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A landscape by George Barret (1728-1784) features at Sotheby’s Old Master and British Paintings sale in London on July 5.  Estimated at £60,000-80,000 An extensive Wooded River Landscape, with Shepherds reclining in the foreground and Ruins Beyond is from an Irish private collection.  The sale also features a Portrait of a Lady,  thought to be Lady Charlotte McDonnell, Countess of Antrim (1779-1835) by Hugh Douglas Hamilton (1739-1808).  It is estimated at £30,000-50,000.

Both artists were born in Dublin. George Barret was a founding member of the London Royal Academy.  Hugh Douglas Hamilton found great success with his pastel oval portraits in London.  In 1796 he painted Lord Edward Fitzgerald, the Irish aristocrat and revolutionary.

GEORGE BARRET, R.A. 
AN EXTENSIVE WOODED RIVER LANDSCAPE, WITH SHEPHERDS RECLINING IN THE FOREGROUND AND RUINS BEYOND. (Click on images to enlarge).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £97,250.

HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON
PORTRAIT OF A LADY, THOUGHT TO BE LADY CHARLOTTE MCDONNELL, COUNTESS OF ANTRIM. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £34,850.

Small Mirror by Sean Scully.

Small Mirror by the Irish artist Sean Scully sold for £91,250 at Christie’s  post-war and contemporary day auction in London on June 28.  An oil on canvas laid down on board it was painted in 1998 and measures just over 20″ x 16″.  Christie’s day auction realised £15,463,725.  The top lot was Andy Warhol’s Jackie 1964, which made £589,250.  This followed on from the evening auction on June 27 which made £132,819,400, the highest total for an auction of Post War and Contemporary Art in Europe.

At Christie’s the evening and day sales combined realised a combined total of £148,283,725.  At Sotheby’s the summer sales of contemporary art, including the Gunter Sachs Collection sold in May, made a combined total of £124.5 million.

Despite financial uncertainty buyer’s are still prepared to pay record breaking prices, but only for works of great quality and rarity.  Uncertainty about the economic outlook  is still hurting the market for lesser works.

The scene at Christie’s as Yves Klein’s Le Rose du bleu (RE 22) sold for £23,561,250.

A world record for Yves Klein set the seal on Christie’s record breaking Post War and Contemporary Art auction in London tonight.  The sale brought in £132,819,400, the highest total for any auction of Post War and Contemporary Art in Europe.  The top lot was Yves Klein’s Le Rose du bleu (RE 22), which sold for £23,561,250.  This price, which converts to $36,779,111, narrowly pipped the  $36,482,500 achieved for Klein’s FC1 at Christie’s in New York in May.

In total four lots sold above £10 million, 21 sold for over £1 million and record prices were established for David Altmejd, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Marcel Broodthaers, Yves Klein and Beatriz Milhazes. A Study for Self-Portrait painted by Francis Bacon in 1964 sold for £21,545,250, an untitled work by Basquiat made a record price of £12,921,250,  Gerhard Richter’s Struktur 2 made £12,697,250 and Rouge triomphant, Alexander Calder’s largest hanging mobile ever sold at auction made £6,201,250.

Francis Outred, Christie’s Head of Post-War & Contemporary Art, Europe: “Following the record result achieved at Christie’s New York in May, we are delighted with tonight’s results which established a new record for an auction of Post-War & Contemporary Art in Europe. Totalling more than £132.8 million, at the foundation of the auction’s success were five masterworks by Yves Klein, Francis Bacon, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Gerhard Richter. The price for the Bacon was particularly satisfactory following the discovery that this self-portrait carries the body of Lucian Freud. Overall we brought together consignments from four continents, reached buyers on four continents and benefitted from a depth and strength of bidding from across the room and on the phone”.

(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for May 29 and April 4 2012.

Jean Michel Basquiat’s Warrior made £5,585,250 and was the top lot at Sotheby’s evening contemporary art sale in London. (Click on image to enlarge)

BASQUIAT’S Warrior topped Sotheby’s evening sale of contemporary art in London on June 26.  It made £5,585,250 in a sale which realised  £69.3 million. Glenn Brown’s The tragic conversion of Salvador Dali made £5,193,250, a record for the artist at auction. Bacon’s 1980 Study for Self-portrait sold for £4,521,250 and Gerhard Richter’s Jerusalem made £4,241,250.  In all 21 works sold for over one million pounds in a sale with sell through rates of 87.3 per cent by lot and 93.4 per cent by value.  Sotheby’s Summer Season of Contemporary Art Sales in London has brought in a total of £110.7 million.

