There is something teasingly abstract about Jug, this 1979 oil on canvas by William Scott from Morgan O’Driscoll’s Irish and International online art auction which runs until November 23. It is exactly what the artist intended. Scott wanted his pictures to be about something. In this work he uses a dark background to create an arresting image with the subject matter reduced to the bare minimum. “I am an abstract artist in the sense that I abstract” he explained once. In the summer of 1953 Scott travelled to the US, met Jackson Pollock, Elaine de Kooning, Franz Kline and Mark Rothko and concluded that their version of abstract expressionism was not for him. Instead he made his own of the simplest domestic objects, a frying pan, eggs, a plate, a fish, green beans, a bowl, a jug. Morgan O’Driscoll has another magnificent sale coming up, with work by Yeats, Henry, Donald Teskey, Dan O’Neill, John Shinnors, Gerard Dillon, Robert Ballagh and others. Jug, estimated at €80,000-€120,000, is a highlight.
Deep Blues by William Scott sold for £837,800 over a top estimate of £500,000 at Sotheby’s re-scheduled sale 44 Fitzwilliam Square – Works from the Estate of the Late Patrick Kelly, in London today. Lockdown failed to put a stop to the gallop of this sale of contents from the Dublin home of the late property developer. There was huge interest online and on the telephones as the auction was in progress. It had been scheduled to take place on March 18 and postponed due to lockdown.
Achill Sound by Paul Henry sold for £207,900 over a top estimate of £100,000. Young Men, The Showground Revisited and Early Morning, Glasnevin all by Jack B. Yeats each sold for £176,400, A View of Killarney with the Passage to the Upper Lake by William Ashford sold for £252,000 and Still Life, Fruits by Roderic O’Conor sold for £100,800. A c1760 Irish Georgian mahogany side table sold for £30,240, a pair of Irish clear blue and oval glass mirrors sold for £56,700, a George III style Irish oval hall mirror sold for £25,200 and a pair of mottled pink marble pedestals sold for £13,860. The sale total was £3.3 million.
A stunning array of Irish pictures from the 18th to the 20th centuries as well as Georgian and Regency furniture and decorative arts will come under the hammer at Sotheby’s in London on November 10. If there is a certain sense of deja vu about the auction of contents from 44 Fitzwilliam Square in Dublin it is because this sale was first scheduled to take place in London last March. The first lockdown landed and it was re-scheduled to November just in time for lockdown number two to take off. Things are different this time round, the auction world has adjusted spectacularly well to the online model and there is a zoom boom.
Irish art has fared very well in times of pandemic and this sale offers an exceptional William Scott and five works by Yeats. The paintings by Yeats include The Showground Revisited, painted in 1950 (£150,000-250,000 / €170,000-282,000) and Young Men, painted in 1929 (£150,000-250,000 / €170,000-282,000). The Scott, entitled Deep Blues, has an estimate of £300,000-500,000 / €339,000-565,000.There is art by Daniel Maclise, George Barret, Paul Henry, Roderic O’Conor, George Mullins, James Arthur O’Connor, John Butts, james Humbert Craig, Jeremiah Hoad, Louis le Brocquy, Erskine Nichol, William Sadler, William Ashford, Douglas Alexander, Nathaniel Hone, Harry Kernoff and others including a set of 25 Views of Dublin by James Malton. These were all shown in Dublin a year ago as a curtain raiser to the November 2019 Irish art sale at Sotheby’s. Serious punters who viewed them then will have no trouble vividly remembering them now. The elegant Dublin townhouse, home to the late property developer Paddy Kelly, was a wonderful setting for these paintings and antique furniture pieces like a pair of Irish mirrors and a pair of demi lune side cabinets in the manner of the Dublin maker William Moore. On offer too is a c1820 Irish Regency serving table, a set of four Irish hall chairs c1815 and a matched pair of table globes by Cary. A Victorian silver gilt replica of the Ardagh Chalice has an estimate of £3,000-£5,000. An avid collector, Patrick Kelly (1942-2011) recognised the tradition of Irish painting from the eighteenth century through to the twentieth, complemented with fine Georgian and Regency furniture, silver and decorative arts, amassed from auctions and dealers over three decades.
Michael Flatley’s clearout of Castlehyde near Fermoy to prepare for a refurbishment offers something for collectors across the board – even those who might be into a spot of cannibalism. Pride of place in the sale, to be held online at Sheppards in Durrow on November 26-27, is the mask worn by Anthony Hopkins when he played Hannibal Lecter, the fictional forensic psychiatrist who liked to eat his victims. Signed by Hopkins and co-star Julianne Moore it is estimated at €80,000-€120,000.
