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    GERTLER’S PORTRAIT OF DORA CARRINGTON AT CHRISTIE’S

    Saturday, May 23rd, 2015
    Mark Gertler (1891-1939) - Portrait of Dora de Houghton Carrington. Courtesy Christie's Images Ltd.

    Mark Gertler (1891-1939) – Portrait of Dora de Houghton Carrington. Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd.

    Mark Gertler’s portrait of Dora Carrington will be a feature at Christie’s Modern British and Irish Art evening sale in London on June 25.  It is from the collection of the late Edgar Astaire which comprises work by 20th century artists including Gertler, Augustus John, David Bomberg, William Roberts and C.R.W. Nevinson, who all attended the Slade School of Art. The collection will be offered across four sales at Christie’s in June and July.  The collection also includes works by Alfred Munnings, David Hockney, Noël Coward, John Piper, Graham Sutherland and Edward Lear. The four sales will provide opportunities for collectors to acquire works at a wide range of price levels, with estimates starting from £3,000 up to £400,000.

    Carrington (1893-1932) was the object of a decade long unrequited love by Gertler. Her love for the homosexual writer Lytton Strachey and her affair with Gertler was explored in the  1995 film Carrington starring Emma Thompson and Rufus Sewell.  The portrait is estimated at £400,000-600,000.

    UPDATE: Gertler’s The Violinist sold for £542,500 at this auction.

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    LIEBERMANN FROM GURLITT’S APARTMENT AT SOTHEBY’S

    Friday, May 22nd, 2015
    PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF DAVID FRIEDMANN OF BRESLAU Max Liebermann (1847-1935) ZWEI REITER AM STRAND NACH LINKS (TWO RIDERS ON THE BEACH TO THE LEFT)

    PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF DAVID FRIEDMANN OF BRESLAU
    Max Liebermann (1847-1935)
    ZWEI REITER AM STRAND NACH LINKS
    (TWO RIDERS ON THE BEACH TO THE LEFT)  UPDATE: IT MADE £1.865 MILLION

    A work by Max Liebermann – discovered among the trove of art secreted away for decades by Cornelius Gurlitt – comes up at Sotheby’s in London on June 24.  Zwei Reiter am Strand nach links (Two Riders on a Beach), 1901 will be sold following its successful restitution. One of Max Liebermann’s first large-scale oils of horses and riders, it is estimated at £350,000–550,000.   After being shown in 1901 it was acquired by David Friedmann (1857-1942) of Breslau, a passionate art collector. Friedmann is known to have owned at least two works by Max Liebermann, in addition to works by Gustave Courbet, Camille Pissarro and Jean-François Raffaëlli, Jozef Israëls and Walter Leistikow.

    Over the course of the 1930s David Friedmann was subject to increasing persecution by the Nazis. Forced to hand over his properties to the Nazis one by one, in 1938 he prepared to sign over his country estate to a high-ranking Nazi official. David Friedmann’s great nephew David Toren, the only living heir to have seen the painting  in the collection recalls: “It was the day after Kristallnacht, 9th November 1938. I was aged thirteen and my father had been arrested that morning by the Gestapo. We learned that he would be released briefly because my father was my great uncle’s lawyer, and his presence was required before my great uncle could sign over his estate to the Nazi General, Ewald von Kleist, who wished to acquire it. Arrangements were made with the Gestapo headquarters where my father was held for him to be escorted to my great uncle’s villa and then returned immediately after.

    David Friedmann died in 1942 of natural causes. His only child Charlotte perished in Auschwitz in October 1942. The following year David Toren’s father and mother were deported to the same camp where they too died. He managed to escape on a Kindertransport leaving Germany and grew up in Sweden before moving to New York where he lives now. David Toren said: “I am ninety years old now and blind, so while the return of the painting after so many years is of huge personal significance, I can no longer appreciate the painting as I did all those years ago in my great uncle’s home. Though I am the only living heir to have seen the painting in my great uncle’s home, I am one of a number of heirs and we have decided to sell. The painting can now pass into a new phase of its story.”

