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In the artist’s garden by James Brohan at Morgan O’Driscoll. UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,200 AT HAMMER
In the artist’s garden, an oil on canvas by James Brohan, comes up as lot 5 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s Off the Wall online art auction which runs until October 29. The estimate is €1,000-€1,500. The auction includes works by Markey Robinson, Damien Hirst, Arthur Maderson, Mr. Brainwash, Sean Scully, Cecil Maguire and many more artists. The catalogue is online.
James Barry – Lord Baltimore and the Group of Legislators
Breaking new ground with old paintings is the mission at James Adam. The venerable Dublin firm is launching a new category of sale – Irish Old Masters – on November 5.
James Barry, Nathanial Hone, George Barret, William Brocas, Adam Buck and Nathanial Grogan are among the many artists who feature in this fascinating art auction of 84 lots.
We tend to not think of Irish artists when Old Masters are on the agenda. Strictly speaking the term is applied to trained artists who worked in Europe before or around 1800. The terminology in art history is loose and Adams has slipped in a few Victorians like Jeremiah Hodges Mulcahy, Michael Angelo Hayes, George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson and Robert Lowe Stopford though Erskine Nicol, who lived until 1904, is a bit of a stretch. Many of our artists – like Cork born James Barry appointed Professor of Painting at the Royal Academy in 1782 – clearly fit any definition.
Cork Savings Bank (1842) by James Mahony (1810-1879)
The sale sets out, according to a catalogue note by Stuart Cole of Adams, to reintroduce the exceptional and subtle mastery of Irish artists from previous centuries in an environment of their peers and contemporaries. The explosion of interest in art in Ireland during the last half century means that Irish art sales nowadays feature a far greater quantity of modern art than before. So Adams reckon the time is right for this new category of the artists – the backbone of early Irish art auctions – and to make it an annual sale.
No less than nine engravings by James Barry, with estimates ranging from €600-€2,000, grace the catalogue. Barry’s inscription on his 1793 engraving of Lord Baltimore and the Group of Legislators refers to the delusion of considering William Penn as the first coloniser to establish laws of religious and civil liberty. According to his inscription Cacilius Cavert, Baron of Baltimore and a catholic, originated them in his Colony of Maryland.
The River Lee at Inniscarra is listed in the Adams catalogue as by William Brocas (1794-1868), but a label on the back suggests that it is by John Butts.
The most expensive lots in the sale are a pair of portraits of Thomas Carter (Secretary of State for Ireland) and his wife Mary by Charles Jervas (c1675-1739) (€60,000-€80,000), a landscape by Thomas Roberts (1748-1777) (€40,000-€60,000), a River Landscape by George Barret (1732-1784) (€40,000-€60,000) and Travellers resting on a Country Road by Francis Wheatley (1747-1801) (€20,000-€30,000). An 1809 folio of James Malton’s Views of Dublin from 1791 is estimated at €8,000-€10,000.
An oval watercolour of Glanmire Church from the River Lee by Nathanial Grogan (€3,000-€5,000), a water colour of Cork Savings Bank by James Mahony (€3,000-€5,000), Sailing vessels in Cork Harbour by Matthew Kendrick (€6,000-€8,000) and The Fleet Getting Away from Cork by George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson (€15,000-€20,000) should create plenty of local interest in this evening auction. There is some confusion around an oil of the River Lee at Inniscarra which is by either William Brocas or John Butts (€4,000-€6,000),
With a fine selection of maritime views, portraits and topographical views of Ireland in the olden days and estimates from €400 up this sale is well worth a view.
Coloured engravings after Thomas Walmsley (1763-1806) published in 1806 – The White Abbey in Adare and The Roughty Bridge, Kenmare.
A model of a currach at Aidan Foley’s sale in Kilcolgan. UPDATE: THIS MADE 660 AT HAMMER
Art, contents from two bars including a model of a currach, Irish vernacular furniture, a collection of Hummel figures and two vintage tractors will be included in Aidan Foley’s online sale from Kilcolgan tomorrow and Monday at 4 pm on each day. More than 1,000 lots are on offer with art by Mark O’Neill, George Gillespie, Maurice Wilks, Jack Butler Yeats, Elizabeth Brophy, Geraldine O’Brien, Norman McCaig and many more Irish artists. The sale is on view in Kilcolgan today and the catalogue is online.
