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    ONLINE AUCTIONS IN WEST CORK TO WHILE AWAY THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND

    Saturday, July 30th, 2022
    Pauline Bewick (1935-2022) – Sleeping Beauties at Morgan O’Driscoll (€800-€1,200). UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,200 AT HAMMER

    The height of the holiday season has not deterred two west Cork based auctioneers from planning sales for Tuesday August 2.  The evening art sale by Morgan O’Driscoll next Tuesday can be viewed in Skibbereen today, on Monday and on Tuesday.  The selection is impressive and among the artists featured on the catalogue are Sean Scully, Louis le Brocquy, Felim Egan, Basil Blackshaw, Letitia Marion Hamilton, Colin Middleton, Mary Swanzy, William Crozier, Cecil Maguire and Pauline Bewick who died on Thursday at her home in Co. Kerry, with sculpture by Helen Walsh, Ray Delaney, Oisin Kelly and John Behan. 

    In Bandon Hegarty’s August fine interiors sale features a selection of over 200 lots of  furniture, art, silver, jewellery and collectibles.  An 18 carat Columbian emerald and diamond cluster ring is estimated at €11,000-€12,000.  Among the other highlights is a pair of black cast iron benches (€1,000-€1,200), a mixed media on canvas by Philippe Aird (€800-€1,200), a stone bust on pillar of Mark Anthony (€400-€600) and a bronze bust of Diane of Poitiers (€300-€600). The catalogues for both sales are online.  

    DEATH OF ARTIST PAULINE BEWICK

    Friday, July 29th, 2022

    THE artist Pauline Bewick – acclaimed for the fineness of her line – has died at the age of 86. Bewick died at her home in Glenbeigh, Co. Kerry where she has been based since 1973. Born in the North of England Bewick was raised primarily in Co. Kerry. She worked in a variety of mediums from oil and watercolour to stained glass, tapestry and sculpture. In a tribute President Michael D. Higgins spoke of her original and unique creative talent. She is survived by artist daughters Poppy and Holly Melia. Pauline Bewick was pre-deceased by her husband Pat Melia.

    PAULINE BEWICK RHA – LILIES AND REEKS, 1990-1996 sold for €2,700 at Whyte’s in Dublin in 2012

    POSTER ART ATTRACTS ENTHUSIASTIC AUDIENCE AT ADAMS

    Thursday, July 28th, 2022
    JULIUS OLSSON (1864 – 1942) Dunluce Castle, 1930’s

    This 1930’s poster depicting the Northern Ireland beauty spot Dunluce Castle in Co Antrim was the top lot at the James Adam sale of the John Rogers Vintage Poster Collection in Dublin this week. Designed by Julius Olsson it tripled its estimate to sell for €3,200. Five bidders competed and executed a total of twenty two bids before the hammer came down. The online auction was 96% sold and made €103,000, which exceeded the top estimate. One unusual result was that on average each purchaser bought three lots.

    SUPER POSTERS AT ADAMS AUCTION

    Sunday, July 24th, 2022
    Rene Gruau – Panache,  La Nouvelle Revue du Lido (€150-€200). UPDATE: THIS MADE 200 AT HAMMER

    Nothing evokes a bygone era or jogs a memory quite like a poster.  There are some wonderful ones at the James Adam online sale of the collection of John Rogers which runs until July 27. On offer are 420 posters, many anonymous, others designed by famous and collectible artists from Andy Warhol to Rene Gruau.  There is highly affordable work here from artists like Walter Hofmann, Niki de Saint Phalle, Dick Eiffers, Ludwig Hohlwein, David Klein and Piet Sluis, the late Dutch artist who came to live in Ireland in the 1950’s.

    A poster advertising train travel in Spain put me in mind of Dorothy Parker  travelling from France to Madrid with a linguistically gifted companion.  At the border he spoke no Spanish.  By the time they reached their destination she reported that he was helping the natives along with their subjunctives.  Armed with a post grad in Art History and some experience gained at Christie’s the late John Rogers opened Gallery 29 in Dublin in 2004. This was a lot more than just another poster shop and the sale is a tribute to his discriminating eye for quality.

    Spanish train poster by an anonymous artist (€150-€200). UPDATE: THIS MADE 340 AT HAMMER

    SEAN SCULLY AT THADDAEUS ROPAC IN SALZBURG

    Saturday, July 23rd, 2022
    Sean Scully, Wall Paris Blue, 2021 © Sean Scully. Photo: Elisabeth Bernstein.

    An exhibition of new works by Sean Scully opens today at Thaddeus Ropac in Salzburg, Austria. It brings together large scale paintings from his most formative series including Wall of Light and Landline. A monumental 2020 sculpture  entitled Indoor Sleeper in the gallery’s outdoor space offers and insight into his sculptural practice. This show follows the acclaimed 50 year retrospective at the Philadelphia Museum of Art until July 31.  Major institutional exhibitions of Scully’s are currently underway in Neuss Germany, Bologna Italy and Torun in Poland.

    WHYTE’S SUMMER ART SALE ON VIEW IN DUBLIN

    Friday, July 22nd, 2022
    SUNLIGHT ON THE RIVER BANN, 1975 – JOHN SKELTON (1923-2009). UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    Sunlight on the River Bann by John Skelton comes up as lot 28 at Whyte’s summer online art auction, which runs until July 25. It is estimated at €600-€800. This is a sale designed to encourage both first time buyers and seasoned bidders. The catalogue is online and viewing continues at Whyte’s galleries on Molesworth St. in Dublin. The sale is on view until 5 pm today, from 2 pm to 5 pm tomorrow and from 10 am to 5 pm on Monday.

