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    IRELAND’S GLORIES CELEBRATED IN ART AT WHYTE’S

    Saturday, November 29th, 2025

    Tony O’Malley (1913-2003) – Summer Breeze, Callan, Co. Kilkenny 1981 UPDATE: THIS MADE 11,500 AT HAMMER

    From a unique modernist take by John Luke of a dead tree in 1933 and Paul Henry’s 1929 view of The Great Sugarloaf to a 2003 oil on panel diptych of Birds in our Saltee Islands by Elizabeth Cope, a seascape by Donald Teskey and  Children playing at the seaside by Dorothea Sharpe (1874-1955) Ireland in all its multiple glories is celebrated in the art at Whyte’s sale in Dublin on the evening of December 1. 

    Whyte’s has valued the 143 lots on offer at €1.2 million, a measure of how far the market has progressed in the first quarter of the 21st century.  Summer Breeze, Callan, Co. Kilkenny by Tony O’Malley marries the influence of his native place with the light of the Bahamas.  The partially abstracted oil on board, full of flowing movement, has an estimate of €12,000-€18,000.  The photo realism of another Kilkenny born artist stands in sharp contrast to this work.  Now based in west Cork the artist John Doherty’s c2000 edgy, dramatic and architectural painting of the Poolbeg Lighthouse has an estimate of €18,000-€22,000.

    The heavily worked White House, Shooting Star by John Shinnors – approached in another entirely different way –  offers a contrasting and pleasing landscape scene by night.

    JOHN LUKE – THE DEAD TREE UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    Diversity in Irish art is nothing new.  The two leading lots of the auction, The Dead Tree by John Luke and The Great Sugarloaf by Paul Henry could not be more different. Painted just a couple of years apart and representing classical and modern style each one is estimated at €100,000-€150,000.

    There is art by Leo Whelan, Roderic O’Conor, Eva Hamilton, Frank McKelvey, Dan O’Neill, Patrick Collins, Rowan Gillespie, John Behan, Michael Warren and many other artists in a catalogue available to see online.  Viewing at Whyte’s today, tomorrow and Monday will be followed by a live auction at Freemason’s Hall on Molesworth St. in Dublin is from 6 pm on Monday.

    Elizabeth Cope – Birds in our Saltee Islands 2003. UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,000 AT HAMMER

    HISTORIC PAINTING OF THE KILDARE HUNT AT FONSIE MEALY

    Saturday, November 29th, 2025

    Michael Angelo Hayes (1820-1877) – The Kildare Hunt 1858. UPDATE: THIS MADE 50,000 AT HAMMER

    An 1858 painting of the Kildare Hunt by Michael Angelo Hayes will lead Fonsie Mealy’s winter fine art and antique sale in Castlecomer on December 3 and 4. Estimated at €40,000-€60,000 it is part of a range of items celebrating our equestrian heritage including the Tralee Races Cup, the Blennerhassett Plate and the Kilkenny Hunt Cup.

    The Hayes painting is a large group portrait outside Bishopscourt House near Straffan, Co. Kildare. It depicts the Earl of Clonmel, Lord Cloncurry, the Marquis of Drogheda, Thomas Connolly, Captain Colthurst, Sir John Power and many more identifiable figures.

    More than 1,000 lots of antique furniture, art and collectibles are to be auctioned. There is a Faberge link gold bracelet, a selection of gold coins, a 19th century dining table on four pods, a Peel P50 one person commuter car from the early 1960’s, a 1963 Morris Minor, a pair of French Empire four branch candelabra, a specimen marble table and a silver ladle by Samuel Johns, Limerick among the leading lots. The catalogue is online.

    A vintage Peel P50 one person commuter car. UPDATE: THIS MADE 8,000 AT HAMMER

    SEAN SCULLY AT KERLIN IN DUBLIN

    Saturday, November 29th, 2025

    Tapestry is the title of the just opened exhibition of new work by world renowned, unstoppable Sean Scully – who turned 80 this year – at the Kerlin Gallery in Dublin. It brings together four distinct bodies of work rooted in a deep engagement with the emotional potential of abstraction. There are recent pencil on paper drawings; hand woven tapestries in collaboration with Mourne Textiles with the drawn line translated into fibre, texture and weight;  new large paintings from the Stack series and a selection of new oil on copper paintings.  Modest in scale these are rich in colour and emotional depth.  The show highlights how drawing functions as a foundational structure in Scully’s work and reveals how Scully’s practice is constructed line by line. Marks accumulate and interlock and are layered into larger forms. The show runs until January 24. Pictured here is Tappan Wall Yellow, 2025,  an oil on copper at Kerlin. Another show by Scully – Blue – opens today at Thaddaeus Ropac Marais in Paris and runs until January 17.

    PAUL HENRY TOPS THE BILL AT ADAM’S IRISH ART SALE

    Thursday, November 27th, 2025

    Paul Henry RHA (1877-1958) – Coastal Landscape with Galway Hookers

    This 1930’s painting by Paul Henry made a hammer price of €170,000 at Adam’s sale of Important Irish Art. It is from the collection of former Taoiseach John A Costello and is believed to have been purchased directly from the artist as it was never on the market before. Another Henry painting from the Costello collection of a Connemara Village was sold by Adam’s in 2016 for €119,000 at hammer.