Aidan Foley’s collections sale in September was in association with de Veres of Dublin who will hold an Irish art and design auction on November 5. A feature of this upcoming sale is a selection of statement art works including large oils by Donald Teskey, John Shinnors, Barrie Cooke and Felim Egan with tapestries by Louis le Brocquy and Mainie Jellett. The auction will be on view at Kildare St., Dublin from November 2 and the catalogue is online now.
Mainie Jellett No. 3 is the title of this handwoven Ceadogan Rug at de Veres.
Left: Neuschwanstein, Germany, May 1945 The Monument Men recovering looted art by the Nazis Right: Nicolas de Largillierre Portrait de femme a mi-corps, estimate €50,000-80,000 to be auctioned on 21 November in Paris.
A painting recovered by the Monument Men will be auctioned at Christie’s in Paris on November 21. Nicolas de Largillierre Portrait de femme a mi-corps, painted around the turn of the 18th century, will be part of the Old Masters sale in Paris. It is part of an iconic photograph taken in May 1945 on the steps of Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, showing James J. Rorimer of the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archive Section together with three soldiers of the 7th US Army, holding three of the many works of art looted by the Germans. Looted from the bank vault of Baron Philippe de Rothschild (1902-1988) in Arcachon in late 1940 and transferred to the Jeu de Paume in Paris in February 1941, the portrait was recovered by the Monuments Men in May 1945, days before the end of World War II. It was officially restituted to the Rothschild family on May 3, 1946 and remained in their collection until 1978 when it was bought at auction by today’s owner. The Monument Men were greatly helped by Rose Valland (1898-1980), a French art historian and curator at the Jeu de Paume in Paris and a member of the Resistance. During the German occupation of Paris (1940-44) the Jeu de Paume served as warehouse for many works of looted art. Valland secretly recorded details of art plundered by the Nazis.
The Monuments Men and Women Foundation will launch the first ever English edition of Front de l’Art [The Art Front] – Valland’s pioneering work, first published in French in 1961, at Christie’s in New York on December 10. Rose Valland was awarded multiple honors, inluding the médaille de la Résistance française (1946). She was named Officer of the Légion d’honneur, and Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. Abroad, she was awarded the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom (1948) and the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (1972), becoming one of the most decorated French women ever.
Victor Richardson (b.1952) – Autumn in the Park (1992). UPDATE: THIS MADE 950 AT HAMMER
Autumn in the Park by Victor Richardson is lot number 13 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s current off the wall online auction of Irish art. The estimate is €600-€800. The etching below by Yoko Akino is estimated at €200-€400. The sale of affordable art runs until October 29 and the catalogue is online.
Yoko Akino – Daydreaming II. UPDATE: THIS MADE 160 AT HAMMER
JACK BUTLER YEATS – THE HORSEMAN (1947)
Outstanding paintings by Jack B. Yeats from the collection of legendary horse trainer Vincent O’Brien his wife Jacqueline O’Brien are to be sold by auction on December 4 at Adam’s in Dublin. Amongst the highlights is The Horseman, painted by Yeats in 1947. This stunning depiction of horse riders set against a background of Ben Bulben is estimated at €500,000-€800,000. Adams say that the sale brings together a giant of Irish art and a giant of Irish racing.
Associated most with his stunning success in both National Hunt and flat racing, Vincent O’Brien, the
legendary Co. Cork-born horse trainer, and his wife Jacqueline, a celebrated author and photographer,
were also discerning art collectors. Their art collection features a captivating range of paintings, including spectacular works that reflect Vincent’s deep connection with the equestrian world.
Thomas McGreevy, a former Director of the National Gallery of Ireland wrote : ‘There are no lovelier horses in all painting than Jack Yeats’s. They have a miraculous elegance, and he always loved to paint them when they looked as though mere existence was sufficiently exhilarating’.
Adams say that the collection offered alongside other important Irish paintings represents a rare opportunity for collectors to acquire artworks with significant cultural and historical provenance. This is an unparalleled opportunity to own a part of the O’Brien legacy.
A brick lacquered screen designed by Eileen Grey. UPDATE: THIS MADE 16,000 AT HAMMER
A black lacquered brick screen by Eileen Gray or an Italian oval dining table by Angelo Mangiarotti on two brass bases with a marble top? The essential designer look from back then is yours for the taking at the James Adam Mid Century Modern sale in Dublin on October 22.
