antiquesandartireland.com

Nicolas de Staël
Composition, 1950 (2.5-3.5 million). Copyright : Sotheby’s/ArtDigital Studio  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 4,241,500

A monumental work by Nicolas de Staël (1914-55) will be a highlight at Sotheby’s contemporary art evening sale in Paris on June 3. Painted in 1950 Composition measures 200 x 400 cm and is estimated at 2.5-3.5 million euro. It was last shown in public at the Pompidou Centre’s De Staël retrospective in 2003. It was the largest canvas De Staël had ever painted when it was bought by Denys Sutton (1917-91) in 1950. It has remained in Sutton’s family ever since. The British art critic edited Apollo magazine for over 25 years and curated numerous landmark exhibitions devoted to Constable, Picasso, Matisse among others in the 1960’s and ’70’s. Sutton met De Staël in Paris at the end of the 1940’s and convinced him to show his works in England. De Staël duly went to London in the summer of 1950, and wrote about being electrified by the city’s light and space.

The work’s appearance on the market coincides with the centenary of De Staël’s birth. From June to November, two exhibitions – at the Musée Malraux in Le Havre and Musée Picasso in Antibes – will pay tribute to an artist who continues to enjoy great popularity in the United States and throughout Europe, as well as in his adopted France.

Irish art from Sotheby’s London sale of British and Irish art on May 22 will be exhibited in Dublin from May 8 to May 11.  A total of 33 Irish works are in the sale of 108 lots in total.  The Irish works are expected to realise around £985,000.  There is art by William Orpen, Paul Henry, Louis le Brocquy, William Scott, Jack Yeats and John Lavery among others.  The venue for the Dublin viewing is Sotheby’s at 16 Molesworth St.  Here are a few examples:

SIR JOHN LAVERY, R.A., R.H.A., R.S.A.
1856-1941
THE MORNING RIDE (£100,000-150,000). (This Tangier scene depicts Alice Trudeau, the daughter of his wife Hazel from her first marriage).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £122,500

GERARD DILLON, R.H.A., R.U.A.
1916-1971
CLEANING THE BOAT (ROUNDSTONE) (£30,000-50,000).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £31,250

WILLIAM SCOTT, R.A.
1913-1989
QUIET OCHRE (at auction for the first time)
(£100,000 — 150,000).  UPDATE: THIS MADE £122,500

Jack B. Yeats The Young One, dated 1891 on label.  UPDATE: THIS MADE 22,500 AT HAMMER.

A fresh to market watercolour by Jack B. Yeats is the catalogue cover lot for the Morgan O’Driscoll’s evening auction of Irish art at the RDS in Dublin on April 28. Dated from 1891 The Young One depicts O’Connell St. in Sligo on what is probably market day.  Yeats was brought up in Sligo and retained his affection for the city.  The work is estimated at 20,000-30,000.  Highlights include works by Paul Henry, Gerard Dillon, Donald Teskey, William Conor and Cecil Maguire. Here is a small selection. 

Paul Henry RHA (1876-1958)
A Western Landscape 1919 (40,000-60,000). UPDATE: THIS MADE 37,500 AT HAMMER

Walter Frederick Osborne RHA (1859-1903)
An Interior of a Coach House
oil on board (20,000-30,000). UPDATE: THIS MADE 19,000 AT HAMMER

William Crozier HRHA (1930-2011)
Island Field (6,000-9,000).  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

Donald Teskey (b.1956)
Ballycastle, Co. Mayo, September ’96 (5,000-7,000). UPDATE: THIS MADE 7,000 AT HAMMER

Basil Ivan Rakoczi (1908-1979)
The Game (1,500-2,500). UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,400 AT HAMMER

Daniel O’Neill (1920-1974)
Figures in Landscape
oil on board (3,000-5,000). UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD.

This is a video from Christie’s on Monet’s 1907 Water Lilies which comes up in New York on May 6 estimated at $25-35 million.  (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for April 6, 2014).