    Last week it emerged that a 1921 Matisse painting – Seated Woman – found in Gurlitt’s Munich apartment is to be returned to the heirs of Jewish art dealer Paul Rosenberg.  Among them is Anne Sinclair, the ex-wife of former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn.  Mr. Rosenberg was her maternal grandfather.  The work is estimated to be worth £60 million.

    (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for November 18, 2013).

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    CHINESE CERAMICS AND ART AT SHEPPARDS DUBLIN SALE

    Friday, May 22nd, 2015

    Chinese ceramics and works of art will come under the hammer at Sheppard’s first sale in Dublin on May 26.  The venue is 120 Pembroke Road in Ballsbridge.  The catalogue for the auction of just over 100 lots is online. Here is a small selection:

    A Chinese celadon jade San Xi Tang double gourd seal (4,000-6,000).

    A Chinese celadon jade San Xi Tang double gourd seal (4,000-6,000).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 260,000 AT HAMMER

    A Chinese painting of a young woman, watercolours on silk, late eighteenth century. (600-800).

    A Chinese painting of a young woman, watercolours on silk, late eighteenth century. (600-800).

    A Chinese gilt-bronze tripod censer, Qing period (2,000-3,000).

    A Chinese gilt-bronze tripod censer, Qing period (2,000-3,000).

    A Chinese famille verte vase, Kangxi period (1662-1722). (800-1,200).

    A Chinese famille verte vase, Kangxi period (1662-1722). (800-1,200).

    An inscribed Chinese famille rose tea tray (8,000-12,000).

    An inscribed Chinese famille rose tea tray (8,000-12,000).

    A matched and opposed pair of Chinese bottle-shaped cloisonné vases, late eighteenth century (5,000-7,000).

    A matched and opposed pair of Chinese bottle-shaped cloisonné vases, late eighteenth century (5,000-7,000).

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    A NEW AUCTION RECORD FOR ANY DANISH WORK OF ART

    Friday, May 22nd, 2015
    Vilhelm Hammershøi’s Interior, Strandgade 3

    Vilhelm Hammershøi’s Interior, Strandgade 3

    There was a new record for any Danish work of art at auction at Sotheby’s in London yesterday when Vilhelm Hammershøi’s Interior, Strandgade 30 sold for £2,045,000. The estimate was £700,000-900,000.  The painting was hotly pursued by four bidders on the telephone, before selling to an American private collector at a record price for the artist.

    Nina Wedell-Wedellsborg, Head of Sotheby’s Denmark, said: “We are thrilled that Hammershøi’s ‘Interior, Strandgade 30’ established a new record for the artist at auction, and also a record for any Danish work of art at auction. Hammershøi is an artist whom Danish people hold close to their hearts. But with his ascent to international status through recent high-profile exhibitions, record-breaking prices at auction, and his unique aesthetic that finds resonance among collectors of both Old Masters and Modern and Contemporary art, he has been embraced around the world, in academic circles, among art collectors, and also by the wider public.”

     

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    18TH CENTURY IRISH CLOCK AT MEALY’S SUMMER SALE

    Thursday, May 21st, 2015

    An 18th century Irish walnut and parcel gilt long case clock by Blundell of Dublin is among the highlights at Mealy’s two day summer sale of 1,000 lots in Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny on May 26 and 27.  It is estimated at 24,000-28,000.  The sale will feature period furniture, decorative arts, vintage wines, garden effects and the rare book collection of the late Trinity Professor  and south Dublin TD John Kelly (1931-1991). Rarities include lot 903, a pair of Irish provincial flintlock pistols by Thomas Richards, Cork (7,000-9,000) and lot 585, a brick from the tomb of The Mahdi from the Omdurman campaign of (200-300). It is mounted on an oak block with a brass inscription from Capt. Sponge, March 13, 1899.  Lot 761 is a Killarney inlaid centre table (10,000-15,000) and lot 229 is a Killarney breakfast table (1,500-2,500).  The catalogue is online. Here is a small selection:

    UPDATE:  The sale realised 610,000 with over 86 per cent of lots sold.  Over 1,100 online bidders from 36 different countries via the-saleroom & invaluable battled with 280 telephone bidders and 150 commission bidders for the 1,000 lots. The main trend was that there were at least two, in many cases three or more bidders on almost all important lots.

