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Sir William Orpen: Portrait of Rosie, Fourth Marchioness of Headfort (£300,000-500,000). (The earrings in this portrait made 42,500 Swiss francs at Sotheby's in Geneva in 2011). Click on image to enlarge. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £577,250.

A scorching Orpen swagger portrait of Rosie, Fourth Marchioness of Headfort will highlight Sotheby’s sale of British and Irish art in London on May 10, 2012.  It is one of two portraits of the  4th Marquis and Marchioness of Headfort by Sir William Orpen.  Rose commissioned the portraits and they were almost invariably exhibited in the same exhibitions, although – save for one occasion at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool – not actually hung together. They were first exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in the 147th Summer Exhibition of 1915.

Sir William Orpen, R.A., R.H.A. (1878-1931). Portrait of Geoffrey, Fourth Marquis of Headfort (£60,000-80,000). Click on image to enlarge. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD.

Rose Boote, later 4th Marchioness of Headfort (1878-1958) was a Gaiety Girl who sang the part of Maisie ‘The Messenger Boy’ in 1900 under her professional name of Miss Rosie Boote. She was the daughter of a comedian from Nottingham and a straw hat sewer.  ‘Gaiety Girls’ was the name given to the chorus line girls who sang in musical comedy spectacles at the Gaiety Theatre on the Strand, London.

The marriage surprised and intrigued Edwardian society. Even Queen Victoria was said to have commented. The Marquis was from one of the most prominent Protestant families in Ireland and Rose was a Catholic. He was one of the most eligible young men of the day who succeeded to the title and estates in Ireland totalling about 22,000 acres on the death of his father in 1894. After the marriage Rose left the theatre and lived at Headfort House in Ireland and in London. They had three children. He died in 1943, she lived until 1958.   Never before on the market Portrait of Rosie, Fourth Marchioness of Headfort is estimated at £300,000-500,000 and Portrait of Geoffrey, Fourth Marquis of Headfort is estimated at £60,000-80,000.  They came to Sotheby’s by family descent.

In 2012 Sotheby’s is re-designing its traditional auctions of Victorian and Edwardian Art, and Irish Art. These sales will be re-titled British and Irish Art: Victorian/Early 20th Century/Sporting/Marine/Scottish/Irish.

An appetising selection of Irish art is due to come under the hammer at the Morgan O’Driscoll auction in Cork on February 20. Around 280 lots will be offered including works by Jack B. Yeats, Paul Henry, Walter Osborne, William Crozier and a number of other market leading artists. The venue for the auction is the Radisson Blu Hotel at Little Island, Cork.  Mr. O’Driscoll plans to hold a viewing in Dublin at the D4 Hotel on the weekend before the sale.

Jack B. Yeats RHA The Pilot (aka. The Captain Goes Aboard), an oil on board measuring nine inches by 14 inches estimated at 50,000-70,000. (Click on image to enlarge). UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 48,000

This small oil on board by Paul Henry RHA features his most classical themes. It is estimated at 20,000-30,000. (Click on image to enlarge). UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 16,000

Claude Monet L’entrée de Giverny en hiver (£4.5 - 6.5 million). Click to enlarge. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £7.3 MILLION.

Works of exceptional quality and importance from every key period in the canon will be offered at Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern evening sale in London on February 8.  Highlights include Joan Miró’s monumental Peinture of 1933, estimated at £7-10 million, Gustav Klimt’s recently rediscovered landscape Seeufer mit Birken (£6 – 8 million), which has not been seen in public in over a century, a rare and atmospheric winter scene by Claude Monet, L’entrée de Giverny en hiver (£4.5 – 6.5 million), and one of Fernand Léger’s definitive compositions of the 1940s, La Jeune fille à l’échelle (£3.8 – 4.5 million).

Joan Miró Peinture (£7-10 million). Click to enlarge. THIS FAILED TO SELL.

The auction features a particularly strong Surrealist group, with works by Salvador Dalí, Giorgio de Chirico, Max Ernst, Yves Tanguy and René Magritte.  There is an outstanding group of paintings by German artists including Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Emil Nolde, Lyonel Feininger and Otto Dix. The sale is estimated to realise in excess of £78 million.