    Other top hammer prices from Adam’s sale on November 26 were: Mary Swanzy, A Cubist Landscape (€38,000); Gerard Dillon, Inishmore Lads, (€32,000); Harry Clarke, Faust in the Witches Kitchen (€30,000); Louis le Brocquy, Cuchulainn in Warp Spasm (1999) (€26,000; Hughie O’Donoghue, Night Cargo (€20,000) and Nathaniel Hone, Hay Wynds (€15,000).

    SOUTH OF SKIBBEREEN, NORTH OF SHERKIN ISLAND

    Thursday, November 27th, 2025

    Majella O’Neill Collins (b.1964) – North of Sherkin Island (2024). UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,700 AT HAMMER

    This oil on canvas by the Sherkin based artist Majella O’Neill Collins comes up at Morgan O’Driscoll’s online off the wall auction of affordable Irish art which runs until December 2. The estimate is €1,500-€2,500. More than 450 lots from a wide variety of artists will come under the hammer. Among them are Graham Knuttel, Eileen Meaghar, Desmond Carrick, Sean Scully, James Brohan, William Crozier, Tony O’Malley, Markey Robinson, Elizabeth Cope, Louis le Brocquy and Mr. Brainwash.

    LATE SPRING BY DANIEL NELIS WINS AIB PORTRAIT PRIZE

    Wednesday, November 26th, 2025
    Daniel Nelis – Late Spring

    Daniel Nelis is the winner of the National Gallery of Ireland’s AIB Portrait Prize with this work, an oil on panel portrait of his wife Andrea titled Late Spring. Along with a €15,000 prize he will receive a €5,000 commission to create a new work for the National Portrait Collection. John Foley and Conor O’Leary received highly commended prizes of €1,500 for their works Biddy Boy and The Final Portrait. Guorui Sui, aged 11, was selected as the overall winner of the AIB Young Portrait Prize for his work My Own World of Fantasy.

    The artist and curator from Donegal said the portrait was painted in the months before his marriage. “Andrea has been a recurring presence in my work. The painting does not seek to sentimentalise our relationship, but to bear witness through an intimate and intrusive lens, with elements such as the fabrics and heather rendered with the same scrutiny as the figure. Such moments of quiet reflection, experienced in the vivid reality of the present, are of greatest interest in my work.” Nelis studied Fine Art Painting at Ulster University, later completing an MA in Art History, Collections and Curating at University College Dublin. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, at the National Portrait Gallery, London, the Royal Ulster Academy of Arts, the Royal Scottish Academy and the Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts. 

    O’CONOR’S PAYSAGE AUX ARBRES MAKES €340,000 AT HAMMER

    Tuesday, November 25th, 2025

    Roderic O’Conor, 1860-1940 – PAYSAGE AUX ARBRES (LANDSCAPE WITH TREES), c.1890

    This small oil on canvas by Roderic O’Conor made a hammer price of €340,000 at de Veres on November 25. According to the art historian Jonathan Benington new evidence indicates that Paysage aux Arbres sits earlier in O’Conors chronology than previously thought and, as such, the picture should be viewed as a key turning point in his career. There is even a suggestion of striping in the foliage of several of the trees a hint of things to come 18 months later.

    Other top lots at de Veres include Standing Blue by Sean Scully (€140,000), Cottages Connemara by Paul Henry (€130,000), Nature Morte by Roderic O’Conor (€115,000), Composition (1922) by Mainie Jellett (€70,000) and Aran Man (Self-Portrait) by Sean Keating (€65,000).

    EXHIBITION OF NEW PAINTINGS BY CONOR HARRINGTON IN LONDON

    Sunday, November 23rd, 2025

    Dance to the Music of Time by Conor Harrington at Ben Brown Fine Arts, London.

    Pallium, from the Latin for cloak, is the title of an exhibition of new paintings by Cork artist Conor Harrington at Ben Brown Fine Arts in London until February 6.  The leading international gallery, with locations in London, Hong Kong and New York, specialises in post war and contemporary art.  Harrington’s work is deeply informed by his own identity and experience of life and politics in Britain. Inspired by historical re-enactments in Bristol where participants in period costumes restaged scenes from the past his work focuses on how outdated systems of power are maintained today.

    WINTER ART SALE SEASON IN IRELAND ABOUT TO BEGIN

    Saturday, November 22nd, 2025

    Cubist Landscape by Mary Swanzy at Adams. UPDATE: THIS MADE €38,000 AT HAMMER

    Yeats, Henry, O’Conor, Clarke, O’Malley, Teskey, Jellett, Swanzy, Luke and other acclaimed Irish artists offer Ireland’s growing band of collectors an array of tempting choices at auction in the run up to Christmas.

    The major winter sales of Irish art get underway in earnest next week with evening auctions by Morgan O’Driscoll on November 24, de Veres and Gormley’s on November 25 and Adam’s on the following evening.  The sale of Important Irish Art at Whyte’s is on December 1.