    18TH CENTURY IRISH WALNUT AND PARCEL GILT LONG CASE CLOCK, by Blundell of Dublin (24,000-28,000).

    18TH CENTURY IRISH WALNUT AND PARCEL GILT LONG CASE CLOCK,
    by Blundell of Dublin (24,000-28,000).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 25,000 AT HAMMER

    An Irish George III carved gilt wood wall mirror (7,000-9,000).

    An Irish George III carved gilt wood wall mirror (7,000-9,000).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 7,000 AT HAMMER

    A French ormolu mounted Kingwood vitrine (8,000-12,000)

    A French ormolu mounted Kingwood vitrine (8,000-12,000)  UPDATE: THIS MADE 10,500 AT HAMMER

    A 19th century carved marble figure (5,000-6,000).

    A 19th century carved marble figure (5,000-6,000).  UPDATE: THIS MADE 5,300 AT HAMMER

    Frederick Goodall (1822-1904) Crossing the Waters of the Nile (3,000-4,000).

    Frederick Goodall (1822-1904) Crossing the Waters of the Nile (3,000-4,000).   UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,600 AT HAMMER

    A pair of Irish provincial holster pistols (7,000-9,000).

    A pair of Irish provincial holster pistols (7,000-9,000). UPDATE: THESE SOLD FOR 6,700 AT HAMMER

    A brick from the tomb of The Mahdi (200-300).

    A brick from the tomb of The Mahdi (200-300).   UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 800 AT HAMMER.

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    THE ART OF IRISH FREE STATE BACON AT WHYTE’S AUCTION

    Thursday, May 21st, 2015

    Irish Free State Bacon at Whyte’s sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin on May 25 recalls an advertising campaign on British billboards in the late 1920’s.  The artist Sean Keating (1889-1977) was commissioned by the Empire Marketing Board to design three posters for the English market. Irish Free State Bacon, Irish Free State Dairying and Irish Free State Chicken were used between June and July 1929.  This was  a time when access to the English market was of vital importance to the fledgling Free State.  The gouache, pencil and coloured chalk work is estimated at 15,000-20,000.  There are 181 lots on Whyte’s catalogue, which is on line. Here is a small selection:

    (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for May 15, 2015).

    Seán Keating PRHA HRA HRSA (1889-1977) IRISH FREE STATE BACON, 1928 (15,000-20,000).

    Seán Keating PRHA HRA HRSA (1889-1977) IRISH FREE STATE BACON, 1928 (15,000-20,000).  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    Stuart Morle (b.1960) STILL LIFE WITH SEASHELLS AND OSTRICH EGG (2,000-3,000).

    Stuart Morle (b.1960) STILL LIFE WITH SEASHELLS AND OSTRICH EGG (2,000-3,000).  UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,600 AT HAMMER

    John Behan RHA (b.1938) UNTITLED, 2000 bronze; (unique) (1,500-1,800).

    John Behan RHA (b.1938) UNTITLED, 2000 bronze; (unique) (1,500-1,800).  UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,100 AT HAMMER

    Patrick Swift (1927-1983) GIRL IN A GARDEN, c.1953 (20,000-30,000).

    Patrick Swift (1927-1983) GIRL IN A GARDEN, c.1953 (20,000-30,000).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 20,000 AT HAMMER

    Daniel O'Neill (1920-1974) INDECISION, c.1950 (20,000-30,000).

    Daniel O’Neill (1920-1974) INDECISION, c.1950 (20,000-30,000).  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    Roderic O'Conor (1860-1940) NUDE IN THE STUDIO (30,000-40,000)

    Roderic O’Conor (1860-1940) NUDE IN THE STUDIO (30,000-40,000)  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    Alexander Williams RHA (1846-1930) SAINT AUDEON'S ARCH, A BIT OF THE OLD CITY WALL, DUBLIN watercolour (2,000-3,000).

