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J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851) – Rome from Mount Aventine (£15-20 million)  UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR A NEW WORLD RECORD OF £30.3 MILLION.

One of the last great Turner masterpieces in private hands – Rome from Mount Aventine – comes up at Sotheby’s in London in December.  In immaculate condition it has been in the Roseberry Collection for the last 136 years. It is described as one of Turner’s most subtle and atmospheric depictions of the eternal city.  The large scale oil is distinguished by its exceptional preservation.   An expert from Sotheby’s  said that there are hairs from Turner’s own paintbrush still trapped on the canvas, with drips of paint visible down its side.

It is one of less than ten major Turner’s known to be in private hands.  Alex Bell  of Sotheby’s said: “This painting, which is nearly 200 years old, looks today as if it had come straight from the easel of the artist: never re-lined and never subject to restoration the picture retains the freshness of the moment it was painted:.

The auction next December 3 will coincide with the exhibition “Late Turner” at the Tate.  The painting is estimated at £15-20 million.  The current auction record for Turner is £29,721,250 for Modern Rome – Campo Vaccino.  This was bought by the J.Paul Getty Museum at Sotheby’s in London in 2010.

Henry Moore (1898-1986) – Reclining Figure on a Pedestal.

A monumental work by Henry Moore will be a feature at Bonhams auction of British and Irish art in London on November 17-18. Figure on pedestal, which belongs to a UK Corporation and was acquired directly from the artist in the  early 1960’s, is estimated at £1-2 million.  Since its conception in 1959-60 casts of this bronze have been exhibited in Europe and the United States. The theme of the reclining nude obsessed Moore and played a central role in the development of his sculpture throughout his career as an artist. He defined his own persona as an artist not so much by endless variety as by his ability to return to a familiar motif and make it new. In so doing, he renewed himself.

Moore commented on his fascination with the recumbent form: ‘I want to be quite free of having to find a ‘reason’ for doing the Reclining Figures, and freer still of having to find a ‘meaning’ for them. The vital thing for an artist is to have a subject that allows [him] to try out all kinds of formal ideas, things that he doesn’t yet know about for certain but wants to experiment with, as Cézanne did in his ‘Bathers’ series. In my case the reclining figure provides chances of that sort. The subject-matter is given. It’s settled for you, and you know it and like it, so that within it, within the subject that you’ve done a dozen times before, you are free to invent a completely new form-idea.’   He once pointed to the maternal element of his Reclining Figures, referring to both womanhood and mother earth.  The configuration of Reclining Figure on a Pedestal identified the female form with the undulating landscape and natural forms.  The work will be exhibited in New York in October.

Paul Henry – The Fishing Fleet, Co. Galway – 16″ x 20″ (£80,000-120,000).  UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR £98,500

A Paul Henry painting discovered in Ireland will come up  at Sotheby’s British and Irish art auction in London on December 10. The Fishing Fleet, Co. Galway by Henry is estimated at £80,000-120,000.  Charlie Minter, Sotheby’s British and Irish art specialist, will be offering free appraisals in Belfast and Dublin in the coming weeks by appointment only.  He will be carrying out appraisals in Belfast and Northern Ireland on September 8 and 9 and in Dublin and countrywide on September 10 and 11.  Sotheby’s next British and Irish art auction in London on December 10 will close for consignments from Ireland in the first week of October. Highlights from the sale will be exhibited in Dublin on November 28, 29 and 30.

Charlie Minter commented:  “In the past couple of  years Sotheby’s has achieved a number of impressive results for Irish artists many of which have been sourced in Ireland. It has been encouraging to see renewed attention for Irish art as a whole”.  He added that global attention for Irish art continues to grow, with competition driven by works that are fresh to the market and attractively priced.

Wentao Li (b.1967) Chinese
Paper Crane
oil on canvas  UPDATE:  THIS WAS BID TO 42,000 AT WHICH POINT IT WAS WITHDRAWN

A painting by Li Wentao comes up at Morgan O’Driscoll’s art auction at the RDS in Dublin on September 15.  Paper Crane, signed and dated ’05 on the reverse, was bought directly from the artist at the  Grand Marche d’Art Contemporain de Bastille 2005, in Paris. Framed by Olivier Dyan, Art Club, Paris prior to the artists solo exhibition at the gallery in 2006 the work is illustrated on the catalogue cover of Review Wentao Art Studio.

Li, who is known for the theatricality of his art, holds a bachelors degree from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China and an MFA from the University of Massachusetts. A letter from the artist, who lives and works in Beijing, accompanies the lot.  It is estimated at 50,000-70,000.

Morgan O’Driscoll’s auction of 112 lots of predominantly Irish art takes place on the evening of September 15 at the Minerva Suite in the RDS.

Original artworks from the collection of The Illustrated London News Group will come up at Christie’s Interiors sale in South Kensington, London on October 7.  There are original illustrations from the world’s first illustrated weekly news magazine, The Illustrated London News, published from 1842 to 2003 and The Sphere, a weeklyillustrated newspaper published from 1900 to 1964. The illustrations highlight the role these publications played in chronicling British history. From their coverage of  World War I and World War II,  the wedding of Queen Elizabeth and Phillip Mountbatten and The Festival of Britain, The Illustrated London News documented key events of the time to its British and North American readership. Works on paper by leading artists and illustrators of the period, Bryan de Grineau, Steven Ward, Fortunino Matania and several oils by Terence Cuneo are featured.

Gas Attack on British Troops in the trenches.

Fortunino Matania R.I. (1881-1963)
The new munition workers: A busy scene in a shell factory (£700-1,000). Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014.

Fortunino Matania R.I. (1881-1963)
George V being crowned king by the Archbishop of Canterbury, June 22, 1911 (£500-700). Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltdl, 2014

Terence Cuneo (1907-1996)
Design for the front cover of The Illustrated London News Royal Wedding Number to commemorate the marriage of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, November 1947 (£10,000-15,000). Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014

Terence Cuneo (1907-1996)
Design for the front cover of the Festival of Britain edition of The Illustrated London News, 1951 (£10,000-15,000). Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014