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ALEXANDER CALDER – UNTITLED SOLD FOR $57,600
A gouache and ink on paper by Alexander Calder from a Kildare collection sold for $57,600 at Sotheby’s Contemporary Discoveries sale in New York on July 16. It was from the estates of Dr. John and Mary Esther O’Driscoll of Kildare. Notable art collectors, they acquired it at the Crane Kalman Gallery in London in 1974. Long Painting No. 2 by Tony O’Malley from their collection sold at Sotheby’s Irish Art sale in Paris last year for €5,080.
Convergence, The Old Head of Kinsale by David Magee at the Lavit Gallery summer exhibition
The summer exhibition at the Lavit Gallery in Cork until August 22 offers painting, print, photography, sculpture and craft in a popular annual group show. Artists including Cormac Boydell, Aidan Crotty, Debbie Dawson, Ita Freeney, David Magee and Etain Hickey are among those taking part.
This 1936 portrait of Desmond McCarthy by Harry Kernoff comes up at the James Adam online picture auction which runs until July 16 with an estimate of €1,000-€1,500. The foremost literary and dramatic critic of his day Sir Charles Otto Desmond McCarthy was a descendant of the last McCarthy chief and a member of the Cambridge Apostles. Born in Plymouth in 1877 and a part of the Bloomsbury group he became a journalist in 1903. As literary editor of the New Statesman he recruited Cyril Connolly in the 1920’s. Later on McCarthy became a literary critic for The Sunday Times. The artist Harry Kernoff painted numerous portraits of many figures in the public eye, including W B Yeats, Sean O’Casey and Eamon de Valera. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD.
19th century gilt framed overmantle UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
A contents auction is always a draw so it would be wise to anticipate plenty of bidders and buyers to see treasures aplenty at elegant 18th century St. Austin’s, Coolgreaney, Co. Wexford.
More than 1,390 lots from this beautifully restored and modernised two storey over basement period home dating to 1763 will come under the hammer at Sheppards in Durrow on July 16, 17 and 18. There will be viewings at the house, located between Gorey and Arklow, today, tomorrow and next Monday from 10 am to 5 pm on each day.
A pair of 18th century console tables UPDATE: THESE MADE 4,000 AT HAMMER
Art and furniture highlights include Achill Island by Grace Henry last sold at Sotheby’s in 2007 (€8,000-€14,000), On the Liffey and The Monastery Wall by Letitia M Hamilton and Gathering Turf by James Humbert Craig (all €5,000-€8,000), a pair of 18th century parcel gilt console tables (€5,000-€8,000), a 19th century large carved giltwood overmantle mirror and an 18th century Dublin longcase clock by William Edwards (both €3,000-€5,000), a c1820 French Restoration ormolu and bronze mantle clock (€1,500-€2,500) and a large Cork Regency brass fender (€1,400-€1,800).
The property which has been sold was home for over 30 years to Alan and Aine Deacon, who had lived in Hong Kong for some time. This is reflected in an eclectic collection of Irish, European and Oriental art and furniture as well as early Irish cartography and collectibles. Much of the furniture, of which there is lots, was acquired from the sale of the original contents when St. Austin’s was home to Major and Mrs. H M E Grogan.
Chinese Famille Jaune table lamp UPDATE: THIS MADE 360 AT HAMMER
Included is a collection of Bordeaux wines, rare whiskeys, kitchenalia, contents of the stables, out offices, garden furniture and statuary. There are some rare edition Snaffles prints (€6,000-€8,000) and the most expensively estimated lot is a white gold Art Deco target ring with sapphires and a three carat diamond (€25,000-€35,000). A Dun Emer Donegal Phoenix carpet, a Mughal hand woven carpet, a Sarouk Tree of Life Carpet and a Persian Kirman carpet are all estimated at €5,000-€8,000.
The garden selection includes urns, furniture, planters, lighting and ornaments. Irish vernacular lots include a settle bed, chairs, stools and some pewter and metal tankards. There are two Japanese silk embroidered wedding kimonos (€100-€150 each), a good selection of various sorts of lighting, 33 lots of wines and spirits, two vintage telephones, 37 lots of arms and armour and a selection of antique boxes. Sales, broken into five sessions for the convenience of bidders, get underway in Durrow and online at 10 am on Tuesday.
One of a pair of large neo-classical garden urns UPDATE: THESE MADE 3,400 AT HAMMER
A pair of London silver waiters dated 1771 UPDATE: THESE MADE 500 AT HAMMER
Much interest at Aidan Foley’s sale in Kilcolgan next week will centre around a number of lots consigned from the estate of the late Lady Trina Stanhope of Adare. The daughter of the 11th Earl of Harrington and Ann Chute died unexpectedly in March. There is a small selection of silver headed by a pair of London silver waiters from 1771 (€800-€1,200), paintings by George Gillespie and Maurice Wilks, equestrian art, collectibles and garden implements from the collection of a keen gardener who was based at Castleroberts, Adare.
There is value to be had in furniture at this auction but in the current climate of closures there must be a question mark over whether a stand alone restaurant counter will attract a whole lot of competitive bidding. A fully fitted rather stylish serving counter – lot 1000 out of a total of 1490 – is estimated at €2,000-€4,000. The online antiques and interiors auction takes place on July 15, 16 and 17 from 5 pm on each day.
