A painting by the Wexford artist Francis Danby on a scale that has not been seen at auction for 30 years comes up at Bonhams sale of Old Master Paintings in London on December 17. Ulysses at the court of Alcinous, going to the athletic games instituted in honour of his visit is estimated at £40,000-60,000. It was painted between 1855-1858 – when Danby was living in Exmouth with his sons – for the Midlands industrialist Joseph Gillott a significant supporter of the artist.
Many of Danby’s exhibited paintings of the 1840s and ’50s were either destroyed or are now untraced. Hardly any examples of these large-scale works have come to the auction market in the last 50 years, Ulysses has been in the same private collection since 1879, just a few years after it was sold in Gillott’s posthumous sale.
FRANCIS DANBy (Wexford 1793-1861 Exmouth) Ulysses at the court of Alcinous, going to the athletic games instituted in honour of his visit. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
AN online only Christmas auction at Whyte’s runs from today until December 16. There is a selection of contemporary paintings and prints from a wide range of eminent Irish artists, artworks by Damien Hirst, Bob Dylan and David Bowie, posters, collectibles including silverware by Padraig O Mathuna (1925-2019), an early 20th century gramophone and a 19th century music box with Irish and Scottish airs. There is facsimile of the Book of Kells, a small selection of fine wines and some port. The sale is on view by appointment at Whyte’s galleries from 1 pm to 5 pm on December 12 and 13 and from 10 am to 5 pm on December 14-16.
BACKSTAGE DRESSING ROOM [DRAWN BLANK SERIES] – BOB DYLAN (B.1941) (1,000-1,500). UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,600 AT HAMMER
Sleep by Falling Water by Jack B. Yeats sold for a hammer price of 265,000 at the James Adam sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin this evening. The 1948 work was painted when Yeats was 77. It had been estimated at 150,000-200,000 and is the most expensive artwork sold at Adams this year.
Waterford born and 2004 Crawford College graduate Aidan Crotty has been announced as the winner of this years Zurich Portrait Prize at the National Gallery of Ireland. Portrait of a Boy, Morning depicts the artist’s eldest son Rían at eight years of age. The painting began when schools were closed and movement was restricted as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. In his statement about the portrait, Aidan Crotty said, “Absorbed in the notable quiet, Rían turns to feel the morning light warm his face. As we moved from Spring into Summer this painting gave a basic structure to start the day and is a record of our time in confinement.”
Eva McParland (age 14) was selected as the overall winner of the Zurich Young Portrait Prize and Conor McPolin (age 6) won the youngest category.
The Zurich Portrait Prize exhibition featuring the winner alongside 25 other shortlisted works, is open at the National Gallery of Ireland. It will run until next March 21 alongside the Zurich Young Portrait Prizeexhibition of 20 shortlisted portraits. Both exhibitions will travel to Crawford Art Gallery in Cork in 2021.
After a bidding battle Paul Henry’s Western Landscape from 1932-35 sold for a hammer price of 330,000 at de Veres online sale of Irish art in Dublin this evening. This was more than double the top estimate for this painting which measures 16′ x 24′. In the same private collection since the 1950’s this luminous panoramic landscape had been estimated at 120,000-160,000 and attracted no less than 50 bids. The mountains in the background are almost certainly the Maamturks, viewed south eastwards from Kylemore Lough near Letterfrack.
A Tale of the Sea by Walter Osborne made a hammer price of €315,000 at Whyte’s in Dublin this evening in a sale where no less than six works sailed past the €100,000 barrier at hammer. Three of them, The Blue Hills of Connemara (€240,000), The Stony Fields of Kerry (€200,000) and Killary Bay, Connemara (€140,000), were by Paul Henry. Sculling by Jack B. Yeats made €190,000 and Image of Picasso by Louis le Brocquy made €140,000. Those six works alone realised a hammer total of 1.225 million in an evening with strong prices and competitive bidding for many of the artworks on offer.
The overall sale total was 2.5 million and the auction was 85% sold by lot.
The winter art sale season in Dublin – online this year – kicks off this evening at Whyte’s, followed tomorrow by de Veres and on Wednesday at James Adam. These auctions, coupled with an online sale of affordable Irish art by Morgan O’Driscoll this evening, have never been more accessible. All you need these days is a computer and if 2020 has demonstrated anything it is that this does not bother buyers in the slightest. It promises to be a busy few days for Irish art with buyers out in force for an appetising and wide ranging selection across all price points.
