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HERE is a video from James Adam Auctioneers about their sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin on May 28.
Amadeo Modigliani
Portrait de Paul Alexandre UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 13,537,500
Joan Miro
Personnage, oiseau, 1976 (1 – 1.5 million) UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Portrait of Paul Alexandre by Amedeo Modigliani will headline Sotheby’s sale of Impressionist & Modern Art in Paris on June 4. Estimated at 5-8 million it pays tribute to Modigliani’s earliest and most important patron. It is one of five works by the Italian artist to be offered during the sale.
Modern Art is represented by, among others, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and Fernand Léger. Surrealism is represented in works by Francis Picabia, Yves Tanguy, Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, Max Ernst, Wifredo Lam, Leopold Survage and others.
Georges Braque – Still life with cherries (600,000-800,000). UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 1,261,500
‘Two Reclining Figures’ by Lynn Chadwick UPDATE: SOLD FOR £446,500
A sculpture by Lynn Chadwick (1914-2013) will be sold at Bonhams auction of British and Irish art in London on May 28. Two Reclining Figures is estimated at £400,000-600,000..
Matthew Bradbury, Head of British and Irish Art said: “Two reclining figures is among Lynn Chadwick’s most tender sculptures. The couple display an intimacy rarely seen in the artist’s sculptures up to this point. It follows on the from the earlier monumental figure groups The Watchers (1960) and Three Elektras (1969) and ushered in a new period for Chadwick where he produced life-size bronzes on a more regular basis.”
Popeye does Vegas Jeff Koons – Popeye
signed, dated 2009-2011 and numbered 3/3.
Warhol pipped Popeye at Sotheby’s in New York last night. A set of six self-portraits by Andy Warhol made $30,125,000 at the sale of contemporary art. It was the top lot in an auction which realised $364,379,000 million. Popeye by Jeff Koons, the catalogue cover lot, sold for $28,165,000 and is destined for Las Vegas. Other Warhol highlights include Big Electric Chair which sold for $20,437,000 and 12 Mona Lisas (Reversal Series) which made $11,365,000. There were artist records for Rosemarie Trockel, Dan Flavin, Adam McEwen, Matthew Barney, Sarah Lucas, Keith Haring, James Rosenquist, Wade Guyton, and Julian Schnabel.
Alexander Rotter, Co-Head of Sotheby’s Worldwide Contemporary Art Department, commented: “Tonight, the Contemporary market continued its solid ascent with one of Sotheby’s biggest ever sales. Global participation was evident throughout the process and helped to drive our sell-through rate of 85%. We began tonight with 19 lots from The Sender Collection, which brought a fantastic total well above the high estimate and with every lot finding a buyer. These are the artists of our generation and it was thrilling to see new benchmarks set time and again. I was also delighted that Steve Wynn was the successful purchaser of Koons’ Popeye and that the work will be going on view at his casino in Las Vegas.”
See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for April 13 and April 11, 2014.
Countess Edwina Mountbatten by Gaetano de Gennero (1890-1959) (2,000-3,000). UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,000
A c1900 commode in the Louis XVI style stamped Millet on body and signed “Millet a Paris” on lock (4,000-6,000) UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 10,000
A c1849 scale model by architect Benjamin Woodward of Dromore Castle gate lodge, Co. Kerry (3,000-4,000) UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,200
Albert Toft (1862-1949) – bronze bust Lord Kitchener (800-1,200) UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 800
A 19th century gilded and enamel singing bird box stamped “Fabr.de Geneve” (1,500-2,000). UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,900
Two 19th century wing back armchairs by Butler of Dublin estimated (l) 650-900 and (r) at 800-1,200. UPDATE: THESE MADE 1,500 EACH
A Cork silver fish slice by Samuel Reily c1780 (1,800-2,500) UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 1,600.
An online art auction with 297 lots by Morgan O’Driscoll is underway. It runs until Monday May 19 at 7 p.m. The catalogue is online. Here is a small selection.
Nancy Wynne-Jones (1922-2006)
Farm with Vineyard (600-900) UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Yvonne Moore (b.1969)
Still Life Jug and Vase (400-600). UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 280
John Faulkner RHA (1835-1894)
Near Cape Clear (3,000-5,000) UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,800
Sir Frederick William Burton RHA (1816-1900)
Study of a Gentleman (800-1,200) UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 340
Black Fire I by Barnett Newman made $84,165,000.
