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J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851) – Rome from Mount Aventine

There was a new world record for Turner tonight when  his masterpiece Rome from Mount Aventine sold for £30.3 million at Sotheby’s. Painted in 1835 and exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1836, when Turner was 61 years old, Rome, from Mount Aventine is one of the artist’s supreme achievements and arguably the most important view of the Italian city ever painted. The large-scale oil painting is further distinguished by its exceptional state of preservation, as well as a prestigious and unbroken provenance. The work has changed hands only once, in 1878, when it was acquired by the 5^th Earl of Rosebery, later Prime Minister of Great Britain. The painting, in its original frame, has since remained undisturbed in the Rosebery collection.

This result represents the highest price for any pre-20^thcentury British artist ever sold at auction and the most valuable Old Master and British Painting auctioned in 2014. Four bidders competed for the work. The sale coincided with a wider moment of Turner mania, with the groundbreaking exhibition of “Late Turner” at the Tate and Mike Leigh’s sensational film “Mr Turner”.

The previous record for a Turner was Modern Rome – Campo Vaccino (1838-1839) acquired by the J. Paul Getty Museum for £29,721,250 at Sotheby’s in 2010.

(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for September 8, 2014).

Bust of Homer by Francis Harwood.

A bust of Homer discovered in Ireland made £242,500 over an estimate of £70,000-100,000 at Sotheby’s Old Master Sculpture and Works of Art sale in London today.  The previously unrecorded marble bust by Francis Harwood is his earliest known depiction of the Greek poet and dates to 1757.

Housed in Dublin and then in Co. Louth it was purchased by Canon Joseph Furlong from Powerscourt.  Canon Furlong, a keen airman, died in 1971 and the sculptor passed by descent to the present owner.

(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for September 19, 2014)

A total of 124 lots feature on the catalogue for Morgan O’Driscoll’s art auction at the RDS  on December 8.  The catalogue cover is Dan O’Neill’s Travelling through Kerry (15,000-20,000) and the sale offers a selection Irish art and artists and more than 25 lots of sculpture.  The catalogue is online:

Colm J. Brennan – Salmon Leap (800-1,200)  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 950

John Behan – Famine Group (3,500-4,500)  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 8,000

Daniel O’Neill (1920-1974)
Travelling Through Kerry (15,000-20,000)  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 35,000

Kenneth Webb RWA FRSA RUA (b.1927)
Ballinaboy Garden, Connemara (4,000-6,000) UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 6,000

Sir Anthony van Dyck – Portrait of Hendrick Liberti.

THE  Old Master and British Paintings evening sale at Christie’s in London this evening brought in £13.9 million.  The top lot was Sir Anthony van Dyck’s portrait of Hendrick Liberti which sold for £2,882,500.  Willem van de Velde’s II A Kaag and other vessels off the Dutch coast sold for £2,210,500, a Canaletto of the Grand Canal in Venice made £1,314,500 and Hendrick Bloemaert’s Allegory of Winter made £866,500, a world record price for the artist at auction.

Clementine Sinclair, Head of Sale said: “We are very pleased with the results of the Evening Sale, which achieved strong sell through rates both by lot (75%) and value (84%). This sale was carefully curated, focusing on works that were fresh to the market, in good condition and attractively priced, which prompted competitive bidding from both traditional European and American buyers, as well as bidders from Russia, China and South America. Private collectors secured all of the top five lots.”

(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for November 16, 2014).

Irish art from Sotheby’s sale of British and Irish art in London on December 10 goes on view today at Sotheby’s on Molesworth St. in Dublin.  The exhibition will include works by Louis le Brocquy, William Orpen, Jack B. Yeats, Mainie Jellett , Basil Blackshaw and Gerard Dillon.  Viewing continues until Sunday.  Here are  a couple of examples:

Gerard Dillon – Girl at a Door. (£30,000-50,000)  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £32,500

Mainie Jellett – Composition. (£15,000-20,000)  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

IRISH women artists are well represented at the James Adam sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin on December 3. From the Cubist landscape of Mary Swanzy to Maeve McCarthy’s portrait of Francis Stuart there is a representative selection of Irish women like Muriel Brandt, Mainie Jellett, Evie Hone, May Guinness, Estella Solomons, Letitia M Hamilton,  Kitty Wilmer O’Brien, Grace Henry, Norah McGuinness, Kathleen Mackie, Camille Souter and Rose Barton who deserve to be better known and more widely celebrated.  Here is a small selection.  The catalogue is online:

Mary Swanzy HRHA (1882-1978) Cubist Landscape (10,000-15,000)  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 15,500 AT HAMMER

Camille Souter HRHA (b 1929) – End of Summer Apples (8,000-12,000)  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

Evie Hone HRHA (1894-1955) – Tinkers’ Child (1,500-2,500).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 1,400 AT HAMMER

Mainie Jellett (1897-1944) Abstract Composition (1,000-1,500).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 900 AT HAMMER

May Guinness RHA (1863-1955) – Canal Side Houses, watercolour (800-1,200).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 500 AT HAMMER

A masterwork by Markey Robinson, a large Gerard Dillon from his Pierrot series and an East Manhattan diptych by Brian Bourke are among the paintings on offer at de Veres in Dublin on December 2.  The auction at Thomas Prior Hall in Ballsbridge will feature traditional landscapes and contemporary Irish art, alongside 15 lots of classic 20th century design furniture. The Robinson work of a busy harbour scene in the west of Ireland measures 48′ x 65′ and was painted on the back of a tea chest.  This exceptionally large work by Markey is estimated at 14,000-18,000. Dillon’s Blue Nude with dancing pierrot (20,000-30,000) is a complex work depicting his fantasy world.  Brian Bourke’s  East Manhattan (10,000-15,000) was painted from the roof of the Irish Consulate in New York and depicts the Chrysler Building in the distance.

Markey Robinson – Unloading the Catch  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

Gerard Dillon – Blue Nude with Dancing Pierrot.  UPDATE: THIS MADE 19,000 AT HAMMER

Brian Bourke – East Manhattan  UPDATE:  THIS FAILED TO REACH THE RESERVE AND WAS UNDER ACTIVE NEGOTIATION AFTERWARDS.