Lucian Freud’s 2002 portrait of David Hockney will make its auction debut at Sotheby’s in London on June 29. Painted at the height of Freud’s career, this portrait of David Hockney provides a fascinating window into the narrative of a long episodic friendship that had started forty years earlier. During the spring and summer of 2002 the two titans of British art came together in a private exchange between artist and sitter. After more than a hundred hours of sittings, the result was one of the most masterful peer-to-peer portraits ever committed onto canvas. It will be a highlight at Sotheby’s British Art Evening Sale: Modern/Contemporary when it will be offered with an estimate of £8,000,000-12,000,000.
Lucian Freud – David Hockney, oil on canvas, 2002. (£8-12 million) Copyright Sothebys. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £14,905,200
This Irish School portrait of Robert Rochfort (1661-1727) features the Great Irish Mace, which represented the authority of the English King in the Irish House of Parliament. The portrait is lot 2453 at Matthews four day online sale from June 19-22. The Great Irish Mace, over five feet in length, had finely chased floral designs with rose of thistle and fleur-de-lis motifs. Matthews attribute the portrait to George Morphy (1655-1715). King James II is believed to have melted down the mace to help pay his war debts.
Portrait Robert Rochfort (1661-1727). Attorney General of Ireland and Speaker in the Irish House of Commons 1692-1703. UPDATE: THIS MADE 30,000 AT HAMMER
Interior by Sir William Orpen comes up as Lot 268 at Sotheby’s Modern and Post War British Art day sale in London from June 23-30. One of a group of exceptional interior paintings begun at 21 Fitzroy St., London in 1899-1901 it is estimated at £40,000-60,000. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Scarecrow Portaits – no less than 18 canvases painted by John Shinnors as a single work of art – comes up as Lot 46 at de Veres timed sale of Outstanding Irish Art and Sculpture in Dublin on June 22. These are no ordinary scarecrows. Each one acts as a stage for the use of dark and light. In a catalogue note the art historian John P. O’Sullivan points to their eerie and nightmarish quality and draws a comparison to the eyeless Sydney Nolan paintings of Ned Kelly. Shinnors traces his scarecrow motif back to summers in rural Co. Clare and an alarming childhood encounter with a scarecrow which he associated then with stories of the banshee. Each piece is individually signed and numbered and measures a hefty 36″ x 36″. First exhibited at Limerick City Gallery of Art in 2002 the work is estimated at €70,000-€100,000. This is a quality art auction with major work by Jack Yeats, Paul Henry, Roderic O’Conor, Louis le Brocquy, Basil Blackshaw and others. The O’Conor is a large colourful still life, there is a horse painting by Yeats along with one of the artist looking out from the attic of his house in Dublin’s Fitzwilliam Square. There is delight at de Veres at the quality secured for this auction. They are looking forward to welcoming viewers back to Kildare St. from next Thursday and to the Merrion Hotel, where the sculpture is displayed. Interest in sculpture has grown enormously in recent years in Ireland and the display of lots at The Merrion Hotel garden will include work by Patrick O’Reilly, Ian Pollock, Ana Duncan, F.E. McWilliam, Anthony Scott, Catherine Greene, Killian Schurmann, Orla de Bri and John Behan. There are smaller pieces by sculptors like Sandra Bell, Vivienne Roche and Melanie le Brocquy. The catalogue, which is online, displays a wonderful and not to be missed selection of contemporary Irish art.
Scarecrow Portraits by John Shinnors UPDATE: THESE MADE 125,000 AT HAMMER
A major exhibition of the work of Willie Doherty, twice Turner Prize nominee and Northern Ireland’s foremost contemporary artist, has just opened at the Ulster Museum in Belfast. WILLIE DOHERTY WHERE offers an overview of his career in photography and time-based media.
In the aftermath of Brexit, and in the centenary year of the partition of Ireland, the exhibition focuses on the theme of borders, both real and imagined, a subject which has dominated Doherty’s practice for over four decades. Collectively, the works in the exhibition reveal the numerous complex political, social and psychological implications of borders, both in Northern Ireland and further afield such as Mexico. The exhibition, which runs until September 12, was previously shown in Modena, Italy as part of the British Council’s UK/Italy season.
Viewing for the summer art auction at Whyte’s on June 14 gets underway at Molesworth St. in Dublin today. Visitors are requested to wear face masks. The timed online auction runs until 6 pm next Monday. This is a sale of over 300 lots with guide estimates from 60 to 5,000. Many famous Irish artists are represented and Whyte’s say that it is an ideal time for newcomers and established collectors to dip their toe into the art world. The catalogue is online.
Louis le Brocquy – No Lemon (1974) 59/75 (1,000-1,500)
This unusual early 19th century Regency ormolu and patinated bronze mantel comes up at an online sale at Christie’s in New York from June 15-July 1. Treasures of a Storied Manhattan Collection features 130 lots of European furniture and decorative art, Chinese furniture and ceramics, 19th century porcelain and silver, and 20th/21st century works of art from the Park Avenue pied-à-terre formerly owned by Enid Annenberg Haupt, the American publisher and philanthropist. The mantel pictured here, made by Thomas Weeks, is estimated at $70,000-100,000.
Bidding is underday for the timed online At Home sale at James Adam in Dublin which begins to close at 10 am on June 9. There is garden furniture, a big selection of silver including some Cork pieces, jewellery, antique furniture, art, porcelain and collectibles including a pair of 19th century brass starting cannons.
19TH CENTURY CAST IRON AND BRASS SIGNAL CANNONS (300-500). UPDATE; THESE MADE 340 AT HAMMER
An unframed, unsigned pencil sketch – “Bridge over the Awbeg at Buttevant Castle” – comes up at Aidan Foley’s online auction at Doneraile today. Lot 301 dates to the 1840’s and seems to be in good condition. A purchaser might set out to solve the mystery of who made it. The auction features a broad mix of antique furniture and collectible items as well as art by Albert Hartland, Arthur Maderson, Pauline Bewick, Con Campbell, Lorna Miller, Marie Carroll and others.
A selection of furniture, art, silver , garden furniture and jewellery will come under the hammer at Hegarty’s online sale in Bandon tomorrow. Among the highlights are an 18th century Irish silver teapot made in Dublin in 1796 and a silver fork by the Limerick maker Maurice Fitzgerald. Lots of note include an exceptional pair of bronze garden classical lions and a mid 18th century Irish Georgian tea table.
This unsigned 1840’s pencil sketch “Bridge over the Awbeg River at Buttevant Castle” UPDATE: THIS MADE 140 AT HAMMER
THIS portrait of Elizabeth Fitzgerald, the Irish noblewoman who was Countess of Lincoln, lady in waiting and close friend of Queen Elizabeth I, is part of an exhibition of Elizabethan portraits now on at the National Gallery of Ireland. Born in Maynooth and daughter of the 9th Earl of Kildare she was a member of the Fitzgerald dynasty and known as The Fair Geraldine. Silken Thomas, who was executed for treason, was her half brother. This is the first full exhibition of colourful and engaging Elizabethan portraits in the collection. It features portraits of well-known sixteenth-century historical figures, from politicians to soldiers, royal suitors to adventurers. Portraits include Elizabeth I and her lover Robert Dudley; Sir Walter Ralegh and his wife Lady Ralegh; and the Earl of Ormond. The exhibition runs until October 3.