THE $744,944,000 achieved at Christie’s evening sale of Post-War and Contemporary Art in New York on May 13 represents the highest total in art market history. The top lot was Black Fire I, a sublime Abstract Expressionist masterpiece by Barnett Newman (1905-1970). It sold for $84,165,000, doubling the previous record for the artist. Francis Bacon’s Three Studies for a Portrait of John Edwards sold for $80,805,000.
Two contemporary sales at Christies on May 12 and 13 achieved a combined total of $879,574,000 with a sell through rate of 98% by value and 95% by lot. Bidders from 35 countries competed. With a wide range of examples from the collections of Edwin A. and Lindy Bergman, the Estate of Anita Reiner, Phillip Schrager, Frances R. Dittmer, and institutions such as the E.ON Art Collection in Düsseldorf, and The Art Institute of Chicago, collectors competed for works with the best quality and significant provenance. The two evening sales established 26 new world auction records, selling two works over $80million, four over $50million, 12 over $20 million, 19 over $10 million and 86 over $1 million. 80% of the lots were completely new to the auction market.
Brett Gorvy, Chairman and International Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art said: “The sales so far this week have demonstrated the growing appetite for contemporary art across the global marketplace. From the highest number of visitors to our online space to the 12,500 people visiting our public exhibitions, from the volume of bidders in the sales themselves to the significant number of new artist records set, we are seeing unprecedented momentum in the market as the desire to connect with great art continues to grow.”
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for April 14, 2014).
Untitled by Martin Kippenberger made a world record price of $18.6 million.
Headed by Martin Kippenberger at $18.6 million there were world auction records for no less than 16 artists at Christie’s contemporary art sale entitled “If I Life I’ll see you Tuesday” in New York last night. The sale of work by emerging and established artists attracted worldwide participation and brought in $134.6 million. An untitled work by Kippenberger made a world record price of $16,645,000 after six minutes of bidding in the room and on the phone. Peter Doig’s Road House made $11,925,000, a world record for the artist and Nurse at Greenmeadow by Richard Prince made a world record for the artist of $8,565,000.
Among the other artists who set records were Joe Bradley, Dan Colen, On Kawara, Glen Ligon, Adam McEwen and Thomas Schutte. Contemporary masters also saw strong demand with fierce competition from a largely international collector base. There were 350 registered bidders from 26 countries.
Portrait miniature of John Sheares by John Comerford (1773-1832) UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR A HAMMER PRICE OF 620
The inscription on the back: “John Sheares” Executed for the cause of his country in 1798. Painted by John Comerford Dublin
A portrait miniature of Cork patriot John Sheares (1756-1798) comes up at Adams Sunday Interiors sale in Dublin on May 11. He and his brother Henry (1753-1798) – lawyers and members of the United Irishmen – were hanged, drawn and quartered at the height of the 1798 Rebellion. They had become politicised by the French Revolution.
The 8.5 cm high miniature on ivory is attributed to the Kilkenny born Dublin based artist John Comerford (1773-1832). An inscription on the back reads: John Sheares, executed for the cause of his country in 1798.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for May 5, 2014)
Pablo Picasso
Le Sauvetage
Painted in 1932
Picasso’s Le Sauvetage sold for $31.5 million at Sotheby’s in New York last night. It was the top lot in an Impressionist and Modern art auction that achieved $219 million. The work more than doubled the price it made at Sotheby’s in 2004. Asian collectors contributed 30% of the auction total and bought eight lots for a total of $63.9 million. Among these were Henri Matisse’s La Séance du matin ($19,205,000), Claude Monet’s Le Pont japonais ($15,845,000) and Alberto Giacometti’s La Place ($13,045,000). The impact of Asian collectors was felt throughout the sale.
Le Sauvetage, which had a high estimate of $18 million, was the subject of a prolonged bidding battle. Alberto Giacometti’s La Place, his first multi-figural sculpture, made $13,045,000 and Femme de Venise V from the collection of Jan Krugier made $8,789,000. All five works by Giacometti were sold, for a total of $35.1 million. Three works by Monet totalled $28 million. Monet’s Sur la Falaise à Pourville, sold to benefit the Acquisitions Fund of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, made $8,229,000, surpassing its high estimate of $7 million. Over the last three years, property from American museums has outperformed high estimates by a combined $100 million at Sotheby’s.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for March 30, 2014).
