Turner in all his glory will be available to view at the National Gallery of Ireland from October 8 to February 6, 2023. Turner: The Sun is God offers visitors a rare opportunity to see 89 artworks by the English artist from the Tate Collection in London. This once in a lifetime exhibition marks the first time these works have been displayed in Ireland where Turner is widely celebrated. The exhibition covers a range of themes including memory, imagination, nature, light and atmosphere. Visitors will be presented with a range of superb oil paintings filled with dramatic contrasts of light and dark and various weather effects.
Every year in January the National Gallery in Dublin displays a wonderful collection of watercolours by Turner bequeathed by the English collector Henry Vaughan in 1900. This show is a popular annual fixture and a huge crowd puller.
The two day auction by Matthews in Kells on October 18 and 19 will offer a private collection of antique furniture, jewellery, paintings and collectibles from the estate of Mrs. Mel O’Flynn of Athlone and other clients. She was first lady president of Athlone Chamber of Commerce and was deeply involved with The Little Theatre. She made her last stage appearance at the age of 91. Mel O’Flynn founded Arcadia Antiques of Athlone and Galway in the 1980’s and was a noted collector of jewellery, silver and antiques. Viewing gets underway in Kells on October 15 and the catalogue is online.
WILLIAM SCOTT, R.A. (1913-1989) – Frying Pan – Still Life, 1947. UPDATE; THIS MADE £756,000
Frying Pan – Still Life by William Scott at Christie’s Modern British and Irish Art evening sale in London on October 19 dates to 1947. It is emblematic of Scott’s approach to painting following the Second World War. At first glance, the simple arrangement of culinary objects speaks of the Northern Irish austerity that Scott experienced in his youth. Concurrently, however, the artist’s sophisticated exploration into the arrangement of colour, form and spatial geometry reflects a preoccupation that ensued throughout the artist’s celebrated career. According to the catalogue notes in this work Scott demonstrates a masterful approach to composition – the ovoid shapes that reverberate across the canvas work in harmony with the linear diagonals that permeate the scene. The alignment of the eggs, positioned carefully on the table-top, create a subtle dynamism as they lead the eye towards the frying pan, whose crisp silhouette against the rich yolk-yellow of the background foreshadows the use of the motif as the most recognisable icon of his later work. The estimate is £300,000-£500,000.
The sale will be led by L.S. Lowry’s Going to the Match, which is being offered by The Players Foundation. Estimated at £5,000,000-8,000,000, the painting is poised to set a new world auction record for the artist. The catalogue is online.
LAURENCE STEPHEN LOWRY, R.A. (1887-1976) – Going to the Match. UPDATE: THIS MADE £7,846,500 A NEW WORLD AUCTION RECORD FOR LOWRY
Sean Scully – Wall of Light Red. UPDATE: THIS LOT WAS WITHDRAWN FROM THE AUCTION
One of the most outstanding paintings in Sean Scully’s Wall of Light series comes up at Sotheby’s Contemporary Art evening auction in London on October 14. Executed in 1998 it is one of the largest and earliest work within the series. It is estimated at £800,000-£1.2 million.
A set of 13 masquerade costumes by Harry Kernoff UPDATE: THIS MADE 9,000 AT HAMMER
Irish art sales continue their merry way at de Vere’s in Dublin on October 11. There is art by Sean McSweeney, Charles Brady, Tony O’Malley, Anne Yeats, Markey Robinson, Brian Maguire, Gerard Dillon and many others among 170 lots on the catalogue. A set of 13 masquerade costumes by Harry Kernoff is, at €8,000-€12,000 the most expensively estimated lot. A nude by Donald Teskey is estimated at €6,000-€9,000 and a landscape by Dan O’Neill is estimated at €5,000-€7,000. A wooden sculpture of an Irish dancer by Oisin Kelly is estimated at €1,000-€2,000. All price points are catered for and estimates range from €100-€12,000.
Irish Dancer by Oisin Kelly. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,700 AT HAMMER
Early Morning, Saint-Maxime by David Hockney. UPDATE: THIS MADE £20,899,500
A 1969 Hockney, a deeply personal painting by Tracey Emin, Gerhard Richter’s first Colour Chart and Francis Bacon’s Three Studies for a Portrait of Henrietta Moraes are among the offerings at the October London sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s Early Morning Saint Maxime by David Hockney will highlight Christie’s 20th/21st Century evening sale on October 13. The painting, which is radiant, is situated between his seminal Californian swimming pool art and the pioneering naturalistic double portraits and is estimated at £7 million – £9 million This is one of four paintings based on photographs taken during a trip to France with Hockney’s then partner Peter Schlesinger in autumn 1968. They became regular guests at the home of film director Tony Richardson near Saint Tropez. Richardsons home became the setting for Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) when the relationship between Hockney and Schlesinger ended in 1971. When this work sold for $90.3 million at Christie’s in New York in 2018 it set a then auction record for a work by a living artist.
