Caravaggio – A portrait of cleric Monsignor Maffeo Barberini – later Pope Urban VIII
The Italian state has bought this portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini – later Pope Urban VIII – by Caravaggio for €30 million. This is one of the largest sums it has ever paid for an artwork. The purchase is part of a wider plan by the Italian government to prevent major artworks from being bought by private collectors. It had been in a private collection in Florence.
About 65 surviving works by Caravaggio are know, only three of which are portraits. This particular portrait has been transferred to the permanent collection of the Palazzo Barberini – the historic home of the family of the portrait’s subject in Rome – where it was first exhibited. It will be displayed alongside other works by the artist. It was painted in about 1598 and shows Barberini as a bearded cleric apparently issuing instructions with his right hand outstretched. Barberini was elected to the papacy in 1623 and served until his death in 1644. He was known as a prominent patron of the arts.
Jack Butler Yeats – A Storm / Gaillshíon (1936) Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd.
At auction for the first time this painting by Yeats will lead Christie’s day sale of Modern British and Irish art in London on March 19. A Storm/Gaillshíon depicts a young man seated on a bench at the side of a sandy pathway overlooking the sea. According to the artist, this scene refers to no particular, identifiable place, but rather is intended to be indicative of a typical Irish coastal scene, a familiar landscape visible throughout the island. The secondary title of the work, the Irish word Gaillshíon, conjures a rich impression of the atmospheric conditions of the day, suggesting the coastline is being buffeted by rough, blustery weather. The estimate is £100,000-£150,000.
Irish art in the sale includes work by Yeats, Henry and Roderic O’Conor. Also at auction for the first time is Lavery’s After Breakfast, Tangier, which features in the evening sale on March 18. The estimate is £180,000-£250,000.
Paul Henry – Digging Potatoes, Achill Island, Co. Mayo, 1916-19(£85,000-£120,000)
These silver figures by Edward Delaney are at Bonhams Modern British and Irish art timed online sale which runs until March 18 with an estimate of €1,400-€2,100. The most expensively estimated lot by an Irish artist in the auction is Nude by Sean Keating (€17,000-€23,000) and there is art by Cecil King, Jack Coulter, Hughie O’Donoghue, Patrick Scott, Declan O’Connor and Arthur Maderson on a catalogue of 195 lots in total. There is a selection of work by Austin Osman Spare and art by Mary Fedden, Keith Vaughan, Alan Lowndes, John Minton, Roger Hilton and Sir Terry Frost is included.
Punters who get lucky at Cheltenham this week could do worse that put their winnings into art. How about this painting by Peter Curling called Irish Weather which is based on a Point to Point? The oil on canvas comes up at de Veres sale of Irish art on March 24 with an estimate of €20,000-€30,000. The Final Furlong by Liam O’Neill has an estimate of €12,000-€18,000. These two paintings lead an auction of more than 200 lots. The catalogue is online.
Paul Henry RHA (1876-1958) – LANDSCAPE, CONNEMARA, 1932-5. UPDATE: THIS MADE €115,000 AT HAMMER
What Sean O Faolain described as the special drama of mobile light had returned to Paul Henry’s painting when he made Landscape Connemara. Clouds in the upper third of the composition evoke a sense of enthusiasm and joy. The oil on canvas comes up as lot 17 at Whyte’s sale of Irish and international art on March 9 with an estimate of €120,000-€150,000.
By the early 1930’s Paul Henry had settled into life in Carrigoona Cottage in Enniskerry County Wicklow with his partner, and later his second wife, the artist Mabel Young RHA whom he had first met in 1924. The mid-1920s had been fraught with both marital and financial troubles for Henry but life with Young in Enniskerry reinvigorated the artist. ‘Henry’s palette, like his mood, lightened as his financial and domestic problems faded.’ By September 1934 he was legally separated and it would appear his thirst for inspiration had returned following a holiday in County Kerry.