Commenting on the sale, Cheyenne Westphal, Sotheby’s Chairman of Contemporary Art Europe, said: “The results achieved for our Summer Sales of Contemporary Art in London bring Sotheby’s 2012 global total for sales of Contemporary Art to a staggering $638.2 million. The auction this evening was led by blue-chip artists, such as Bacon, Basquiat, Richter and Lichtenstein, and also witnessed a record price for Glenn Brown, whose oil on canvas established the second-highest price tonight. With buyers from 15 different countries, the global demand for this area of the market continues to be underlined.”

A total of 8% of works were bought by clients new to Sotheby’s. Bidders from 15 countries participated. A total of 21 works sold for over £1 million, and 26 for over $1 million; eight works sold for over $4 million and four for more than £4 million.

(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for June 14 and June 10, 2012).

The last intact multi-panelled altarpiece by Lucas Cranach the Elder and three remarkable works by Pieter Brueghel the Younger will feature at Sotheby’s Old Master and British Paintings sale in London on July 4.  The sale comprises 44 works with a combined estimate of more than £26 million.

There are three large paintings by Pieter Brueghel the Younger, led by the monumental Battle between Carnival and Lent (£4-6 million). Other highlights include two early 16th century masterpieces of the German Renaissance – Lucas Cranach the Elder’s Feilitzsch Altarpiece (£4-6 million) and Hans Baldung Grien’s jewel-like Virgin as Queen of Heaven (£1 – £1.5 million) – as well as Guido Reni’s monumental David with the Head of Goliath (£3-5 million). There are works from the Dutch Golden Age and a spectacular pair of Venetian views by Francesco Guardi (£1.2-1.8 million) which have been unseen for over a century.  UPDATE:  Brueghel’s Battle between Carnival and Lent sold for £4,521,250,, Hans Baldung Grien’s Virgin as Queen of Heaven made £2,113,250, Guido Reni’s David with the head of Goliath was withdrawn and the Guardi views made £1,385,250.

Lucas Cranach the Elder’s Feilitzsch Altarpiece is estimated at £4 – 6 million. (Click on image to enlarge).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £4,297,250.

Pieter Brueghel the Younger, The Tower of Babel, is estimated at £2-3 million. (Click on image to enlarge).  UPDATE:  This lot was withdrawn.

Walter Osborne. Feeding the Chickens.  UPDATE:  THIS LOT FAILED TO REACH ITS RESERVE AND WAS UNSOLD.

A masterwork by Walter Osborne will come under the hammer at Bonhams in London on July 11.  Feeding the chickens (1884-85), estimated at £500,000-700,000, was displayed in Dublin last February to mark the opening the Bonhams new offices on Molesworth Street.  It is from a private collection in Ireland and has not been seen on the open market since 1913.

The painting will feature at Bonhams sale of 19th century paintings, drawings and watercolors at New Bond St. on July 11 at 2 p.m.

UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for February 18, 2012).

A blind beggar with a boy and a dog (£50,000 – 80,000) from Rembrandt (1606-1669) and his school. (Click on image to enlarge). UPDATE: THIS MADE £133,250

SALES of Impressionist and Modern art at Christie’s and Sotheby’s in London this week brought in a total of £204,425,300.  Buyer’s from around the world participated and bidding was competitive and determined.  Each of the auction houses will host post war and contemporary art sales next week and Old Master and British paintings  and drawings in the first week of July.

A group of newly discovered drawings by Rembrandt (1606-1669) and his school will headline Christie’s sale of Old Master and Early British Drawings and Watercolours on July 3, during London’s Master Drawings week.

Picasso’s Femme assise 1949 was the top lot at Christie’s  Impressionist and Modern Art evening sale in London on June 20.  It made £8,553,250 in an auction which realised £92.5 million.  This figure excludes  Renoir’s Baigneuse.  It had been estimated at £12-18 million but was sold privately before the auction for a price that was within the estimate.  The price is not included in the overall results.

Jay Vincze, International Director and Head of The Impressionist and Modern sale commented:  “Quality, rarity and considered pricing were key to the successful results of this evening’s sale. Nearly every one of the top 10 lots was offered on the open market for the first time in 20 years or more, and in some cases for the first time in up to three generations; these stellar opportunities, coupled with intelligent estimates, attracted determined bidding. There were particularly notable prices for Surrealist works”.

In total 27 works of art sold for over £1 million and 36 for over $1 million.  There were artist records for Giorgio Morandi and Kurt Schwitters. (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for May 31, 2012).

UPDATE:  Christie’s combined sales of Impressionist and Modern Art in London this week brought in £115,225,300.

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
Femme assise made £8,553,250 and was the top lot in the auction. Image courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd. (Click to enlarge).

Giorgio Morandi (1890-1964)
Natura morta made £1,385,250 a world record for the artist at auction. Image courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd. (Click to enlarge).

Kurt Schwitters (1887-1948)
Merzbild 9A Bild mit Damestein (L Merzbild L5) executed in 1919 made £1,273,250, a world record for the artist at auction. Image courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd. (Click to enlarge).