Bog Farm by Norah McGuinness at Whyte’s. UPDATE: THIS MADE 19,000 AT HAMMER
Mille Tetes is the title of this Aubusson tapestry by Louis le Brocquy at the James Adam online sale of Important Irish art on December 9. According to a catalogue note by Niamh Corcoran Mille Tetes (1,000 Heads) is a distinctive example of both Le Brocquy’s sustained interest in representing the human head and the visual effect of inverting colour and tone. Signed and dated 1973 this is number 1 of an edition of 9. It is estimated at 50,000-80,000.
Louis le Brocquy HRHA (1916-2012) Mille Tetes B, No.1929. UPDATE: THIS MADE 54,000 AT HAMMER
It is a mark of the healthy state of the Irish art market that just over 400 lots coming under the hammer at evening sales by Whytes, de Veres and Adams next week can be confidently expected to bring in millions. Collectors of Irish art across all price ranges have shown themselves to be not backward about coming forward in this year of pandemic. There will be plenty of stiff competition for the appetising selection at these three major Dublin sales where no less than 11 lots have estimates in excess of €100,000.
Artists like William Scott, Walter Osborne, Sean Scully, Jack B. Yeats, Paul Henry, Louis le Brocquy, William Orpen and Gerard Dillon contribute the most expensively estimated lots to the catalogues of these auctions. But never mind if your budget will not stretch that far, there is much to choose from in the lower reaches. At Whytes on December 7 there is no shortage of work in the €1,000-€10,000 range with a wide selection from artists including Donald Teskey, Kenneth Webb, Peter Collis, Arthur Maderson, Maurice MacGonigal, John Kingerlee and Derek Hill. A number of major Paul Henry’s, including The Blue Hills of Connemara (€200,000-€300,000), Killary Bay (€150,000-€200,000) and The Stony Fields of Kerry (€90,000-€150,000) feature. Other top estimated works are: A Tale of the Sea by Walter Osborne (€300,000-€400,000), Sergeant Murphy by Sir William Orpen (€250,000-€350,000), Sculling by Jack Butler Yeats €200,000-€300,000) and The Tinker Family by Gerard Dillon (€80,000-€120,000).
William Scott’s Still Life with Frying Pan at de Veres on December 8 is estimated at €200,000-€300,000. Untitled 3-7-86 by Sean Scully has an estimate of €80,000-€120,000 in a sale which de Veres rightly describe as being of outstanding quality which includes significant works by Paul Henry, Jack B. Yeats, Dan O’Neill, Patrick Scott, Hughie O’Donoghue, Evie Hone, Roderic O’Conor, Norah McGuinness and Louis le Brocquy.
A large colourful oil by Yeats, Sleep by Falling Water (€150,000-€200,000) is the most expensively estimated lot in the sale at Adams on December 9. There is a fine Aubusson tapestry by Louis le Brocquy entitled Mille Tetes B with an estimate of €50,000-€80,000 and a great selection which includes Walter Osborne, Tony O’Malley, Dan O’Neill, Colin Middleton and Norah McGuinness.All catalogues are online.
Inscape by Tony O’Malley at Whyte’s. UPDATE: THIS MADE 11,000 AT HAMMER
The Westport House table (above) and the Leinster House cabinets (below) are among the highly important pieces of furniture due to come under the hammer at Christie’s in London next January 19. The Apter-Fredericks, 75 Years of Important English Furniture sale will comprise 140 lots. There are pieces by the foremost craftsmen and designers of the 18th and 19th centuries including Chippendale, Ince & Mayhew, Linnell, Gomm, Lock, Cobb, Bullock and Gillows, as well as a selection of Chinese works of art. Internationally renowned for the superlative quality, condition and provenance of their pieces, Apter-Fredericks remains an industry byword for the very finest furniture and works of art, a reputation which has been built by three generations of the family over the last 75 years.
A statement by Harry and Guy Apter reads: ‘For 75 years Apter-Fredericks have enjoyed dealing in the finest furniture, welcoming clients, old and new, to our Chelsea showroom and placing wonderful pieces in their homes, as well as occasionally in museums. After 40 years in the business, a new world and a new way of working has developed and it has become clear to us both that we no longer want or need a showroom in central London to continue to thrive and do business successfully. We see a future where we hold less stock and are able to spend more time both in the pursuit of masterpieces and visiting our clients”.
The Westport House table is estimated at £40,000-50,000, the Leinster House cabinets at £40,000-60,000.