Like a Cloud of Blood by Tracey Emin. UPDATE: THIS. MADE £2,322,000, A RECORD FOR THE ARTIST
Like a Cloud of Blood, one of the first paintings made by Tracey Emin following her cancer treatment, will be offered at the same sale with an estimate of £500,000-£700,000. Made this year the work is an intimate vision of her recent experience and marks a return to the creative process. The sale will raise funds for an innovative new artists studio complex in Margate set in a former bathhouse and mortuary. TKE Studios (the name is based on an abbreviation of her full name Tracey Karima Emin) the complex aims to foster talent with 12 subsidised professional studios, two year residencies, tutorials and lectures.
Gerhard Richter’s first Colour Chart – 192 Farben (1966), will headline the season at Sotheby’s Contemporary evening auction in London on October 14. The colour charts were among the first paintings not done in black and white by this globally significant artist and marked an important turning point in his career. Long before his prices reached stratospheric levels on the Richter scale the artist Gerhard Richter became intrigued by paint chips produced on an industrial scale. Richter relates the work to Pop Art.Three Studies for Portrait of Henrietta Moraes by Francis Bacon is another highlight at Sotheby’s. Henrietta Moraes and Bacon were close friends. One of his portraits of her made £21.3 million. in 2012. Sotheby’s has put together a stellar sale to coincide with the Frieze and Frieze Masters art fairs, when the global contemporary art world assembles in London. The sale will be preceded at Sotheby’s by the Now evening auction, a sale format established in March this year to address the outstanding demands for new and emerging artists.
192 Farben (192 Colours) by Gerhard Richter. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £18,287,800
Gerard Dillon (1916 – 1971) – Man on a Chair (Self-Portrait). UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Adam’s sale of Important Irish Art on September 28 is a showcase for the west of Ireland with works ranging from the late 19th century up to the present day with diverse representations of life and landscape by artists such as Charles Lamb, Thomas Rose Miles, Gerard Dillon and Donald Teskey and many more. There are 161 lots and the catalogue is online. This work by Gerard Dillon is estimated at €50,000-€80,000.
PAIR OF LARGE GEORGIAN BRASS BOUND PEAT BUCKETS. UPDATE: THESE WERE UNSOLD
This pair of Georgian brass bound peat buckets come up as lot 787 at Fonsie Mealy’s two day Chatsworth autumn antique sale which gets underway today. They are estimated at €5,000-€7,000. The catalogue cover is lot 691, a silhouette of Daniel O’Connell by Augustin Edouart dated to 1834. It is estimated at €1,500-€2,000. More than 1,000 lots will come under the hammer today and tomorrow. The catalogue is online.
Augustin Edouart, French (1789-1861) “Daniel O’Connell. UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,400 AT HAMMER
RIVER MOUTH, 1946 – JACK BUTLER YEATS RHA (1871-1957). UPDATE: THIS MADE 180,000 AT HAMMER
The Changing Dawn and Rivermouth by Jack B Yeats were the top lots at Whyte’s evening auction in in Dublin on September 26. They made hammer prices of €220,000 and €180,000 respectively. William Scott’s Chinese Orange III made €110,000. Other top hammer prices were: The Lady Parmoor by Sir John Lavery (€58,000); Portrait of Daniel O’Connell by Sir Martin Archer Shee (€34,000); The Bridge by Sir John Lavery (€30,000); Composition with Steps, Dun Laoghaire and Monkstown by Donald Teskey (€29,000) The Good Stuff by Sean Keating (€28,000) and Black and White She Scarecrow by John Shinnors (€25,000).
The auction grossed €1.65 million with 83% of lots sold on the night.
STEVE BURGESS (B.1960) CANADIAN – Amongst the Reeds. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,200 AT HAMMER
Amongst the Reeds by the Canadian artist Steve Burgess is lot 13 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s off the wall online art auction which runs until September 27. Steve Burgess is an internationally acclaimed wildlife artist. He explores the natural world through his artistic vision capturing the essence of nature through his detailed paintings. From the majesty of his North American wildlife scenes, to the drama of his African animals and contrasted with his British wildlife, Steve paints from a depth of knowledge and understanding. This work is estimated at 1,000-1,500. There is a wide range of art on offer in this sale and the catalogue is online.
