Apollo and Daphne, exhibited 1837

    The National Gallery of Ireland has announced that over 788,000 visitors were welcomed in 2022, marking the second highest attendance recorded in recent years. In what was a significant re-opening year, following two years of pandemic-related closure, visitor attendance increased by 3.5% compared to that of 2019.  

    In 2022, visitors from Ireland and abroad explored a variety of exhibitions such as Jack B. Yeats: Painting & MemoryGiacometti: From Life, the Zurich Portrait Prize and Zurich Young Portrait Prize, and Turner: The Sun is God. Significant new works displayed at the Gallery included Original Sins by Hughie O’Donoghue and Memento Civitatem by Alice Maher and Jamie Murphy.

    THE MOST VALUABLE HISTORICAL DOCUMENT EVER AT AUCTION

    Thursday, February 16th, 2023

    The Codex Sassoon is set to become the most valuable historical document or manuscript ever at auction when it is sold at Sotheby’s in May. This bridge from the ancient Dead Sea Scrolls to the Bible of today is estimated to make $30-$50 million. It has been dated as the earliest, most complete definitive text of its kind. Dating to the late 9th early 10th century it is the most complete extant Hebrew Bible. It is named for its prominent modern owner David Solomon Sassoon (1880-1942) and comes to auction from the renowned collection of Jacqui Safra. The auction is to take place in New York in May alongside Sotheby’s marquee sales of Contemporary and Modern Art. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $38.1 MILLION