A stand alone restaurant serving counter
EDWIN HAYES RHA RI ROI (1819-1904) – Maritime Scene. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,400 AT HAMMER
Maritime Scene, an oil on board by the marine artist Edwin Hayes, comes up at an online picture auction by James Adam on July 16. Born in Bristol but brought up in Ireland he studied art in Dublin and first exhibited at the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1842. He later moved to London and painted seascapes and coastal scenes all around Europe. This painting is estimated at €3,000-€5,000. Adams auction offers 302 lots and the catalogue is online.
Cork Regency brass fender. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,300 AT HAMMER
Sheppards will offer contents from St. Austins, Gorey, Co. Wexford on July 16 and 17 with viewing on the premises on July 13 and 14. More than 1,300 lots will be on offer and highlights include a large 19th century gilt overmantle, an 18th century Dublin longcase clock, a large Cork brass fender and art by Letitia M Hamilton, James Humbert Craig and Grace Henry. The sale will be held in Durrow and the catalogue is online now.
The Sunlit Valley, The Rosses, Co. Donegal by James Humbert Craig. UPDATE: THIS MADE 9,000 AT HAMMER
Art as an event in the Olympic Games was abandoned after 1948 because artists were considered to be professional and the games were for amateurs. That was then and this is now so our professional golfers Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, both qualified to represent Ireland at the games this year which get underway in Paris on July 26, have nothing to worry about.
At a time from 1912 to 1948 when medals were awarded for painting and sculpture inspired by sport, as well as to musicians, writers and architects, the northern Irish artist James Humbert Craig (1877-1944) was part of the Painting Event at the 1932 summer olympics in Los Angeles. He did not win but his landscapes are very highly regarded. One of them, an oil on canvas titled The Sunlit Valley, Rosses, Co. Donegal, will lead Fonsie Mealy’s Chatsworth summer art sale in Castlecomer on July 10 with an estimate of €6,000-€8,000. It is the most expensively estimated artwork at the sale.
The auction, on view in Castlecomer next Monday and Tuesday, features 345 lots of Irish and international art and sculpture along with Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian paintings.
Athlone Castle by James Lawson Stewart. UPDATE: THIS MADE 300 AT HAMMER
A topographical View of Athlone in 1853 from an elevated site attributed to George Vincent Cole is estimated at €300-€400 and a watercolour of Athlone Castle by British artist James Lawson Stewart (1829-1911) shows many features now disappeared (€400-€500). A hand coloured print of Edinburgh Castle from Holyrood House by Charles Windsor, now King of England, signed and dated on the lower right, is estimated at €800-€1,000. There is a similar estimate on an abstract landscape attributed to Andre Lhote.
Lot 261 is a bronze bust of Roger Casement attributed to Marshall Hutson. Though unsigned it is similar in style to the work of the Cork artist who died in 2001 and is estimated at €1,000-€1,500. Among his sculpted works is the stone crest of the City of Cork at the headquarters of Cork Harbour Commissioners at Custom House Street in Cork.
Ar an Costa by Daniel Corkery (1878-1964). UPDATE: THIS MADE 360 AT HAMMER
Ar an Costa is a watercolour of a coastal scene with figures on a beach by Daniel Corkery (1878-1964), a close friend of Terence McSwiney who became Professor of English at UCC in 1930. One of a group who established the Cork Dramatic Society in 1908 he wrote plays and short stories, played the cello, took night classes in painting at the Crawford and was author of The Hidden Ireland, a 1924 study of the poetry of 18th century Irish language poetry in Munster. Lot 44 at Mealy’s is estimated at €180-€220 and was formerly in the collection of An t’Athair Eric Mac Fhinn (1895-1987) of Galway.
There is a portrait of Walter Osborne by Augustus Burke (€3,000-€4,000), a pencil sketch of John O’Leary at trial by John Butler Yeats (€400-€500), a watercolour of the Rock of Cashel by Patrick Hennessy (€400-€600) and an oil of Country Cottages, Ireland c1810 by William Mulready (€700-€1,000) among a selection on offer that is both varied and affordable.
The sale will be on view in Castlecomer on July 8 and 9 and will begin at 2 pm on July 10. The catalogue is online. Nowadays the Venice Biennale is often referred to informally as the Olympics of art.
GEORGE I BURR MAPLE BUREAU BOOKCASE. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,600 AT HAMMER
In Dublin James Adam will offer this George I burr maple bookcase in a timed online warehouse auction on July 10. The estimate is 2,000-4,000 and a starting bid of 200 is being sought at this stage. The bookcase is to be sold without reserve. In the manner of Coxted and Woster it is in three sections with arched mirrored doors, a fitted interior and a slope front desk. The sale will be on view in Dublin on July 8 and 9 and the catalogue, with 316 lots, is online.
Rosewood sideboard by Gianfranco Frattini. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,000 AT HAMMER
This Italian rosewood credenza dates to the 1960’s and comes up at de Veres timed summer online art and design auction which runs until July 24. It was designed by Gianfranco Frattini for internationally renowned La Permanente Mobili Cantù with shelf gallery back above drawers with shaped handles, on metal legs. The estimate is 600-900. The auction of over 150 lots offers a selection of art along with furniture, lamps, mirrors and collectibles by renowned designers.
