A Sheraton inlaid walnut bureau. UPDATE: THIS MADE 320 AT HAMMER
Availability is not a problem for those brave enough to forget the latest fashion trend and opt instead for a style of home that is individual. Because demand for serviceable antique furniture – stylish and prized by previous generations – has all but collapsed there is great value to be had.
The selection of Georgian, Victorian, William IV and Edwardian available at Woodwards in Cork on April 18 is worth looking into. How about a Georgian walnut chest of drawers, an Edwardian three section economy dining table, a George II mahogany card table, a bowfronted chest of drawers or a three tier dumb waiter? All are available at top estimates of €800 and under in the auction. At a time when not everything even makes the low estimate some of them can be picked up for much less. Among other lots are a Sheraton inlaid walnut bureau (€400-€800), a William IV circular cellarette (€500-€800), a large walnut cylinder top desk (€800-€1,500), a set of eight Hepplewhite style dining chairs (€600-€1,000), a Victorian davenport (€200-€400) and a set of six inlaid Edwardian dining chairs (€300-€400). There is a Tiffany style leaded lamp (€200-€260), a large Persian Hamadan rug (€500-€800), a Tabriz runner (€200-€400), a cast iron garden seat (€400-€600), a large selection of Waterford Crystal and a five piece cast iron patio suite (€1,500-€2,200).
A Tiffany style lamp. UPDATE: THIS MADE 140 AT HAMMER
William Scott – Still Life on White with Beans UPDATE: THIS MADE 150,000 AT HAMMER
Green beans on a white plate inspired William Scott in 1978, a red pumpkin was all world renowned Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama needed. These are revolutionary artworks while the subject of a 1922 drawing by Hazel Lavery is a revolutionary. Her pencil portrait of Michael Collins was made in May of 1922, just a few months before his assassination at Beal na mBlath.
All these works feature at Morgan O’Driscoll’s sale of Irish and International Art on April 21 on view in Skibbereen until April 13 and at the RDS in Dublin from April 17-20. The catalogue cover lot is William Scott’s Still Life on White with Beans (€120,000-€180,000). In a note about the painting Peter Murray remarks that since the 1930’s, perhaps more than any other Irish artist of the 20th century apart from Jack Yeats, Scott’s work has been exhibited worldwide.
Still Life on White with Beans contains the essential elements of abstraction for which he became renowned, Murray writes: “The square format suited his search for simplicity. Colour has been reduced to the simple monochrome tones of grey, white and green”. First shown at Gallery Moos in Toronto in 1978 the oil on canvas measures 24″ x 24″.
There are two other works by William Scott in the auction, Pear and Grapes and Table Top Still Life. Each gouache of paper dates to 1975 and each is estimated at €15,000-€25,000.
Yayoi Kusama – Red Pumpkins. UPDATE: THIS MADE 850 AT HAMMER
Kusama’s Red Pumpkin is a playful painted cast resin piece published by Benesse Holdings, Naoshima, Japan. Stamped on the base and in a box it is estimated at €400-€600.
Hazel Lavery is best known nowadays as the subject of numerous portraits painted by her husband John Lavery. She too was a talented artist who had studied in America and France. It is not known when the Lavery’s first met Michael Collins, who moved to London in 1906. After the Easter Rising the Lavery’s used their social connections and friendship with Collins to facilitate negotiations between Ireland and Britain. Hazel Lavery made this head and shoulders portrait with Collins in three quarter profile when he was leading the Irish delegation negotiating the Treaty. It is signed and dated May 1922.
Hazel Lavery – Portrait of Michael Collins (1922) UPDATE: THIS MADE 10,000 AT HAMMER
The sale offers 156 lots of great variety. Mrs. Harrington’s Horses by Peter Curling (€7,000-€10,000) shows six chestnut racehorses from Jessica Harrington’s Commonstown Stud near Moone in Co. Kildare being exercised. The focus of Still Life (1984) by William Crozier (€3,000-€5,000) is flowers in a vase against an arresting blue and yellow background. Cottages in a Landscape by Paul Henry (€25,000-€35,000) is a small, spirited oil on panel probably painted on Achill and P2.05 (2005) by Charles Tyrrell (€1,000-€1,500) is an abstract rectangular oil on aluminium.
There is a selection of sculpture by John Behan, Patrick O’Reilly, Rowan Gillespie, Ana Duncan, Imogen Stuart and others. Many of Ireland’s favourite painters including artists Percy French, Arthur Maderson, Sean Scully, Sean MacSweeney, Hughie O’Donoghue, Jack B Yeats, Colin Middleton, Letitia Hamilton, Donald Teskey, Louis le Brocquy, John Shinnors, Richard Gorman, Dan O’Neill, Mainie Jellett, William Leech, Graham Knuttel and Roderic O’Conor are in the auction.
