Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614) – The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon, 1599 Photo-National Gallery of Ireland
Long-term corporate partner Northern Trust will sponsor the National Gallery of Ireland’s much-loved annual calendar over a three-year period. In 2023 there will be 12 works by women artists from the national collection among the pages. Paying homage to women artists throughout history the calendar features works by Sofonisba Anguissola, Alicia Boyle, Mildred Anne Butler, Diana Copperwhite, Lavinia Fontana , Evie Hone, Mainie Jellett, Norah McGuinness, Gabriele Münter, Alice Neel, Elizabeth Rivers and Mary Swanzy.
The Lavinia Fontana work illustrated here is the image for next May. The painting will be on display in the exhibition Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker at the gallery from May 6 to August 27 next. This is supported by exhibition partner Bank of America. Corporate partnerships with the Gallery offer the opportunity to work with Ireland’s premier cultural institution and make an impact on its range of exhibitions and programmes. This partnership with Northern Trust follows similar collaborations with ESB, Zurich Insurance plc, Grant Thornton, SMBC Aviation Capital and others.
This George III mahogany travelling desk comes up as lot 285 at the James Adam At Home timed online At Home auction which ends from 11 am on December 19. There is a baize lined interior and a fitted hinged side panel enclosing twin drawers. The estimate is 1,500-2,000. The first 156 lots comprises jewellery and watches. The catalogue is online. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,200 AT HAMMER
Woman and Fox by Paulne Bewick at Whyte’s. UPDATE: THIS MADE 600 AT HAMMER
From Doneraile to Belturbet and Dublin to Birr there will be a flurry of Christmas auctions in the coming week. Online auctions by Aidan Foley in Doneraile, Mullen’s in Laurel Park, Bray and by Victor Mee in Belturbet will get the ball rolling tomorrow. Aidan Foley’s auction in Doneraile will include contents from a former antiques shop in Kenmare with a selection of antique furniture including a Victorian hall table, a rosewood display stand and a selection of occasional tables. There is a watercolour by the Cork artist Henry Albert Hartland (1840-1893) and a lithograph by Tony O’Malley as well as a French tapestry rug and some Persian rugs.
This specimen table comes up at Mullen’s in Bray. UPDATE: THE CLOSING BID WAS 4,000
A circular continental specimen table inlaid with Breccia marble, lapil-lazuli, malachite, blue john and other semi precious stones is the top lot at Mullen’s of Laurel Park tomorrow. On a spreading column above a platform base it is estimated at €4,000-€6,000. This will be a timed auction with 830 lots of antique furniture, art, jewellery, lighting and collectibles. It will start to close from 6 pm. There will be 160 lots of jewellery headed by a white gold necklace with graduated diamonds (€12,000-€14,000) as well as silver and plate at Victor Mee’s Christmas sale of 189 lots in Belturbet at 6 pm tomorrow. The catalogue is online.
Meantime there is viewing in Dublin this weekend and on Monday for Whyte’s timed online Christmas art auction which begins to close from 6 pm on Monday (December 12). No less than 266 lots are on offer from artists as diverse as Gladys MacCabe and Robert Ballagh to Markey Robinson and Pauline Bewick. The selection of American artists includes work by Bob Dylan and Shepard Fairey. There are Christmas greeting cards by Patrick Scott and art by John Morris, Norman McCaig, Desmond Carrick, Ciaran Clear, Maria Simonds-Gooding, Elizabeth Brophy, Thomas Ryan, Barry Castle, Maurice Wilks, Evie Hone, Harry Kernoff, Anne Yeats and many more. The catalogue is online. There will be a selection of jewellery at John Weldon’s auction at Temple Bar in Dublin on Tuesday (December 13) and a collection of Irish and world interest books will come under the hammer online at a sale by Purcell Auctioneers of Birr on Wednesday. This sale will be headed by a narrative by Sir John Ross of a second voyage in search of the North West Passage in 1835 complete with charts and plates. A timed sale of fine vintage wines and spirits at James Adam ends from 11 am on Wednesday (December 18).
A French tapestry rug at Aidan Foley’s sale. UPDATE: THIS MADE 110 AT HAMMER
HANS HOLBEIN THE YOUNGER (1497-1543) AND WORKSHOP – PORTRAIT OF DESIDERIUS ERASMUS (1466-1536)
Led by Hans Holbein the Younger and Workshop there was five new records at Christie’s Old Masters evening sale in London last night. The auction brought in £13.1 million and the Holbein made £1,222,000. Records were also established for Jacob Savery the Elder (£544,400), Antonio Stom called Il Tonino (£138,600), Barnaba Agocchiari called Barnaba da Modena (£882,000) and Sebastiano Conca (£378,000) in a sale which attracted registered bidders from 15 countries and four continents.
Leading the sale was Jean-François de Troy’s tableaux de mode Reading Party which achieved £2,922,000 bringing the combined total for the Collection of Lord and Lady Weinstock to £8,082,595 and Anthony van Dyck’s Portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria which achieved £2,442,000. There was strong competitive bidding throughout and 33% of lots sold above the estimate.