Included in the sale are works by Henry, Roderic O’Conor, William Conor, Walter Osborne, Aloysius O’Kelly, William Orpen, Mildred Anne Butler, Jack Butler Yeats, Seán Keating, Norah McGuinness, Evie Hone, Daniel O’Neill, Tony O’Malley, Rowan Gillespie and many others. International artists represented in the collection include L. S. Lowry, David Hockney, Frank Bowling, Josef Herman and Maurice Poirson.
A Louis XIV sword, 17th century portrait miniatures, an 18th century silver tea service, a portrait of a noblewoman in the robes of the Order of Malta, a Book of Hours and collectible glass by Gallé, Daum and Baccarat will feature at Sheppards live and online Paradigms and the Unexpected auction in Durrow on March 10, 11 and 12.
These treasures are from a group of 150 lots in the auction from the Blandin family of Château de Chalain, France. They have been held in Ireland for over fifty years by direct descent, curated by its Irish family custodians.
The collection reflects generations of military, civic and cultural history. Among the earliest recorded figures in the family is Charles Louis Blandin de Chalain, owner of the Louis XIV sword (€1,000-€1,500). The blade is broken but an engraved Vive le Roi survives on one side. This offers a direct link to the family’s service under the French crown and is among a number of lots in the auction showing a continuity of lineage from Ancien Régime of France to its long-established Irish chapter.
Rare Gallé World War I vase. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Gallé World War I vases are among the rarest works of the École de Nancy. A Gallé World War I glass vase produced in 1915 with Art Nouveau glassmaking, war iconography and a subject that relates to the Vosges front has an estimate of €5,000-€8,000. It is from the Chateau de Chalain collection.
The Irish dimension of the sale is equally notable. A pair of 18th-century pastel portraits depict Walter Hussey de Burgh (1742–1783), Prime Serjeant and later Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, of Donore House, County Kildare and his wife and cousin Anne. He was one of Ireland’s most prominent legal figures of the period.
A stained glass watercolour study for the south window at Castlehaven church, Skibbereen. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
A set of six stained glass watercolour designs from the late 19th century form an important ecclesiastical archive. Attributed to Arthur Louis Moore & Co., London they were prepared for the Church of Ireland commissioners and reflect Moore’s practice of producing bespoke designs for individual churches. They were made for All Saints’ Church, Phibsborough, Dublin, Christ Church, Kingstown (Dún Laoghaire), Quin Church, County Clare (centre window, south side), St Mary’s Church, Donnybrook, Dublin (south side), Castlehaven Parish Church, Skibbereen, County Cork (south window) also known as St. Barrahane and Rathmolyon Church, County Meath (east window).
The craftsmanship of late 18th or early 19th century Irish workshops can be seen in a flintlock pistol by Dublin maker John Lanigan (1829-1835). A later percussion pistol by James Read of Dublin illustrates the technological transition from flint ignition to percussion mechanism in the 19th century. A pair of Japanese World War II “Big Eye” naval binoculars were probably manufactured by Nikon or Tokyo Kogaku Kikai (Tokyo Optical Company). The lot is accompanied by a US Army certificate permitting the removal of the binoculars at the end of the war.
An Irish 19th century inlaid commode. UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,000 AT HAMMER
A doll’s house at Woodwards sale in Cork today (March 7). UPDATE: THIS MADE 280 AT HAMMER
From art and jewellery to antique furniture, paintings and collectibles at all price points all sorts of everything will be available at auctions up and down Ireland in the coming days. In Dublin art by Roderic O’Conor and Paul Henry head up an Irish and International art sale with a combined estimate of more than €1 million at Whyte’s on the evening of March 9. The Jewellery Box sale at Adams on March 10 offers 234 lots headed by an emerald and diamond dress ring (€10,000-€15,000). Both these auctions are now on view.