On the international side Willem de Kooning, Andy Warhol, Mr. Brainwash, Damien Hirst, Jacob Epstein, Salvador Dali all feature in a catalogue that is brimful of interest and online too. Lots from Morgan O’Driscoll’s upcoming auction of jewellery on April 22 will also be on view at the RDS.
William Crozier – Still Life (1984). UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,800 AT HAMMER
April in Paris offers a touch more than even usual right now. La Pomme de New York, a monumental piece by Claude Lalanne is on view at the Bristol Paris until next Tuesday before being auctioned by Christie’s on April 15. Standing nearly 2.5 metres tall it is the most monumental sculpture ever created by the artist. The apple has had a central place in her practice since the 1960’s offering Lalanne a fertile ground for experimentation, balancing figuration, surrealism and a playful sense of scale. La Pomme de New York numbered 7/8 and dated 2008 is estimated at €5 million – €7 million. It will be a highlight at the 20/21 Century art evening sale. Located at rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré Le Bristol Paris is an iconic palace hotel and showcase for art which celebrated its centenary in 2025.
A rosewood desk by Nanna Ditzel. UPDATE: THIS MADE 6,000 AT HAMMER
An array of legendary designers like Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Niels Otto Moller, Arne Vodder, Eileen Gray, Gio Ponti and Nanna Ditzel feature at Adam’s Mid Century Modern timed online auction which starts to close from 2 pm on April 14. Now on view in Dublin there is accompanying art by Andy Warhol, Patrick Scott, Earl Bliss, Merlin James, Hughie O’Donoghue and others. Highlights include a rosewood desk from the golden era of Scandinavian design created in the mid 1950’s by Nanna Ditzel, chairs by Eileen Gray, a portrait of Kimiko Power by Andy Warhol and a pair of Colonial chairs by Ole Wanscher.
RUBY AND DIAMOND CLUSTER RING, c.1910. UPDATE: THIS MADE €15,000 AT HAMMER
This ruby and diamond cluster ring is lot 44 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s online auction of fine jewellery and watches which runs until April 22. Set with an oval cushion-shaped natural ruby weighing 3.08 carats and of Burmese origin, within a brilliant-cut diamond cluster surround weighing approximately 1 carat, mounted in 18 carat gold and platinum it is estimated at €15,000-25,000. The catalogue with 167 lots is online. The auction will be on view at the RDS in Dublin from April 17-20.
A 22 karat gold and colored diamond-set pendant and chain necklace, estimate CHF10,000-15,000 / US$13,000-19,000
A gold and colored diamond pendant given to Quincy Jones by Bono as an 80th birthday present will come up at Christie’s in Geneva on May 11. The Rare Watches live auction at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues with property from the late Quincy Jones includes three highly desirable pieces. His Patek Philippe Nautilus REF. 3700/1JA, the pendant and a Girard Perregaux watch presented to the artist by Andrea Bocelli in recognition for his lifetime dedication to international charitable endeavors.
Quincy Jones and Sir Michael Caine (both born on 14 March 1933), celebrated their 80th birthdays at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The sumptuous event also served as a fundraiser: the 17th annual Power of Love Gala. Whilst addressing the audience Quincy Jones said: “I’m so proud of this night being on behalf of charity. Living, laughing, loving and giving … that’s what life is about.” The evening opened with a pre-dinner performance by Bono, who keyed in on the Sinatra phase of Jones’ career with performances of “I Got You Under My Skin” and “Fly Me to the Moon”. Bono presented a special birthday gift to Quincy Jones: a gold necklace, featuring a 22 carat gold and colored diamond-set pendent with an engraving on the back ‘B4Q80’, standing for ‘Bono for Quincy, 80th birthday’, adding a deeply personal and commemorative dimension to this meaningful piece.
Quincy Jones’ Patek Philippe Nautilus, ref. 3700/1JA was manufactured and sold in 1981, making it Mr. Jones’ property for 43 years. 1981 marked important moments in the artist’s career: he received a Grammy nomination for Producer of the Year and won the award for Best Instrumental Arrangement, as well as overseeing the production of Michael Jackson’s album Thriller (1982).
