Mallard and Teal in Flight by Sir Peter Scott is a highlight at Bonhams Modern British and Irish art sale online on May 12. It is estimated at £25,000-35,000. This auction will take place behind closed doors but is fully accessible on Bonhams.com and bids can be made online, on the phone or as absentee bids.
This painting of Cross Street, Galway by Cecil Maguire dates to 1979. It is lot 12 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s online sale of Irish art which runs to May 11. The estimate is 3,000-5,000. There are 197 lots on the catalogue, which is online.
The catalogue note by Eamonn Mallie tells us that Basil Blackshaw was not normally given to making double portraits. Graham and Jude was an exception almost by accident. At the heart of Northern Ireland’s art scene Graham and Jude Gingles – he a sculptor and painter, she Blackshaw’s sitter for more than three decades with a doctorate in anthropology – attended a party at the home of Northern Ireland sculptor Bob Sloan in 2001. There Blackshaw executed a quick sketch of his good friends and prevailed on Bob Sloan to take some photographs of the couple. The artist identified the potential in the backdrop of the parallel lines of the venetian blinds sliced down the middle by the two figures. The resulting portrait is lot 88 at Sotheby’s Eclectic online auction which runs to May 18. It is estimated at £15,000-20,000.
With 37 online auctions totalling nearly $70 million since March Sotheby’s reports increased collector engagement. An update today from ceo Charles Stewart highlighted their plan to hold evening and day sales of Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary Art in New York the week of June, 29 pending the lifting of certain restrictions and confirmation from the relevant authorities. The Spring sales series in Hong Kong will take place from July 5-11.
Sotheby’s has invested in its “buy now” capability with significant inventory for sale. The Gallery Network launched with some of New York’s most pre-eminent galleries allows galleries make immediate sales through Sotheby’s website. The ceo reports continued demand and competition for rare and iconic works across categories. A Cartier tutti frutti bracelet achieved $1.3 million last week.
Sotheby’s is offering an arresting image of Kate Moss in a torn veil, Marrakesh 1993 by Albert Watson at an online sale entitled Eclectic, London which runs to May 7. It is estimated at £7,000-10,000. Bonhams will offer British and Irish art online on May 12 with Irish lots by artists Cecil Maguire, Graham Knuttel and William Crozier. Meantime the London Original Print Fair, normally held at the Royal Academy, is online this year. It continues for the entire month of May.
Two days of sales by Doneraile based auctioneer Aidan Foley are now underway at Easy Live auctions. Books, music memorabilia and jewellery come under the hammer today. The sale tomorrow will feature rugs, furniture, collectibles, art and jewellery.
Hegarty’s, the Bandon auctioneers, had a large March auction in the pipeline when Covid-19 restrictions were introduced. They reduced the catalogue and held their first live online only sale instead. Bidders logged in from all over Ireland, the UK, across Europe and from as far away as Australia and the USA on the night. Working from home with built up catalogued stock they have since put together a small timed online auction of 159 lots of furniture, art, jewellery and collectibles, with free storage available on all items. The auction is now live on The Saleroom and it runs until April 30.
THIS Tiffany design table lamp, around 18 and a half inches tall, is among the lots at the online sale by Purcell Auctioneers of Birr, Co. Offaly on April 29. It is estimated at 100-180. There are 412 lots in this single owner collection sale of militaria, jewellery, collectibles, porcelain, silver, advertising and musical instruments. The sale is online at Easy Live auctions.
UPDATE: THE LAMP MADE 150 AT HAMMER
Chatsworth House, in the United Kingdom, home to the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, has been passed down through 16 generations of the Cavendish family. It is is renowned for the quality of its art, landscape and hospitality. The Devonshire Collection represents a grand tradition of collecting spanning half a millennium, and is widely celebrated as one of the most significant collections of art and objects in Europe. This video on Leonardo Da Vinci’s drawing of Leda and the Swan from the Sotheby’s archive relates to an exhibition at Chatsworth last year. Enjoy.
Is the future of the art and antiques market forever changed or is this just a temporary blip? The answer probably lies somewhere between each of these positions. When the pandemic lockdown was implemented it appeared everything would revert once it was lifted. Now it is apparent that this is not so. Covid-19 has not gone away. We will have to live with sensible precautions like social distancing for some time, even as the restrictions are eased.The auction houses of Ireland and everywhere else are in uncharted waters. Social distancing is not possible at busy viewings as we knew them, nor in crowded auction rooms. New ways to keep the business afloat must be found. Technology is an obvious answer but it is not for everyone or everything. Early indications from online sales around the world are that millennials are happier to buy online than the older billionaires who populate the global contemporary art market. Whether auction houses are prepared to sell big ticket items online is as yet far from clear. The number of private sales has been growing in latter years.
Christie’s and Phillips have consolidated their Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary art sales into one 20th century week in New York – to include the London sales – scheduled at this stage for the end of June. Sotheby’s has yet to announce what is to become of its contemporary marquee sale scheduled for May 13 in New York. This sale was to be anchored by Francis Bacon’s Triptych Inspired by the Oresteia of Aeschylus with an estimate of at least $60 million. Sotheby’s has announced that the week long Spring Hong Kong series will now take place from July 5-11 in Hong Kong. The auctions cover Chinese ceramics and paintings, modern and contemporary art, jewellery, watches and wine.
Meantime the full online sales programme by the biggest auction houses is drawing enthusiastic participation from collectors. These sales have been expanded significantly across numerous categories.
