This George IV inlaid sideboard with brass gallery comes up with an estimate of 3,000-5,000 at the James Adam auction of contents from Number 1, Wellington Road, Dubin. The former restaurateur Peter White is downsizing and his lifetime collection is on offer at a timed online sale which runs to January 11. The collection of four silver plated domed dish covers under the sideboard is estimated at 600-1,000. UPDATE: THE SIDEBOARD MADE 6,000 AT HAMMER. THE DOMED DISH COVERS SOLD FOR 420
This early 19th century Irish silver wine ewer comes up at Hegarty’s timed New Year online auction. The sale opens in Bandon today and runs until January 5. The selection of lots includes jewellery, art and Persian rugs. The ewer was made in Dublin in 1834 by Robert W Smith and is estimated at 3,200-3,400. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
A dynamic group of leading international dealers will take part in New York’s Winter Show. The inaugural online edition takes place from January 22-31 with VIP preview access from January 19-21. The 60 exhibitors will present a diverse mix of fine and decorative arts from ancient times to the present day. Executive Director Helen Allen said: “We have worked to create a virtual format that is interactive, visually stimulating, and showcases the quality and depth of the objects presented”.
The online platform allows exhibitors present a gallery exhibition in a three-dimensional virtual space. Visitors will be able to take in the digital presentations as a whole and view close-up, detailed views of each work.
Exhibitors will curate their selections, featuring up to twenty artworks and objects at a time.
This seasonal image by Rembrandt is from the collection of the National Gallery of Ireland. It was purchased in 1883. We wish all our readers a very Happy Christmas.
A Le Brocquy pen, ink and watercolour ‘Red Roses for Me’ leads the James Adam timed online sale of contents from Number 1 Wellington Road, Dublin which is now underway and runs until January 11. The former restaurateur Peter White is downsizing and his lifetime collection is coming under the hammer. The 1946 work – inspired by the
Sean O’Casey play of the same name about a Dublin Protestant family
against the backdrop of the 1913 Lockout – is estimated at 8,000-12,000.
The sale comprises Irish, British and Continental paintings from the early 19th century to the present day, bronzes, prints, furniture, porcelain, silver and domestic effects.
A painting by Sir Winston Churchill gifted to Field Marshall Montgomery will come up at Christie’s in London next March. Scene at Marrakech is estimated at £300,000-500,000. The painting has remained with the Montgomery family since. It is being offered at auction for the first time. Sir John Lavery, Churchill’s tutor in painting, was one of many friends who encouraged Churchill to visit Morocco and his first trip to the country was during 1935 where he was inspired by the warmth and quality of light that the environment offered. Scene at Marrakech is one of Churchill’s more accomplished works of this subject matter. It will highlight the Modern British Art evening sale on March 1.
An unparalleled collection of fine and decorative art, jewels and books will come up at Christie’s New York live and online sales in January 2021. Works from the collection of Mr. & Mrs. John H. Gutfreund 834 Fifth Avenue encompass important English and French furniture, Russian works of art, silver, porcelain, Old Master paintings, Chinese ceramics and works of art, carpets, and textiles. These will come under the hammer in a two-day live auction on January 26-27. Three online sales from January 14–28/29 will be thematically organised into the Art of Entertainment; Books and bindings; and a collection of runway jewels from the House of Chanel.
John Gutfreund (1929-2016) was chairman and executive of the investment firm Salomon Brothers.
Consolidated sales so far this year at Sotheby’s stand at over $5 billion, with several auctions still to go. And Christie’s has reported an accelerated shift to online sales with a 41% increase in luxury lots sold in online auctions; 82% increase in the number of luxury online sales, and a 205% increase in the value of online luxury sales year on year.
Sotheby’s report that ease of access to a broader range of offerings brought a record influx of new buyers: this year Sotheby’s attracted the largest number of first-time buyers in 15 years with a 27% increase over 2019. Over 70% of auctions were held online in 2020 (up from 30% last year) and more than 40% of bidders and buyers in online auctions were new to Sotheby’s. The number of buyers aged under 40 doubled. Private sales so far in 2020 total over $1.5 billion, marking an all time record at any auction house.
Christie’s report that performance has been strong across all categories with an 87% overall sell-through for the portfolio; 136 records were set across jewels, watches, wine and handbags and 53 lots achieved over $1 million. Christie’s luxury market report further highlighted global participation with bidders from 90 countries and 40% new buyers.
A Beckett painting by Cian McLoughlin sold for a hammer price of 30,000 over an estimate of 6,000-10,000 at the James Adam Mid Century Modern sale in Dublin today. A second diptych, Pozo and Lucky, made 14,500 at hammer over a top estimate of 10,000. They came from the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin. In 2006 the Beckett Centenary Festival Committee, with the Gate Theatre and the Department of Arts, Tourism and Sport, launched an exhibition by Cian McLoughlin which explored Beckett’s three main plays – ‘End Game’, ‘Krapp’s Last Tape’ and ‘Waiting for Godot’. McLoughlin spent three years talking to, studying and painting the actors who had become synonymous with Beckett’s masterpieces, producing large scale portraits that strove to display not the actor, but the character which they embodied.
Commissioned by the Shelbourne Hotel in 2007 the diptychs capture the tragic couplings of Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo) and Pozzo and Lucky from ‘Waiting for Godot’. Encroaching as spectres from the fog, the faces of Barry McGovern, Johnny Murphy, Alan Stanford and Stephen Brennan are transformed.
A new portrait of celebrated Irish writer Edna O’Brien was unveiled today at the National Gallery of Ireland to mark her 90th birthday. The work is a commission by photographer Mandy O’Neill, winner of the Zurich Portrait Prize 2018. The diptych has become part of the national portrait collection at the gallery. One of Ireland’s most acclaimed writers, Edna O’Brien has written over twenty works of fiction since her debut novel The Country Girls. She has also written numerous short story collections, plays and works of non-fiction. Born and raised in the west of Ireland, she has lived in London for many years.
Mandy O’Neill won the Zurich Portrait Prize 2018 for her portrait of a Dublin school student entitled Diane, Larkin Community College, 2018. She is currently Artist in Residence at Dublin City University.