    Alexander Williams RHA (1846-1930) SAINT AUDEON’S ARCH, A BIT OF THE OLD CITY WALL, DUBLIN watercolour (2,000-3,000).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 2,100 AT HAMMER

    Maurice MacGonigal PRHA (1900-1979) VIEW OF BOLTON STREET, DUBLIN AT THE INTERSECTION WITH CAPEL STREET, c.1927 (4,000-5,000).

    Maurice MacGonigal PRHA (1900-1979) VIEW OF BOLTON STREET, DUBLIN AT THE INTERSECTION WITH CAPEL STREET, c.1927 (4,000-5,000).   UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 4,600 AT HAMMER

    James Humbert Craig RHA RUA (1877-1944) RAIN STORM, COUNTY ANTRIM, c.1920 (4,000-6,000).

    James Humbert Craig RHA RUA (1877-1944) RAIN STORM, COUNTY ANTRIM, c.1920 (4,000-6,000). UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

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    SCOTT, LE BROCQUY, F.E. MCWILLIAM AT ADAMS

    Tuesday, May 19th, 2015

    William Scott, Louis le Brocquy, F.E. McWilliam, John Behan, Paul Henry, Jack Yeats, William Conor, Camille Souter and John Luke are among the artists and sculptors to feature at the James Adam sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin on May 27.    The catalogue features 166 works. Here is a small selection:

    Louis le Brocquy HRHA (1916-2012)Figures in a Tudor Garden (10,000-15,000).

    Louis le Brocquy HRHA (1916-2012) Figures in a Tudor Garden (10,000-15,000). UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 10,000 AT HAMMER

    William Scott RA (1913-1989) Still Life (1974) Gouache on paper (10,000-15,000).

    William Scott RA (1913-1989) Still Life (1974) Gouache on paper (10,000-15,000).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 11,000 AT HAMMER

    Frederick E. McWilliam RA (1909-1992)Box One (1969) (Girl Series) Bronze (8,000-12,000).

    Frederick E. McWilliam RA (1909-1992) Box One (1969) (Girl Series) Bronze (8,000-12,000).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 8,000 AT HAMMER

    Stephen McKenna PRHA (b.1939) Landscape Sculpture (1990) (5,000-8,000).

    Stephen McKenna PRHA (b.1939) Landscape Sculpture (1990) (5,000-8,000).   UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 5,500

    Mary Swanzy HRHA (1882-1978)Cubist Landscape (8,000-12,000).

    Mary Swanzy HRHA (1882-1978) Cubist Landscape (8,000-12,000).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 20,000

    Paul Henry RHA (1876-1958). Cloudscape with Bird in a Thorn Tree (4,000-6,000).

    Paul Henry RHA (1876-1958). Cloudscape with Bird in a Thorn Tree (4,000-6,000).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 6,200 AT HAMMER

    William Conor RHA PRUA OBE (1884-1968) Chair-o-planes (6,000-8,000).

    William Conor RHA PRUA OBE (1884-1968) Chair-o-planes (6,000-8,000).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 6,000

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    HIGHEST SINGLE SALE WEEK TOTAL IN ART AUCTION HISTORY

    Saturday, May 16th, 2015
    Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Les femmes d'Alger, Version O

    Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Les femmes d’Alger, Version O sold for $179,365,000 a world auction record for a painting.

    Christie’s generated a grand total of $1,726,019,375 in a week of fine art sales in New York – the highest single weekly total in auction history. Impressionist & Modern and Post-War & Contemporary art were combined into a single sale week of auctions and online-only sales.  Events kicked off on Monday evening with Looking Forward to the Past, a curated sale with top-quality work from both categories in a new context. The stellar results – the opening sale achieved a new work auction record for any painting and for any sculpture – demonstrate that accelerated demand for great art from collectors around the world continues to drive strong prices at all levels.