Stylish sales like this have developed a loyal audience of specialist collectors. This one encompasses everything from artwork by Felim Egan, Patrick Graham, Bridget Reilly and Mark Francis to a transat (short for Transatlantic) chair by Eileen Gray, lounge chairs in the style of Gio Ponti, a chair and footstool by Charles and Ray Eames, ceiling, floor and wall lights, a maple two door side cabinet by Zelouf and Bell, Missoni rugs, Italian mirrors, Murano glass, coffee tables and drinks trolleys. This timed online auction is on view now at Adams, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin.
An oval dining table by Angelo Mangiarotti UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Italian 17th century style copper water cistern at Fonsie Mealy. UPDATE: THIS MADE 5,800 AT HAMMER
Art, luxury and the Epsom Gold Cup will vie for the attention of collectors next week. With a selection headed by Sean Scully’s Wall Dark Green (2021) – on course to possibly become the most expensive painting to be sold this year in Ireland – the Irish and international online art sale by Morgan O’Driscoll on October 22 is a must see.
A 17th century style Italian copper water cistern at Fonsie Mealys Chatsworth autumn fine art sale in Castlecomer on October 23 and 24 will undoubtedly leave some viewers with a sense of deja vu. For many decades this unusual piece graced the storied Park Hotel in Kenmare, which came under new ownership last November. The estimate is €5,000-€7,000.
The sale offers more than 100 lots from this luxurious hotel including a suite of four landscape scenes from the circle of Flemish baroque painter David Teniers the Younger (1610-1690) which graced the main stairway. The estimate is €3,000-€4,000.
Wall Dark Green (2021) by Sean Scully at Morgan O’Driscoll. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Old Road, Caherciveen by Jack Butler Yeats ( €180,000-€240,000), Study of Self (1994) by Louis le Brocquy (€120,000-€180,000) and Gerard Dillon’s The Table in the Blue Room (€100,000-€150,000) are among leading lots at Morgan O’Driscoll’s sale. The 172 lots on offer include a seductive selection of work by artists ranging from Roderic O’Conor, George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson and Donald Teskey to Patrick Scott, Genieve Figgis and Felim Egan.
There is sculpture by John Behan and highly collectible work by Frank Auerbach, Albert Irvin and William Scott in a sale that is on view all weekend and on Monday at the RDS.
Meantime Fonsie Mealy offers racegoers a chance to bag the Epsom Gold Cup from 1963. It was won in 1963 by Mrs Anne Biddle’s homebred L’Homme Arme, trained by Tommy Shaw. Born Anne Bullitt in Philadelphia she was daughter of US Ambassador William Bullitt and became, in 1966, the first woman in Ireland to be allowed a trainers licence.
Cork Butter Trade made his Pile by Stephen O’Driscoll (1825-1895) at Fonsie Mealy. UPDATE: THE COLLECTION MADE 3,000 AT HAMMER
It is unusual to find at auction a group of no less than eight charismatic Cork silhouettes by Stephen O’Driscoll (1825-1895). These ones, to be sold as a collection at Fonsie Mealy, have typical titles like Cork Butter Trade made his Pile, The Man Wot Weighted the Cat, Cork Beggars Opera, The Council of War – a Volcano Row and The Two Paddys Blowing up the Mansion House. The estimate is €2,000-€3,000.
The most expensively estimated lot is an Irish Victorian giltwood side table (€20,000-€30,000) made by Arthur Jones in Dublin in 1853 and exhibited that year at The Irish Industrial Exhibition in Dublin. At the other end of the price scale, with estimates from €20 euro up, are silver teaspoons, dessert forks, butter knives and sugar tongs. Viewing at Castlecomer is from 1 pm to 5 pm tomorrow and from 10 am to 5 pm on Monday and Tuesday. The catalogue with almost 1,000 lots in total is online.
George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson – HMS Conqueror and HMS Duke of Wellington in Cork Harbour (1858) at Morgan O’Driscoll. UPDATE: THIS MADE 34,000 AT HAMMER
INTERIOR SCENE WITH WICKER ROCKER – ELIZABETH COPE. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,700 AT HAMMER
This oil on board by Elizabeth Cope is lot 21 at Whyte’s autumn online art auction on October 21. The estimate is €1,200-€1,800. Art by Graham Knuttel, Louise Mansfield, John Skelton, Ciaran Clear, Harry Kernoff, Imogen Stuart, Maurice MacGonigal, Sidney Nolan, Louis le Brocquy, Tony O’Malley, Patrick Caulfield, Neill Shawcross and Barry Castle is included in the sale.
