A walking cane owned by Michael Collins is included in de Veres Irish Art Auction at the Royal College of Physicians on Kildare St. at 6 pm on November 26. The cane, lot 84, was given by Collins to John Cormack, his driver, who had been shot during a gun battle at Dublin’s Red Cow c1921. It comes to auction through Cormack’s grand-daughter and is estimated at 2,000-4,000.The catalogue cover lot, F.E. MacWilliam’s Anthropomorphic Bean (1965) was once in the collection of the infamous investment bankers Lehman Brothers and was housed at No. 3 World Financial Centre adjacent to the twin towers in New York on 9/11. It is estimated at 25,000-35,000. Other highlights of the sale include four small Dan O’Neill oils, a Big Forest Borneo triptych by Barrie Cooke and A Memory of W.B.Yeats walking in Dublin by Patrick Collins. Viewing is now underway at de Veres at 35 Kildare St. in Dublin.
UPDATE: THE MICHAEL COLLINS WALKING CANE MADE 11,000 AT HAMMER
Anthropomorphic Bean by F.E. McWilliam. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
The highlights are by Yeats but the Ernie O’Malley collection – which comes under the hammer at the RDS next Monday evening – represents a veritable who’s who of Irish art from the 1930’s to the 1950’s. The sale of 100 lots, by Whyte’s in association with Christie’s, includes work by Mainie Jellett, Evie Hone, Louis le Brocquy, Colin Middleton and Norah McGuinness.Ernie O’Malley, a revolutionary in Ireland from 1916-1922 who went on to publish two books detailing his experiences, knew all these artists and encouraged and patronised their early careers. He met Yeats in Dublin in 1937 at the home of Constantine Curran and the two became friends, meeting and corresponding regularly. Three Yeats paintings in the sale, The Enfolding Night, 1947, Reverie, 1931 and Evening in Spring, 1937 are each estimated at 500,000-700,000.There are other major Yeats’s in this sale as well as a range of sketches at prices which might encourage new collectors to own a work by the artist. There are two of le Brocquy’s Tinker series from the 1940’s, Tinker Diviner (15,000-20,000) and A Young Tinker Woman (10,000-15,000). Each one dates to 1945.Mainie Jellett’s The Land Eire is from 1940 and estimated at 30,000-40,000 and Colin Middleton’s (Group V) Saint John: Retrospect is estimated at 20,000-30,000. Highlights have already been shown in New York and London and viewing at the RDS is from 10 am to 6 pm daily for the next three days. The auction is on Monday at 6 pm.
The Land Eire by Mainie Jellett UPDATE: THIS MADE 110,000 AT HAMMER A WORD RECORD PRICE FOR THE ARTIST
More than 400 lots will come under the hammer at Morgan O’Driscoll’s online sale of affordable Irish art which gets underway at 6.30 pm on November 25. The catalogue is online.
Mark O’Neill – Old town arch (1,500-2,000). UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,100 AT HAMMER
The two day sale at Sheppards at Durrow in Co. Laois on November 26 and 27 contains much that is unusual and of interest. The varied catalogue, titled Desire: Sparkling Jewels and Inspirational Interiors, is online. Lot 502 is this pedestal William IV dining table with four extending leaves above a conforming frieze, raised on cavetto and leaf carved pedestals. It is estimated at 8,000-12,000. Viewing gets underway in Durrow on November 23.
Bacchus by Rowan Gillespie made an above estimate £45,000 at Bonhams Modern British and Irish art sale in London today. Conceived in 1984 and cast in 1985 the top estimate for the 51″ tall polished bronze piece was £25,000. It was a good day for Irish art at Bonhams. Still Life with Fish by William Scott sold for £81,000, Bog Pool by Paul Henry made £63,000, Achill Cottage, Lough Corrib and Turf Stacks with Mountains both by Paul Henry sold for £35,000 and £19,000.
Two Forms by William Scott made £16,000; Ardglass by Colin Middleton made £15,000 and The Smooth Red Rock by Daniel O’Neill made £10,000.
RTE’s William Scott mural made a hammer price of £187,500 at Sotheby’s Modern and Post War British Art sale at Sotheby’s in London on November 19. This was well within the estimate of £150,000-250,000. Abstract Painting (Radio Telefis Eireann Mural) was commissioned by architect Ronald Tallon of Scott, Tallon and Walker in 1966.
A second Scott in the sale, White with Black Predominating, from the Patrick and Antoinette Murphy collection sold for £275,000 at hammer. It was bought by the couple after they had seen it at the Trinity College, Dublin exhibition in 1973. He is a former chairman of the Arts Council of Ireland, she set up the Peppercannister Gallery in Dublin.