UPDATE: THE HANNIBAL LECTER MASK MADE 85,000 AT HAMMER
AN INTERIOR VIEW OF CASTLEHYDE
Not the usual stuff of country house sales, but the Lord of the Dance, who has poured millions into the restoration of the Palladian mansion on the banks of the River Blackwater, is in the realm of collectors who are more extraordinary than ordinary. He is planning a major overhaul of the interior so these pieces are surplus to requirements.More than 700 items collected during the past 20 years will come under the hammer. Period pieces include a pair of 19th century French marble console tables (€8,000-€12,000), a pair of large gilt bronze figures of nymphs each holding a torch (€5,000-€8,000), a Victorian console table and mirror (€5,000-€8,000) and a pair of Edwardian satinwood wing armchair (€1,400-€1,800). There are medieval style suits of armour (€500-€800 each) which are reproduction. So are the Graeco Roman busts displayed in the dining room (from €500-€1,200). There is a Louis XVI desk (€4,000-€6,000), a full size billiard table (€3,000-€5,000), a hide covered Chesterfield (€1,000-€1,500) and some French Rococo style sofas.When he retired from dancing Michael Flatley took to art. One of his pieces, entitled Finishing Line, is at €40,000-€60,000, the second most expensively estimated item in the auction. UPDATE: THE FINISHING LINE ARTWORK MADE 37,000 AT HAMMER
19th century billiard table. UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,600 AT HAMMER
Andy Warhol’s Mao comes up at Christie’s in New York on December 3. It is from the collection of Barbara Allen de Kwiatkowski, which will be offered across eight sales, beginning in New York this December with Post-War & Contemporary Art (December 3), Impressionist and Modern Art (December 4), Magnificent Jewels (December 8), Jewels Online (November 18 to December 1), Design (December 11), Old Master Paintings Online (November 13 to December 4) followed by the April 2021 sales of The Collector (April 8) and Prints & Multiples (April 21).
Muse and close friend to Andy Warhol, she was part owner, cover star, and contributor to his Interview magazine. She and Warhol were famous at Studio 54 and shared a deep friendship. Highlights among more than 60 lots at Christie’s comprise works by Warhol including a silkscreen of Mao executed in 1973 ($1,000,000-1,500,000), an extremely rare portrait sketch of Barbara Allen drawn circa 1976 ($30,000-40,000), and a silkscreen titled VIP Ticket – Studio 54 executed in 1978 ($120,000-180,000). These will be offered alongside photographs by Peter Beard, another close friend. Also featured are important pieces of 20th century design including furniture by Diego Giacometti and vases by Jean Dunand and iconic jewels spanning designs by Belperron, Harry Winston, JAR, and Verdura.
Figures is the title of this mixed media work by George Campbell. It comes up at de Veres online sale of Irish art which runs until November 10. There are 100 works with estimates of 50-2,000. This one is estimated at 200-300.
THERE is an Edwardian feel to this Interior by the late Co. Wicklow artist Liam Treacy (1934-2004). It comes up at Morgan O’Driscoll’s online art auction on November 2 with an estimate of 600-900. There is a wide variety of affordable art by Maurice Wilks, Gladys McCabe, Basil Blackshaw, George Gillespie, John Butler Yeats, Evie Hone, John Kingerlee and many others on offer. The catalogue is online. UPDATE: THIS MADE 850 AT HAMMER
Donald Judd’s Untitled (1988) is a Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac highlight at TEFAF online New York from October 30-November 4. One of the most influential artists of the post-war period, Judd (1928–1994) radically transformed notions of the ‘visible’, developing a rigorous visual vocabulary that emphasises simple, mathematical proportions and openness of form. Untitled belongs to one of Judd’s principle and best-known bodies of work – the ‘stacks’, which he first created in galvanised iron in 1965.
This is TEFAF’s first virtual fair, which will provide attendees with direct, live access to its community of world-renowned dealers. Each of nearly 300 specialist exhibitors will present one masterpiece representing their respective areas of expertise. In TEFAF’s long tradition of presenting quality works, TEFAF Online provides the most thorough vetting procedure possible within a digital context.? TEFAF Online will afford attendees an extraordinary journey through 7,000 years of art history.
Sotheby’s scored a white glove live streamed Impressionist and Modern Art auction from New York last night. Specialists in New York, London and Hong Kong took bids and interacted with auctioneer Oliver Barker. All lots were sold and the evenings auctions realised $284 million.
The Impressionist and Modern sale totalled $141.1 million and was led by Giacometti’s Femme Leon which sold for $25.9 million. There was a new auction record for Giorgio de Chirico when Ariadne’s Afternoon made $15.8 million.
The Contemporary Art sale brought in $142.8 million. A trio of Alfa Romeo concept cars led the sale and sold for $14.8 million. This was first in Contemporary evening art auction history. Italian architect and designer Carlo Mollino’s dining table caused a three-continent bidding battle. It eventually sold for $6.2 million, a record for any work of Italian design. It was from the collection of the Brooklyn Museum of Art.
Andy Warhol’s portraits of Mohammed Ali made €210,000 at hammer at Morgan O’Driscoll’s Irish and International art sale last night. With bidders from Ireland, the US, the UK and mainland Europe the online auction grossed €2 million. The Ali portrait went to an Irish collector. Among the other hammer prices were Dan O’Neill’s Summer (€125,000); Bridget Riley R2114 (€100,000); Sean Scully, 9.2.89 (€85,000); Jack Butler Yeats, A Hooker and a Nobbie (€70,000): Banksy, Morons (Sepia) (€68,000); Dan O’Neill, Girl with Flower (€60,000); Basil Blackshaw, Grey Mare (€36,000); Louis le Brocquy, Orange (€29,000); Andy Warhol, The Nun from Ingrid Bergman (€28,000) and Harry Kernoff, The Twelve Pins, Renvyle, Connemara (€25,000).
DANIEL O’NEILL (1920-1974). Summer sold for 125,000 at hammer