Gustav Klimt Seeufer mit Birken (Lakeshore with Birches) (£6 - 8 million). Click on image to enlarge. UPDATE: No bids at the auction, quickly sold privately afterwards for £5.6 million.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Das Boskett: Albertplatz in Dresden (£5 – 7 million). Click to enlarge. UPDATE: SOLD FOR £7,321,250.

Lucian Freud (1922-2011), Lord Goodman in his Yellow Pyjamas (£50,000-70,000). (Click on image to enlarge). UPDATE: THIS MADE £73,250.

The most complete survey of prints by Lucian Freud ever to be sold at auction comes up at Christie’s in London on February 15.   The Printer’s Proof: Etchings by Lucian Freud from the Studio Prints Archive comprises 45 etchings. They are from the private collection of Freud’s printer Marc Balakjian, who said: “I had the pleasure of working with Lucian in my studio for twenty five years during which time we became good friends; he was always courteous and kind. His work was always exceptional but his character so informal that you would never know he was one of the most important living artists of the time.  He was an inspirational artist to work with; his prints don’t just enrich his work, they are an integral part of his output”.

Unlike the typical printmaker, Freud worked from life directly onto the copper plate which he placed on an easel in front of the sitter, just as he did with his canvases.  Freud’s etchings are almost entirely in black and white. Only one contains colour: Lord Goodman in his Yellow Pyjamas was hand-painted with yellow watercolour by the artist. Goodman worked for Prime Minister Harold Wilson and was chairman of the British Arts Council. He could only spare time in the mornings while breakfasting in bed so Freud visited his house each day at eight a.m.

UPDATE: THE sale realised £1,479,675 and was 86% sold by lot and 91% sold by value.  The top lot was Eli, 2002 which fetched £145,250 (estimate £50,000-70,000), establishing a world record price for a print by the artist at auction.

Robert Delaunay (1885-1941) Tour Eiffel. Painted in Paris in 1926 (£1,500,000-2,500,000). (Click on image to enlarge). UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £3,737,250

A magnificent private German collection of Modern, Surrealist and Post War art is to be sold by Christie’s over seven sales in London in 2012.  The Hubertus Wald Collection features outstanding works by Robert Delaunay, Kees van Dongen, Max Ernst, Francis Picabia, Hans Arp, Piero Manzoni, Yves Klein, Wols, Lucio Fontana and Cy Twombly.

The 87 lots, expected to realise a combined total in the region of £13-20 million,  are to be offered at Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art and The Art of the Surreal Evening and Day sales (7 & 8 February); Post War and Contemporary Art Evening and Day sales (14 & 15 February); Antiquities (26 April) and Old Master Paintings (3 May).

Wald, who established the largest cinema group in Germany, started to collect prints early in his life. In 1970 he was introduced to Parisian art advisor Sami Tarica, who advised Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé amongst many top European collectors.  All proceeds from the sale will benefit the charitable foundation set up by the collector in 1993 in order to support medical research and treatment as well as cultural life in Hamburg.

Henri Laurens (1885-1954) Tête de femme painted terracotta relief 13.1/2 x 9.5/8 in. (34.2 x 24.4 cm.). Executed in 1918-1919 (£120,000-180,000. (Click on image to enlarge).) UPDATE: This sold for £493,250

Henry Moore (1898-1986) Family Group signed and numbered `Moore 4/9' Height: 5.7/8 in. (15 cm.) Conceived in 1945 and cast in 1969 in an edition of nine (£200,000-300,000). (Click on image to enlarge). UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £361,250

It is a buyers’ market in Irish art according to Dr. Niall Dolan of Dolan’s art auction house.  Their opening sale of 2012 takes place at Rochestown Park Hotel in Cork on Sunday, January 22.  It will include around 250 lots in total.  The majority have no reserves and he promises that the emphasis will be on value for money.

Here is a small sample of what to expect:

“Yellow Pump in Eyeries” by Val Byrne, watercolour. (Click on image to enlarge). UPDATE: THIS MADE 650

"Sheepdog" by Mark O'Neill, oil on board. (Click on image to enlarge). UPDATE: THIS MADE 5,000

"The Three of Us" gouache by Arthur Maderson. (Click to enlarge). UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,500