antiquesandartireland.com

Information about Art, Antiques and Auctions in Ireland and around the world
  • ABOUT
  • About Des
  • Contact
  • Archive for the ‘ART’ Category

    JOHN PIPER’S VIEW OF CASTLETOWN HOUSE

    Friday, May 6th, 2011

    Castletown House by John Piper. (click on image to enlarge) UPDATE: THIS MADE £25,000

    This pen and ink and oil on canvas image of Castletown House, Celbridge, Co. Kildare – Ireland’s finest Palladian mansion built in 1722 – is by the English artist John Piper  (1903-1992).

    He was an official artist during World War II and collaborated with many people, including poet John Betjeman on the Shell Guides.

    John Piper designed the stained glass windows for the new Coventry Cathedral and created tapestries for the cathedrals at Chichester and Hereford.  He designed many of the premiere productions of Benjamin Britten’s operas at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, the Royal Opera House, La Fenice and the Aldeburgh Festival.

    This image of Castletown House comes up at Sotheby’s sale of 20th century British art in London on May 25.  It is estimated at £20,000-£30,000.

    EGON SCHIELE CITYSCAPE HIGHLIGHTS SOTHEBY’S LONDON SALE IN JUNE

    Thursday, May 5th, 2011

    Egon Schiele's Häuser mit bunter Wäsche, “Vorstadt” II is one of the most important oils by the Austrian artist ever to come to the market. (click on image to enlarge) UPDATE: SOLD FOR £24,681,250,

    This 1914 cityscape, one of the most important oils by Egon Schiele ever to come to the market, will be a highlight of Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art sale in London on June 22.  Häuser mit bunter Wäsche, “Vorstadt” II – translated as Houses with colourful Laundry “Suburb” II – ranks among just a small number of significant cityscapes by Schiele remaining in private hands.  It was acquired in the year it was painted by Schiele’s friend and patron Heinrich Böhler. It has been in the collection of the Leopold Museum in Vienna since 1952.
    The Museum’s managing director Peter Weinhäupl said:  “The Leopold Museum today is committed to affirming its position as the pre-eminent repository of Austrian Modern Art and the decision it has taken with this sale is a testament to this commitment. While this painting will be missed, the museum is fortunate to hold eight further Schiele cityscapes of superb quality in its collection.”
    Schiele, who died in the great flu of 1918 aged 28, loosely based this painting on Krumau, the town in Southern Bohemia where his mother was born.  He and his lover Walburga (Wally) Neuzil moved there in 1911, in order to escape what they perceived as the claustrophobic atmosphere of Vienna (ironically, they were soon driven out of the town by the residents, who strongly disapproved of their liberal lifestyle, and returned to the environs of Vienna a year later).
    Häuser mit bunter Wäsche, “Vorstadt” II  comes to the auction market for the first time with an estimate of £22-30 million.
    UPDATE:  IT MADE £24,681,250, a world record for the artist.

    CHRISTIE’S IMPRESSIONIST AND MODERN ART EVENING SALE MAKES $155,995,000

    Thursday, May 5th, 2011

    Monet's Les Peupliers made $22,482,500 at Christie's in New York against an estimate of $20/30 million.

    Paysage de banlieue by Maurice de Vlaminck made $22,482,500 at Christie's against an estimate of £18/25 million.

    Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Les femmes d'Alger, version L made $21,362,500 including buyer's premium at Christie's. It was estimated at $20/30 million.

    Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art evening sale of 57 lots in New York on May 4 brought in $155,995,000.  It was 82% sold by lot and 81% by value.

    Monet’s Les Peupliers, the joint top lot in this auction, sold at Christie’s in 2000 for $7 million.  It was one of  the three lots pictured here which sold above $20 million.  A new world auction record was set for Maurice de Vlaminck (1876-1958) for his 1905 Fauvist landscape Paysage de Banlieue.

    There were four lots sold at over $10 million, and 19 over $1 million. Buyers were 47% European, 36% American, 4% Asian and 13% other. (See antiquesandartireland.com posts for April 19 and March 26).

    IMPRESSIONIST AND MODERN ART MAKES $170,478,000 AT SOTHEBY’S

    Wednesday, May 4th, 2011

    Picasso - Femmes Lisant

    Gauguin Jeune tahitienne

    Impressionist & Modern Art evening sale at Sotheby’s New York on May 3 made $170,478,000.  This was within but very much at the lower end of the overall estimate of $158.9-229.7 million. The 59 lot auction was 74.6% sold by lot, and saw a total of 37 works sell for over $1 million.
    The top lot was Pablo Picasso’s Femmes lisant (Deux personnages). It made $21,362,500 in a sale where auction records were established for the Surrealist artist Paul Delvaux and for a sculpture by Paul Gauguin. Jeune tahitienne sold for 11,282,500.  It was carved during Gauguin’s first trip to Tahiti between 1890 and 1893, and is the only fully-worked bust portrait the artist is known to have created. It marks the eighth highest price for any work by Gauguin at auction.