    Alberto Giacometti – L’homme au doigt (Pointing Man). Courtesy of Christie’s Images Ltd. 2015/© 2015 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

    Alberto Giacometti – L’homme au doigt (Pointing Man). Courtesy of Christie’s Images Ltd. 2015/© 2015 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York sold for $141,285,000, a world auction record for a sculpture.

    “This has been an extraordinary week for the art market and for Christie’s. Our much heralded total of $1.726 billion is only a part of the story. It was striking that there were 40 bids above $100 million for the Picasso on Monday night and over 45 bids for the Rothko which made $82 million on Wednesday. This is a rich, deep market in which masterpieces elicit the greatest competition and which now attracts high level buyers from all over the world,” said Jussi Pylkkanen, Christie’s Global President.

    There were new world records for Picasso, Giacometti, Freud and Mondrian. No less than 147 lots sold for over $1 million, 18 for over $20 million, seven for over $50 million and two for over $100 million.

    Bidders from 48 different countries registered to participate, creating an electric atmosphere of competition that grew and gained momentum over the course of the week.

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    A GREAT IRISH PAINTER MEETS A GREAT HOLLYWOOD ACTRESS

    Friday, May 15th, 2015
    Sir William Orpen RA RI RHA (1878-1931) GLADYS COOPER

    Sir William Orpen RA RI RHA (1878-1931) GLADYS COOPER  UPDATE: IT MADE 175,000 AT HAMMER

    Orpen’s 1924 portrait of three times Academy Award nominated actress Gladys Cooper (1888-1971) is the top lot at Whyte’s sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin on May 25.  Cooper sat for Orpen when both were at the height of their celebrity when she was rehearsing for the title role in J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan on the London stage.  The shadow against her right arm in the portrait is a nod to this role.

    Orpen selected this portrait for the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1926 and the Autumn Exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool the same year. The portrait is documented by both artist and sitter, in the former’s studio book and in the latter’s autobiography published in 1930.

    After starring roles in the West End and Broadway in the 1930’s Dame Gladys Cooper re-located to Hollywood in later life and found success in a variety of character roles. She starred in dramatic roles and silent films before the beginning of the First World War.  Cooper is best known now for her roles in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca and as Mrs. Higgins in My Fair Lady (1964). This was her last role and it was one in which she was again nominated for an Academy Award.

    The portrait is estimated at 80,000-120,000.

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    NOW IT IS A $50 MILLION MONDRIAN

    Friday, May 15th, 2015
    Piet Mondrian (1872-1944), Composition No. III (Composition with Red, Blue, Yellow and Black), 1929.

    Piet Mondrian (1872-1944), Composition No. III (Composition with Red, Blue, Yellow and Black), 1929.

    Piet Mondrian’s Composition No. III (Composition with Red, Blue, Yellow and Black) was the top lot at Christie’s Impressionist and Modern evening auction in New York last night. It sold for $50,565,000 in a sale which realized $202,608,000.  This brings the running total for this week’s sales at Christie’s to a truly staggering $1,678,763,000.  Day and online sales are to be concluded late today.

    Amadeo Modigliani (1884-1920) - Beatrice Hastings painting in 1916 sold for $16,069,000.

    Amadeo Modigliani (1884-1920) – Beatrice Hastings painting in 1916 sold for $16,069,000.

    Bidders from 34 countries competed in the room and on the phone for works by Impressionist and Modern masters, including Piet Mondrian, Chaïm Soutine, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani and Fernand Léger. Bidding on Modern works was particularly active, a testament to the energy brought to the market by a new breed of crossover collectors.

    Fernand Leger’s Le Corsage Rouge sold for $16,965,000; a portrait of Beatrice Hastings by Modigliani made $16,069,000; Monet’s Les Meules a Giverny made $16,405,000; La Communiante (La Mariee) by Chaim Soutine made $15,621,000 and Trois Danseuses by Degas made $11,925,000.

    (See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for April 20 and March 16, 2015).

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