    There is something for all levels of the market at auctions where estimates range from €200 to €300,000.  It is all art – teasing, lovely, intriguing, home and life enhancing.  Even if the important c1890 Paysage aux Arbes (Landscape with Trees) by Roderic O’Conor at de Veres (€200,000-€300,000) is beyond the budget these sales offer plenty of options at price points within the range of many of us.  O’Conor made this work at a key turning point in his career. The suggestion of striping in the foliage is a precursor to this feature in many of his later paintings..

    A Coastal landscape with Galway Hookers by Paul Henry at Adams (€150,000-€200,000) was in the collection of late Taoiseach John A Costello.  Believed to have been purchased directly from the artist in the 1930’s it is making its first every appearance at auction.

    Still Life with Frying Pan and Eggs (1973) by William Scott at Morgan O’Driscoll. UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,200 AT HAMMER

    An oil on canvas board by Yeats, Low Water, Spring Tide, Clifden (1906) leads Morgan O’Driscoll’s sale.  The estimate is €40,000-€60,000.  Morning Painting, Bahamas from 1983 by Tony O’Malley (€30,000-€50,000), Untitled by Sean Scully (€35,000-€45,000), Cardboard Leaves by Basil Blackshaw and St. Jean d’Acre entering Cork Harbour in 1853 by George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson are among the top lots in an online sale with 271 lots.

    The collection of former government minister Gemma Hussey and her husband Derry will form part of the offering of 132 lots at de Veres.  Bad News by the Dublin artist Patrick Tuohy (1894-1930) from their collection is estimated at €14,000-€18,000. The artist was educated at St. Enda’s School, established by Padraig Pearse, and did illustrations for the school magazine. Distant Bird Song (€15,000-€25,000) and Self Portrait, Physicianstown (€1,500-€2,000) both by Tony O’Malley, Fair Day, Slovakia by Mary Swanzy (€10,000-€15,000) and Portrait of a Woman by Mainie Jellett (€2,000-€4,000) are all from the Hussey collection.

    White Wings and White Water by Norah McGuinness at de Veres. UPDATE: THIS MADE 34,000 AT HAMMER

    Provence by William Crozier (€15,000-€25,000), Morons by Banksy (€15,000-€20,000) and Le Marche Flottant and Evening Drag by Arthur Maderson (€12,000-€18,000) are the leading lots at Gormley’s.

    The 150 lots at James Adam on Wednesday range from the late 19th century to the present day. In a Dublin Waxworks by Yeats (€70,000-€100,000) dated 1912 was previously in the collection of Garech Browne at Luggala.  The Dublin Waxworks on Henry St. opened in 1893 and was a popular venue until it was burnt down during the 1916 Rising.  An illustration by Harry Clarke from the 1925 publication of Goethe’s Faust (€30,000-€50,000) is one of 90 illustrations the artist made for the publishers George Harrap and Co.  There is a similar estimate on Lighthouse by Donald Teskey which dates to 2017.

    An Aubusson tapestry of Cuchulainn in Warp Spasm by Louis le Brocquy at Adams is estimated at €25,000-€35,000, as is Training Five Souls on Board, an oil on paper by Camille Souter (1929-2023). The artist had learned to fly aeroplanes and produced some of her best work on this theme. A Cublst Landscape by Mary Swanzy, Night Cargo by Hughie O’Donoghue and a bronze by Rowan Gillespie are all estimated at €20,000-€30,000.  Night Cargo is the catalogue cover lot.

    The sale of important Irish art at Whyte’s on December 1 will be led by The Great Sugarloaf, Co. Wicklow by Paul Henry and The Dead Tree by John Luke.  Each is estimated at €100,000-€150,000.

    Provence by William Crozier at Gormleys. UPDATE: THIS MADE 23,000 AT HAMMER

    FANG RELIQUARY FROM GABON AT SHEPPARDS

    Saturday, November 22nd, 2025

    An early Fang reliquary. UPDATE: THIS MADE 34,000 AT HAMMER

    An early Fang reliquary figure from early 19th century Gabon is, at €30,000-€50,000, the most expensively estimated lot at Sheppards two day sale in Durrow on November 25 and 26.  More than 1,200 lots of fine and decorative art, silver, antique furniture and sculpture from Irish and international collections will come under the hammer.

    Among them are a 15th century carved oak altarpiece, a landscape by James Arthur O’Connor, exceptional 18th century Dublin and London silver, a pair of Roman marble urns, a French clock garniture and a 19th century French ormolu perpetual calendar.  Viewing is underway in Durrow and the catalogue is online.

    A Georgian breakfront four door bookcase is among the leading lots at Marshs sale in Cork on November 29.  A Regency Cork card table, a set of ten brass inlaid Regency Cork dining chairs, a Georgian sideboard, a French ebonised and gilt drawing room suite and a Regency card table are feature furniture lots.  There is a large private collection of Irish and English silver along with dinner and tea services.  The sale will be on view from November 26 and the catalogue is online.

    19th century ormolu mounted marquetry and porcelain inlaid credenza at Sheppards. UPDATE: THIS MADE €3,800 AT HAMMER