    PAUL DELVAUX 1897 - 1994 LES CARIATIDES

    Les Cariatides by Paul Delvaux from 1946 made $9,042,500 in a sale which saw strong prices for Surrealist works.

    The Expressionist Alexej von Jawlensky’s Frau mit grünem Fächer (Woman with a green fan) made $11,282,500, just under its high estimate of $12 million. This is the second highest price for a work by Jawlensky.  There were strong prices too for Magritte and Dali.  The art illustrated represents the top five highest prices for the sale.
    The Impressionist & Modern Art Day Sale on May 5 at Sotheby’s in New York brought in $38,982,225.

    ALEXEJ VON JAWLENSKY 1864-1941 FRAU MIT GRÜNEM FÄCHER (WOMAN WITH A GREEN FAN)

    Picasso - COUPLE À LA GUITARE made $9.6 million.

    INTERNATIONALISATION OF THE IRISH ANTIQUE AUCTION MARKET

    Sunday, May 1st, 2011

    The internationalisation of the Irish antique and art market is becoming increasingly apparent. Sales at Sheppards, a long established Irish provincial auction house, reflect this changing market.  The three day sale at Sheppards in Durrow, Co. Laois on May 10, 11 and 12 offers much that is of interest to local, national and international buyers.

    In the past the advantage of the Durrow location was that it was on the main Dublin-Cork road and as a result was easily reached from many points in the country.  Nowadays because of the internet such sales are accessible to collectors everywhere.  From Durrow Sheppards enjoys a reach that is increasingly global.  Location is no longer the factor it used to be.  Sheppards, in common with a number of other Irish auction houses, now ship to everywhere.

    The on-line catalogue is available on their website.  Here are a few of the lots coming up in May.

    See antiquesandartireland.com post for April 28.

    This George III mahogany Chippendale silver table is estimated at 8,000-12,000. (click on image to enlarge). UPDATE: IT MADE A HAMMER PRICE OF 9,500

    A large George III Irish brass bound plate bucket is estimated at 2,500-3,500. (click to enlarge) UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,600 AT HAMMER

    After Sir Joshua Reynolds, Portrait of Denis Daly, Oil on canvas, Provenance: Russborough House, Co. Wicklow is estimated at 2,000-3,000. (Click on image to enlarge) UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,300 at hammer

    Samuel Spode, Jockey on horseback, Oil on canvas estimate 3,200-4,200. (click on image to enlarge) UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,700 at hammer

    SOME LOTS FROM MEALY’S SALE ON MAY 4

    Sunday, May 1st, 2011
    More than 800 lots will come under the hammer at Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny on May 4. The fine and decorative art sale at Mealy’s will include 18th, 19th and 20th century furniture; contemporary Irish paintings;  silver and plate;  bronzes;  clocks and barometers; carpets and rugs; jewellery; light fittings; overmantels; porcelain and a single owner collection of whiskeys, brandy and other liquors.
    Here is a sample. The catalogue is on-line.
    See antiquesandartireland.com post for April 27.
    UPDATE: Around 35 per cent of lots remained unsold, which is higher than usual.  On an overall tough day the sale brought in a figure close to 150,000.  Garden furniture, silver and the alcohol collection sold well,  trading conditions were difficult for furniture and paintings.

    This c1900 mahogany bureau by Edwards and Roberts with satinwood and kingwood banding and profuse inlay is estimated at 4,000-6,000. (click on image to enlarge) UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    A c1900 Gothic style pitch pine writing table with tooled leather top is estimated at just 200-300. UPDATE: THIS MADE 200

    A west of Ireland watercolour by William Percy French (1854 - 1920) is estimated at 2,500-3,500. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    An old oak drop-leaf gateleg table with frieze drawer is estimated at 300-400. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    DILLON’S SPANISH FISHING VILLAGE AT CORK ART SALE

    Saturday, April 30th, 2011
    A total of 289 lots of mostly Irish art will be offered at the Morgan O’Driscoll fine art sale at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Cork on May 9.  Internationally celebrated  artists Damien Hirst and Andy Warhol are represented by limited edition prints.  The most expensively estimated lot on offer is Gerard Dillon’s Spanish fishing village which is estimated at 20,000-25,000.
    There are prime works by Markey Robinson, William Conor, Maurice Wilks, William Crozier, Colin Watson, Mark O’Neill, Dan O”Neill, James Humbert Craig and Sean McSweeney.
    Here is a small selection.  The entire catalogue is on-line.
    UPDATE:  Around 68 per cent of lots were sold.  The top lot was was William Conor’s Music Session, a work with crayon which made 13,500.