ALAN KENNY (B.1959) – THE STRIPED MUSICIAN, 1999 UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
The Striped Musician by Alan Kenny is lot 31 at Whyte’s Christmas online art auction. The oil on board is estimated at €1,000-1,500. This seasonal timed online sale which runs until December 12 offers a selection of affordable art by some of our best loved painters. It is designed to appeal to first time buyers and seasoned bidders. The catalogue is online and viewing is underway at Molesworth St. in Dublin.
Jack Butler Yeats RHA (1871-1957) – The Duet (1945) SOLD FOR €70,000 AT HAMMER
The Sick Bed and The Duet, both by Yeats, made hammer prices of €160,000 and €70,000 respectively at the James Adam sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin tonight. They had been estimated at €150,000-€200,000 and €70,000-€100,000. Connemara Hills by Paul Henry made €92,000 over a top estimate of €60,000. Fantail, an oil on canvas by Louis le Brocquy made €50,000 (€40,000-€60,000) and The Garlanded Goat, an Aubusson tapestry designed by le Brocquy made €46,000 (40,000-€60,000). Abstract Composition by Evie Hone made €34,000 (€15,000-€25,000) and Lighthouse Man’s twin cats and Washing by John Shinnors made €30,000 (€30,000-€50,000). Children playing in a woodland glade by George Russell made €28,000 over a top estimate of €15,000 and Valley Wind, Jemisa by Tony O’Malley made €24,000 at hammer (€15,000-€25,000).
The auction brought in €1.135m gross and recorded a sold rate of 78%.
This 18th century lacquered cabinet sold for €2,800 at hammer at the opening day of Sheppards three day sale which began in Castlecomer and online on December 6. An Irish 18th century five pillar dining table failed to sell but there were some good prices for antique furniture like a pair of Edwardian satinwood bookcases (€8,000), a large Regency side table (€3,400), an Irish crested hall seat (€2,700), a pair of George II style humpback settees (€4,000) and a burr walnut circular dining table (€2,600). A Charles X ormolu and bronze cathedral clock made €3,000, a William Morris Donegal carpet made €2,800 and a West Anatolia Ushak carpet made €3,600. The auction continues today and tomorrow.
Economic uncertainty is no bad thing for the art market and John Shinnors, Hughie O’Donoghue and John Doherty are among the more contemporary blue chip Irish artists that Adams will bank on to deliver a good sale of Important Irish Art on the evening of December 7. Yeats, Paul Henry and Louis le Brocquy are there too.
Line, one of John Shinnors larger works and one of his most significant, is an arresting response to Frank Bramley’s Domino at the Crawford Gallery and is estimated at €60,000-€80,000. Two fine oils by Yeats head this auction of 144 lots. The Sick Bed failed to sell when it came up in 2020 with an estimate of €250,000-€300,000 and is now estimated at €150,000-€200,000. The Duet (€70,000-€100,000) is a more joyful work and graces the catalogue cover.The Garlanded Goat, an Aubusson tapestry and an oil of canvas of a fantail pigeons, both by le Brocquy, and Paul Henry’s deeply atmospheric Connemara Hills are all estimated at €40,000-€60,000. Other top lots include Lighthouse, Man’s Twin Cats and Washing by Shinnors, The Canal Turn, Aintree by Peter Curling, Jasper’s Here … O’Donovan, Union Hall by John Doherty and Afloat by Hughie O’Donoghue. The sale is on view at St. Stephen’s Green and the catalogue is online.
The Canal Turn, Aintree by Peter Curling. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
The Bonnettstown Hall Irish side table. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
An Irish 18th century five pillar dining table (€50,000-€80,000) is the top lot at three days of sales at Sheppards from Tuesday December 6. The fascinating selection on offer includes fine wines headed by six bottles of Premier Cru Classe Pessac-Leognan, Chateau Haut Brion, 2009 (€5,500-€6,500) along with antique furniture, jewellery, art including a portrait of a lady in a green dress by Vanessa Bell, vintage designer dresses and handbags and collectibles including a Charles X ormolu and bronze cathedral clock by Schuller, Paris with painted porcelain plaque after Raphael Sanzio.
There are some fine 18th and 19th century chimney pieces, Donegal and Persian rugs, an Irish 18th century side table (€8,000-€12,000), baronial armchairs and an 18th century Chinese lacquered cabinet (€3,000-€5,000) among more than 1,400 lots. Viewing for a sale entitled Bonnettstown Hall, Kilkenny and other important clients is underway in Durrow and the catalogue is online.
VANESSA BELL (1879 – 1961) – Portrait of a lady in a green dress. (1959). UPDATE: THIS MADE 6,500 AT HAMMER
MARKEY ROBINSON (1918-1999) – Heading Home. UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,000 AT HAMMER
Heading Home by the enduringly popular Markey Robinson comes up as lot 12 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s current online art sale which runs until December 5. The catalogue contains more than 450 artworks by a range of artists including Arthur Maderson, Simeon Stafford, Norah McGuinness, Cecil Maguire, George Gillespie, Gladys MacCabe, Elizabeth Brophy, Kenneth Webb, Majella O’Neill Collins and Patrick Graham. Heading Home is estimated at €1,500-€2,500.