William Scott – Abstract Painting (Radio Telefis Eireann Mural)William Scott -White with Black Predominating
There will be a varied selection of mostly paintings at Dolans sale of art and antiques in Limerick on November 24. The catalogue cover lot is by Arthur Madison and there is work by artists including John Brobbel, Carina Scott, Graham Knuttel, Sean Keating, Harry Kernoff, Kenneth Webb, John Behan. The sale will include a studio collection of Clare artist Michael Hanrahan, official artist for Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Ireland in 2011. There is a selection of antique furniture, rugs and collectibles. The sale is at Castletroy Park Hotel at 2 p.m. on November 24 with viewing from November 22.
A Paris of the West by Jack B. Yeats sold for a hammer price of £675,000 at Sotheby’s annual sale of Irish art in London today against an estimate of £500,000-800,000. The Man in the Moon has patience by Yeats made £325,000 at hammer over a top estimate of £250,000, Clare Island from Achill by Paul Henry made £150,000 over a top estimate of £120,000, Errigal, Co. Donegal by Paul Henry made £125,000 at hammer over a top estimate of £60,000 and Paul Henry’s A Showery Day, Connemara made £60,000 over a top estimate of £35,000.
Other top lots included: The Stevedore by Yeats (£225,000); A Moonlit Breton Landscape by Roderick O’Conor (£150,000); The Bones by Jack B. Yeats (£100,000): The Owl Run by Hughie O’Donoghue (£93,750): Tain by Louis le Brocquy (£87,500): Cork Bowler by Gabriel Hayes (£81,250) and Failing Better a maquette by Rowan Gillespie sold for 80,255.
If the number of sales now underway in this busy season can be taken as a guide then the market for Irish art is in a healthy state across all levels. Over the next few weeks million of euro worth of Irish art will change hands. It would be wrong to assume that this market exists only for the wealthy. Big sales tend to grab the headlines. But a small amount of discretionary income and a love or art, or even just a particular piece, can get anyone on board. There are prices to suit every pocket.The online sale by Morgan O’Driscoll on Monday will be followed by Sotheby’s annual Irish art sale in London on Tuesday, Bonhams in London on Wednesday and Dolan’s in Limerick on Sunday week. Also on the schedule are sales by Whyte’s in association with Christie’s, de Veres, James Adam and further sales by O’Driscoll and Whyte’s. Art will feature strongly in a variety of mainstream sales between now and Christmas, from Sheppards in Durrow to Lynes and Lynes in Carrigtwohill, Aidan Foley in Sixmilebridge and the James Adam Mid Century Modern sale in Dublin next Tuesday evening.The selection at Morgan O’Driscoll’s online sale on Monday evening includes work by Donald Teskey, Kenneth Webb, Roderic O’Conor, Patrick O’Reilly, John Shinnors, Sean Scully, Mark O’Neill and a wide variety of well known and less well known Irish artists.
Sotheby’s has worked hard to promote their annual Irish sale, which will be the subject of considerable interest in London. Charlie Minter, head of Irish art at Sotheby’s, describes this years sale in the following words: “The vibrancy of Ireland’s cultural and artistic scene has always been a cause for celebration. This year’s Irish Art sale celebrates both past and present, from legendary figures such as Jack B. Yeats, Paul Henry, William Orpen and Louis le Brocquy, to new blood from Ireland’s dynamic contemporary art scene. The heart of Irish culture is encapsulated in a diverse selection of works with subjects ranging from literary icons to immediately recognisable landscape motifs, many of them making their auction debut.”Among a strong selection of works by Irish artists at Bonhams sale of Modern British and Irish art in London on Wednesday are works by Paul Henry, William Scott, Rowan Gillespie, Basil Blackshaw, Dan O’Neill and William Crozier. The sale by Dolan’s at Castletroy Park Hotel in LImerick next Sunday week will include a studio collection of the work of Clare artist Michael Hanrahan, official artist for the visit of Queen Elizabeth to Ireland in 2011. These paintings will be sold without reserve. The auction goes on view next Friday.
The Man in the Moon has Patience by Jack B. Yeats at Sotheby’s. UPDATE: THIS MADE £325,000 AT HAMMER
Billed by Whyte’s as an historic opportunity for Irish collectors the sale of the Ernie O’Malley Collection in Dublin on November 25 will be on view at Christie’s in London this weekend and at the RDS in Dublin from November 23. The sale is by Whyte’s in association with Christie’s and highlights have already been seen at Christie’s in New York. The auction of 100 lots is highlighted by five major oils by Yeats and contains works by a number of leading Irish artists from the 1930’s to the 1950’s.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for October 15, 2019)
A YOUNG TINKER WOMAN, 1945 LOUIS LE BROCQUY HRHA (1916-2012). UPDATE: THIS MADE 18,000 AT HAMMER