Auctions in Cork by Aidan Foley, Woodwards and Hegarty’s in Bandon offer a wide variety of lots at lower price points. Top lots at Woodwards on March 7 are an Edwardian economy dining table (€1,000-€2,000) and a five piece cast iron patio suite (1,200-€1,800). The three day sale by Aidan Foley in Doneraile next on March 9, 10 and 11 at 6 pm on each day offers a library collection, art, antique furniture and rugs, silver and a collection of whiskey. The online sale at Hegarty’s in Bandon on March 11 features an oil on canvas by Graham Knuttel, a five stone diamond ring and an antique pair of Cork elbow chairs.
An emerald and diamond dress ring at Adam’s in Dublin. UPDATE: THIS MADE 10,000 AT HAMMER
There was a new world record for Henry Moore at Christie’s London 20/21 evening sale when King and Queen sold for £26,345,000. This was 76% above the high estimate. The result came after a bidding battle that went on for almost eight minutes with six bidders in the room. It is the highest selling lot of the London season. The sale generated a total of £114,175,900 a 39% increase on the total achieved last year, with 92% of lots sold by lot and 98% by value. Three evening sales brought in £197,472,600, up 52% on last year.
The Art of the Surreal Evening Sale, celebrating its 25th edition this season was 100% sold by lot and value and generated a total of £42,978,950. It set two significant world auction records: Dorothea Tanning’s Children’s Games (1942) realised £4,686,000, while Toyen’s Le devenir de la liberté (1946) achieved £3,710,000.
Modern Visionaries – The Roger and Josette Vanthournout Collection made £40,317,750, selling 97% by lot and 94% by value. The three evening sales generated £197,472,600.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for February 13, 2026)
Sling Sling is the title of this screenprint by Richard Gorman at Adam’s online picture sale which runs until March 12. The estimate is €300-500. A colourist Gorman, who died in January, was best known for his aintings and works on paper exploring the dynamic interplay between geometric forms. Viewing for this auction, along with Adam’s Jewellery Box sale on March 10, gets underway in Dublin tomorrow. The catalogues for both sales are online.
‘These Beautiful Men’, a newly commissioned body of work and exhibition by artist Brian Maguire, opens at Rua Red, the South Dublin Arts Centre in Tallaght, on March 6 and runs until May 9. The renowned Irish artist has travelled the world to highlight injustice and the precarity of life for vulnerable communities, working in Montana (2020-25), the Amazon (2022-23), Arizona/US-Mexico border (2021-22), South Sudan (2018), Aleppo, Syria (2017), the Mediterranean Sea (2016), Ciudad Juárez, Mexico (2008-2015), and São Paulo, Brazil (1998-2003) to name a few. For this exhibition he stayed at home.
Since October 2025, Maguire has been drawing men temporarily residing at an International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) Centre, a primary reception and processing centre for international protection applicants. Maguire and Rua Red established a temporary art studio within the IPAS centre where artist Michael Mangan runs workshops three times a week. While Brian draws portraits of the men, participants in Mangan’s workshop are invited to paint their understanding of home and hopes for the future. Maguire’s portraits will be presented in Rua Red’s Gallery One, while Gallery Two will feature audio recordings of the men’s experiences and journeys to Ireland. Life in the IPAS centre is marked by transience and uncertainty. Residents are relocated to accommodation at other locations at very short notice, typically within three weeks of arrival. This ever-present condition of impermanence informs Maguire’s drawings, which are rapid responses made in charcoal. The works underscore the urgency and fragility of the encounters on which they are based.
The exhibition at Rua Red runs concurrently and in dialogue with the exhibition ‘Brian Maguire: Portraits— The Failure of the State’, currently on view at the Irish Arts Centre (IAC), New York. Both exhibitions, curated by Jonathan Cummins and Maolíosa Boyle, centre on portraiture as an act of sustained attention — a turning towards another person, their family, and community — and bearing witness through time spent looking and listening to their stories and experiences.
