antiquesandartireland.com

The early oils after Francis Wheatley of The Cries of London to be offered at Hegarty’s in Bandon on the afternoon of July 20 have aroused significant interest.  The oils, from the collection of the late Peter Mosely who moved from England to  west Cork in the late 1940’s, were in his family for generations.  The Cries, described as after Francis Wheatley, are “Cherries”, “Peas” and “Birds”.  They are to be sold separately and are estimated at 4,000-6,000 each.  Here they are:

UPDATE: THE three were purchased by a private London collector.

Cries of London after Francis Wheatley – Cherries  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 3,400

Cries of London – Peas  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 3,500

Cries of London – Birds after Francis Wheatley.  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 3,200

An 18th century Italian oil on copper panel in the style of Domenico Guarino was the top lot at Mealy’s two day auction in Co. Kilkenny this week.   The Madonna and Child, with Three Saints and a Lion in an Interior had been estimated at 700-1,100 and sold for a hammer price of 7,600.  It was bought by an absentee bidder in France. The sale realised 300,000 and 70 per cent of lots on offer found buyers. A boulle bonheur du jour made 5,750, a landscape with cattle grazing by Thomas Sydney Cooper made 5,000, a pair of marquetry commodes sold for 4,400 and a Donegal carpet sold for 2,600.  There was a large private collection of African tribal art in the sale and about half of this was sold.  The unsold lots will be available to purchase from next week from Mealy’s online gallery. They can be viewed by appointment in Castlecomer.

(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for July 9 and July 7 2014).

IN THE STYLE OF DOMENICO GUARINO (1683-1750) – The Madonna and Child, with Three Saints and a Lion in an Interior, sold for 7,600

A lime green Donegal hand knotted carpet sold for 2,600.

Roderic O’Conor, R.H.A. (1860-1940)
Seated female nude (£5,000-8,000)

A Seated Female Nude by Roderic O’Conor more than tripled its top estimate at Christie’s sale of Modern British and Irish Art in London today.  It sold for £27,500 over an estimate of £5,000-8,000.  Early Away by Jack Butler Yeats made £50,000 and William Scott’s Blue Still Life sold for £74,500.  Both prices were within estimate.

The O’Conor painting is unusual in that it depicts only the upper torso. The upright pose calls to mind a conventional portrait.  A similar approach to painting the female model, combining finely delineated features and heavily textured drapes, is evident in O’Conor’s painting Repos of a fully clothed young woman asleep with a book in her hand. This work was exhibited in Paris in 1905 and purchased by the great Russian collector of modern art, Ivan Morosov, before it entered the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, where it remains to this day. Seated female nude, or Étude as it was originally titled, can also be dated to this period on stylistic grounds and may even feature the same model. 

(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for July 11, 2014)

Irish artworks by Roderic O’Conor, William Scott and Jack B. Yeats are among the artists whose work will feature at Christie’s sale of Modern British and Irish Art at South Kensington in London on July 16.  Here is a sample.

UPDATE: Early Away by Jack Butler Yeats sold for £50,000.

William Scott, R.A. (1913-1989) Blue Still Life (£40,000-60,000).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £74,500

Roderic O’Conor, R.H.A. (1860-1940)
Seated female nude (£5,000-8,000)  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £27,500

Sekhemka – Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014

The rape of a Sabine by Giambologna. Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014.

AN Egyptian painted limestone statue dating to the Old Kingdom, Late Dynasty was the top lot at The Exceptional Sale at Christie’s in London tonight.  The statue for the Inspector of the Scribes Sekhemka sold for £15,762,500 and set a world record price at auction for an Ancient Egyptian work of art.  The Exceptional Sale realised £31,048,50, the highest total for any various-owner sale of classical decorative arts.  It broke the record of £28.7million established by Christie’s Exceptional Sale in 2011. The statue of Sekhemka dates to circa 2400–2300 B.C. and it is probably from Saqqara in Lower Egypt.

Robert Copley, Deputy Chairman Christie’s UK, International Head of Furniture said: ‘The finest and rarest examples achieved exceptional prices as increasingly multi-national bidders competed for works of exceptional quality.  Several records were set including Giambologna’s ‘The Rape of A Sabine’, which realised £3.6 million, surpassing the previous record for the artist set by this work when it last came to the market at Christie’s 25 years ago. Following the inaugural Exceptional auction in 2008, these results build on Christie’s success with this pioneering sales platform. It continues to demonstrate the enduring appeal of individual masterpieces, which were highly admired over the past few weeks while they have been exhibited alongside highlights of the Old Master, Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary art in London.’

(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for July 7 and June 17 2014)

Sir Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen 1577-1640 Antwerp)
Samson and Delilah (recto); Figure studies, probably of soldiers (verso) (£1.5-2.5 million). Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014.  UPDATE: SOLD FOR £13.2 MILLION.

A drawing by Sir Peter Paul Rubens was the top lot at the sale of the I.Q. van Regteren Altena collection Part I at Christie’s in London on July 10. Samson and Delilah made a world record price of £3,218,500 in a sale which brought in £13.2 million and established 15 auction records.

Benjamin Peronnet, International Head of Old Master Drawings at Christie’s said: “We are elated with the results of the first sale of the collection of IQ van Regteren Altena.  With a sale total of over £13 million it more than doubled the pre-sale high estimate.  Over 15 auction records were set for drawings by Northern artists, including seven of the top ten sale results. Extraordinary prices were achieved for great masters such as Peter Paul Rubens, Hendrick Goltzius, and Jacques de Gheyn II, as well as for extremely rare artists such as Jan Lagoor, Johan Verwer and Abraham Rutgers.  There was nearly unprecedented participation across the market with international museums, private collectors and dealers aggressively bidding throughout the sale in a crowded saleroom, on the telephone and online. This first sale of the most important collection of Old Master Drawings to appear on the market in over a generation will stand as a landmark auction in the history of Old Master Drawings sales. The enthusiasm exhibited in the saleroom by bidders and buyers today is a fitting homage to the great scholar and connoisseur, I.Q. van Regteren Altena.

(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for February 24, 2014)

The 15th century portable altarpiece of the Flemish Primitive School

A 15th century Flemish altarpiece of the Primitive School, discovered in a clearout by a catholic priest in an outbuilding at a presbytery in Co. Wexford, made 40,000 at Sheppards sale in Durrow, Co. Laois tonight.  It was bought by an anonymous buyer in Belgium.  The  estimate  was 60,000-120,000.  The money is to used to benefit the parish of Piercetown, between Wexford and Rosslare.  The altarpiece was of the type made for private prayer.

An oil on canvas by Andre Derain entitled Le Modele sold for 120,000. Painted c1924-25 it came with a certificate of authenticity from the Comite Derain in Paris and is to be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonne of the artist.

(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for July 6, 2014)