    Gerard Dillon RHA RUA (1916-1971) Spanish Fishing Village, estimate 20,000-25,000. (click on image to enlarge) UPDATE: IT WAS UNSOLD

    Damien Hirst (20th /21st Century) Cephalothin 2007 Limited edition print 68/75, estimate 6,000-8,000. (click on image to enlarge) UPDATE: IT WAS UNSOLD

    Markey Robinson (1918-1999) Dockyard, estimate 10,000-12,500. (click to enlarge) UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 10,000

    Andy Warhol €1928-1987) British Speedskater Unique screenprint on Artches 88 paper Edition:TP 14/15, estimate 10,000-15,000. (click on image to enlarge) UPDATE: IT WAS UNSOLD

    ART FROM THE OLD SOVIET UNION ON SALE IN DUBLIN

    Friday, April 29th, 2011

    The advance party by Shurupov (click to enlarge)

    THE Russian art collection of an Irish businessman who used to travel in the old Soviet Union goes on sale at Kilternan Art Gallery in Co. Dublin from April 30. The collection of 66 works includes landscapes, still lives and portaits.

    All were produced during the period from the 1920’s to the 1980’s, a time when artists in Soviet Russia underwent a rigorous training.  The price range is from 200 to 4,500 euro.  About two thirds of the work on offer is at or under 400 euro.

    Hosted by Brian Merry the sale continues until Sunday May 8.  Opening times are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day.

    The picture on the right by Konstantin Alekseevich Shurupov (1910-1985) is titled The Advance Party.  It is dated c1965 and the original gallery exhibition label is on the back.

    WHEN LUCIAN MET BRENDAN: PHOTOGRAPHIC RARITIES AT SHEPPARDS SALE IN DURROW

    Thursday, April 28th, 2011

    Lucian Freud and Brendan Behan, Dublin 1952 (click to enlarge) UPDATE: THIS MADE 850

    Bill Brandt's 1947 image of the northern quays, Dublin. (click to enlarge) UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    Three centuries of period furniture, fine art, garden statuary, seating and planters feature at Sheppards three day sale of outstanding interiors and exteriors  on May 10, 11 and 12 at Durrow, Co. Laois.
    The sale on Thursday, May 12 is of 300 lots of Asian art.
    Photographic rarities on offer include this image by Daniel Farson of the artist Lucian Freud and the writer Brendan Behan in front of the Mansion House in Dublin.  Dated August 1952 the print is signed and stamped.  It is estimated at 800-1,200.
    The second image is of the northern quays, Dublin circa 1947.  The silver gelatin print is a view from the Ha’penny Bridge extending west towards the Four Courts.  It is estimated at 1,200-1,600.
    It is one of two Dublin photographs taken by Bill Brandt in Dublin on offer at Sheppards on May 10.  Brandt’s work is to be found in museums like the Victoria and Albert in London, MoMA in New York and the Bibliotheque Nationale de Paris.  The second image by Brandt is of the now deconsecrated St. George’s Church at Hardwicke Place designed by Francis Johnson.  Johnson donated the bells of St. George’s which are heard chiming by Leopold Bloom in James Joyce’s Ulysses.

    RARELY SEEN PICASSO MASTERPIECE AT CHRISTIE’S

    Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

    Picasso's Jeune femme endormie at Christie's. (click on image to enlarge) UPDATE: IT MADE £13,481,250.

    A rarely seen masterpiece by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) will feature at Christie’s sale of Impressionist and Modern Art in London in June.  Jeune fille endormie, 1935, is an intimate portrait of the artist’s lover Marie-Thérèse Walter, the subject many of Picasso’s most celebrated pictures, and is expected to make £9 million to £12 million.

    The painting was given to the University of Sydney in 2010 by an anonymous donor on condition that it would be sold and that the University would dedicate the proceeds to scientific research.
    The sale takes place on the evening of June 21.  It is the first time this portrait will be offered at auction.
    UPDATE: IT MADE £13,481,250