    STILL LIFE BY THOMAS RYAN AT MORGAN O’DRISCOLL

    Friday, July 22nd, 2022
    THOMAS RYAN PPRHA (1929-2021) – Silver Cup and Pink Rose. UPDATE: THIS LOT ATTRACTED 49 BIDS AND MADE 5,800 AT HAMMER OVER A TOP ESTIMATE OF 1,200.

    This oil on board by Thomas Ryan is lot 49 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s online sale of Irish art which runs until August 2. Silver Cup and Pink Rose, measuring just 5.9′ x 7.9′ was exhibited at the Lee Gallery in Cork in 2004 and is estimated at €800-€1,200. The artist attended the Limerick School of Art, then the National College of Art in Dublin, where he studied under Seán Keating and Maurice MacGonigal. He first exhibited at the RHA in 1957, became an associate member in 1968, was elected President of the RHA in 1982 and served until 1992.

    His many commissions for portraits included Presidents, Taoisigh, cardinals and archbishops, provosts and University Presidents. He was known for his sensitive still-life and genre paintings and for Irish historical scenes, especially those of the 1916 Rising. 

    The catalogue is online and the sale will be on view in Skibbereen, west Cork from July 28.

    A HOCKNEY FOR ALL SEASONS AT PHILLIP’S IN LONDON

    Wednesday, July 20th, 2022
    David Hockney, Afternoon Swimming, 1979.

    An auction dedication to art, editions and photographs by David Hockney will take place at Phillips in London on September 13. Robert Kennan, Head of Editions, Europe, said, “This sale looks to celebrate the achievements of David Hockney to date with a vibrant selection in all media. The auction is an opportunity to acquire a Hockney work at all price points, from entry level works priced at £1000 to those higher value pieces at £250,000 and above. Contemporary edition collecting is something we feel incredibly passionate about and creating curated sales such as David Hockney allows us to engage with our community of collectors, whilst reflecting our innovative approach to meet current collecting demands.”

    Three highlights of the sale, Tyler Dining Room, Celia in a Wicker Chair, and arguably Hockney’s most sought after edition, Afternoon Swimming, come from prominent South African collectors Andrew and Sandy Ovenstone, owners of Stellenberg, Cape Town. This historic house is the last remaining private Cape Dutch homestead in the central southern suburbs of Cape Town and home to world-renowned gardens overseen by Sandy Ovenstone. Proceeds from the will help to fund new acquisitions by contemporary South African artists. Afternoon Swimming from 1979 will leads the auction. Viewing is from September 6-13 at 30 Berkeley Square.

    PACE GALLERY ANNOUNCES DEATH OF CLAES OLDENBURG

    Tuesday, July 19th, 2022
    Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen – Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture in Minneapolis

    Claes Oldenburg, the Swedish born New York based sculptor, has died aged 93. His death was announced by Pace Gallery, which represented him. Renowned for his sculptures, drawings, and colossal public monuments that transform familiar, everyday objects into animated entities, Oldenburg was a leading voice of the Pop Art movement who, over the course of more than six decades, redefined the history of art. Together with his wife and longtime collaborator Coosje van Bruggen (who died in 2009), Oldenburg realised over 40 large-scale public projects around the world. Oldenburg and Pace Founder and Chairman Arne Glimcher maintained a friendship for 60 years, working closely since the early years of the artist’s career.

    Monumental sculptures have been installed across the United States, Europe, and Asia at Rincon Park in San Francisco, Piazzale Cadorna in Milan, Cheonggyecheon Stream in Seoul, and many other sites. Oldenburg and van Bruggen’s large-scale sculpture Spoonbridge and Cherry (1985-88) at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis has become a symbol of the city.

    ABSTRACT LANDSCAPE BY THE LATE MAURICE DESMOND AT WHYTE’S

    Sunday, July 17th, 2022
    Abstract Landscape by Maurice Desmond UPDATE: THIS MADE 750 AT HAMMER

    Viewers can lose themselves in the work of the Cork based artist Maurice Desmond, who sadly left us on June 30.  Just look and keep on looking and it is surprising what you can find.  When Maurice was on song a five minute visit to his studio could last an entire afternoon without ever knowing or even noticing where the time had gone.  The first painting by the artist to come up at auction since his unexpected  death is an abstract landscape once in the collection of the late Jim O’Driscoll SC. Lot 114 at Whyte’s summer online art auction, which runs until the evening of July 25, is an oil on board estimated at just €500-€700.

    This is an auction of affordable art by well known Irish artists designed to attract new collectors without breaking the bank.  According to Whyte’s there has never been a better time to dive in and immerse yourself.  Among the artists represented are Kenneth Webb, Henry Healy, Gwen O’Dowd, John Morris, Rose Ganly, Stephen Cullen, Cecily Brennan, Colin Gibson, Desmond Carrick, Patricia Jorgensen, John Skelton, Maurice MacGonigal, Muriel Brandt, Liam Treacy,  Pauline Bewick, Hughie O’Donoghue, Dorothy Cross, Felim Egan,  Stella Steyn and William Orpen.  Viewing gets underway next Wednesday on Molesworth St. and the catalogue is online.