The Art of Travel  a new annual summer sale of vintage travel posters and luggage celebrating the golden age of tourism will be held at Christie’s, South Kensington, London on June 18.  With the arrival of the railway in the late 19^th and early 20^th Centuries, artists, writers, and aristocrats flocked to the Côte d’Azur to experience the unique landscape, light, and luxury of the region. The beautiful art deco style posters that were commissioned by the railway companies remind us of the timeless appeal of this glamorous and beautiful region. A selection of the works on offer will be on view at a special exhibition in the JW Marriott Cannes throughout the film festival from May 14 – 25.  Highlights include spectacular posters by A.M. Cassandre and Roger Broders: 

Roger Broders (1883-1953)
AGAY
lithograph in colours, c.1930 (£6,000-8,000). Courtesy, Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £5,625

A. M. Cassandre (1901-1968),
COTE D’AZUR, 1931 (£10,000-15,000). Courtesy, Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £10,000

Roger Broders (1883-1953)
THE FRENCH RIVIERA FOR PERPETUAL SUNSHINE, 1930 (£4,000-6,000). Courtesy, Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014 UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £4,375

Pieter Brueghel the Younger, Calvary – 1615 (£3-4 million). (Click on image to enlarge it).

An imposing landscape with the Crucifixion by  Pieter Brueghel the Younger is part of a remarkable group of Flemish Old Master paintings from the Coppée Collection to be sold at Sotheby’s in London this summer. Assembled by the Belgian industrialist Evence Coppée III (1882-1945) in the 1920’s  the collection is comprised almost exclusively of 16^th and 17^th century works.  There is an emphasis on the works of Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564-1637/8) and the Brueghel family. Of the paintings by Pieter Brueghel the Younger the sale will feature  the landscape with the Crucifixion (£3-4 million), an Outdoor Wedding Dance (£1.-1.5 million) and an evocative Winter Landscape (£1-1.5 million). The selection also encompasses impressive paintings resulting from a collaboration between Jan Brueghel the Younger and artists such as Frans Francken the Younger and Hendrik van Balen the Elder, as well as works from the North Netherlandish School and the School of Northern France.

Passed on by direct descent from Baron Coppée, these works have not appeared on the market for almost a century. They will be auctioned as part of a group of 19 paintings from the Coppée Collection at Sotheby’s Old Master sales on July 9 and 10, 2014.  The Calvary is one of only two signed works by Brueghel on the subject of the Crucifixion.  It ranks amongst the rarest of his compositions.

Sun over the Sea by Vilhelm Hammershøi.

One of the only known marine paintings by Danish artist Vilhelm Hammershøi comes up at Sotheby’s sale of 19th Century European Paintings in London on May 22.  Sun Over the Sea is estiamted at £100,000-150,000. The auction will feature a second painting by Hammershøi with a maritime subject the Old Warehouse in Christianshavn (£80,000-100,000).  Both pictures are from Danish private collections and come to market for the first time.

Claude Piening of Sotheby’s said: “Hammershøi’s timeless and quietly understated images continue to cast their spell on today’s collectors. For our upcoming sale in May, we are fortunate to be offering two exterior views painted in Copenhagen. Sun over the Sea is an especially exciting rediscovery, arguably the only painting by Hammershøi to depict not only the open ocean, but the glowing orb of the sun, the source of light in so many of his more familiar interior scenes.”

ack Butler Yeats’ Island Men Returning.  UPDATE: THIS MADE £69,700

Boats at Sea by Paul Henry.

New to market paintings by Jack Butler Yeats and Paul Henry will be offered by Bonhams in London on May 28.  Consigned from private collections in the UK and Canada each work is estimated at £60,000-80,000. Island Men Returning by Yeats dates from 1919 and depicts currachs pulling back into harbour.   Boats at Sea by Henry was finished in 1936.

Penny Day, Bonhams Head of Irish Art says “We are thrilled to be offering these two exceptional works by such stellar Irish names. Both featuring boats at sea and never before offered at auction, they present a golden opportunity to acquire a fresh and rare marine painting by two of Ireland’s most famous artists”.

Both works will be on public view at Bonhams Dublin Gallery on Molesworth Street from May 11-14.