Patek Philippe Nautilus ref 3700/1JA manufactured in 1981, estimate CHF100,000-200,000 / US$130,000-250,000 |
Rare portrait lithographs of Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith signed both by the sitters and artist Sir John Lavery feature at Whyte’s timed online Eclectic Collector sale which runs from April 7-18. Lavery painted portraits of Griffith and Collins in 1921 whilst they were in London negotiating the terms of the Irish Treaty. Within months of their portraits being painted, both men were dead – Griffith of a heart attack, Collins assasinated. The lithographs are based on the oil portraits now in the collection of the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin and estimated at €8,000-12,000.
Lot 78 at R.J. Keighery’s annual garden auction in Waterford on April 13 is a pair of round stoneware rose pots measuring 38 cms x 36 cms. The estimate is €200-300. The auction offers over 700 lots including benches, gates, planters, urns and statues. The catalogue is online.
Art by the titans of American Abstract Expressionism – Franz Klein, Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko – from the collection of dealer and financier Robert Mnuchin could make more than $130 million at a dedicated evening auction by Sotheby’s in New York on May 14.
Led by Rothko’s monumental 1957 canvas Brown and Black in Reds a total of 24 works from the collection will be offered in the standalone sale.
Mnuchin, who died aged 92 last December, loved going to auctions where he was known for shouting out his bids. A New Yorker who graduated from Yale in 1955, he served in the US Army and joined Goldman Sachs in 1957. After a 33 year career there he retired at 56 to pursue a career in art and became a legendary dealer.
Franz Kline – Harleman 1960.
The deeply personal collection, assembled with his wife Adriana over the decades, demonstrated a devotion to pursuing works they loved and wanted to live with. This embodies a collecting ethos mirrored by many art lovers. “The reason to buy art is because you love it, you love it, you love it”, Mnuchin said. Sotheby’s say the examples he chose for his own collection demonstrate “extreme connoisseurship”.
Standing nearly eight feet tall Rothko’s Brown and Blacks in Red ($70-$100 million)(€60.6-€86.6 million) dates to 1957. From the artist’s seminal decade when he developed the signature bands of colour it has been in some of the most important exhibitions dedicated to Rothko including the celebrated show at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris in 2023-24.
Acquired by Seagrams around 1957 it has been in the Mnuchin collection for more than two decades. The palette was an important influence in the development of the Seagram Murals commissioned for the Four Seasons restaurant in the Seagram building in New York in the years to follow. The renowned murals, found today in galleries like the Tate in London and Washington’s National Gallery of Art, showed Rothko’s commitment to expressing basic human emotions like tragedy, ecstasy and doom.
An early transitional Rothko, No. 1 1949 ($15-$20 million)(€13-€17.3 million), stands at the threshold of his breakthrough and was included in the famous 1950 exhibition at Betty Parsons Gallery.
Willem de Kooning. Untitled XLII, 1983. oil on canvas, 80 x 70 inches. Private collection.
Mnuchin ranked Willem de Kooning among his most revered artists. The selection on offer in May – led by an example of his late lyrical style Untitled XLII from 1983 – presents a retrospective encapsulation of de Kooning’s career featuring works spanning four decades from the 1950’s through the 1980’s.
Harleman is the finest work by Franz Kline to come to auction in over a decade. This monumental example of his black and white paintings dates to 1960.
Mnuchin was an early supporter of Jeff Koons. Louis XIV is an icon of the artists statuary series and ranks among his most important early works. This example is the artist’s proof from an edition of 3, plus one artist’s proof. The rest of the editions are held in museum collections, including the Nasher Sculpture Center, The Broad, and the DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art.
Robert and Adriana Mnuchin were drawn to works that represent defining moments in the career of an artist. As New York collectors of thier time they were in a unique position to champion some of the most innovative and celebrated artists of the second half of the 20th century.
This pair of terracotta rhubarb forcers made €1,800 at hammer
Terracotta rhubarb forcers were a surprise hit at Sheppards sale of contents from Kilroan House, Glanmire, Cork and other clients. Traditional Victorian cloches, which work by trapping heat and blocking light forcing the plant to grow faster and sweeter, had all the allure of hot cross buns on Good Friday at the auction. Two pairs sold for a hammer price of €1,800 each and another pair made €1,600 over estimates of €200-€300.
Elsewhere in the sale a 1915 Royal Worcester covered vase with an estimate of €250-€350 made a hammer price of €4,600. Hand painted with swans in flight it was numbered and designed by one of the most gifted Worcester artists Charles Henry Clifford Baldwyn whose swans became signature pieces. A marine chronometer made €3,000, a life size bronze sculpture of four deer made €10,200, a Regency breakfront bookcase made €7,000 and a William IV four poster bed made €8,500. A view of Blackrock Castle and the River Lee by George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson made €2,700 at hammer.
