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The atmospheric quality is evident in this semi abstract work by Patrick Collins, a key figure in Irish Post War art whose work is acclaimed in this country. Spring Morning from 1957 comes up as lot 30 at the James Adam sale of Important Irish Art which takes place on March 27 at 6 pm. Estimated at 30,000-50,000 it was once in the collection of Sir Basil Goulding. Viewing is now underway at Adams, and continues every day until 4 pm on March 27.
Abstract Composition (Blue) by Mainie Jellett comes up as lot 36 at de Veres timed online Irish art auction which runs until March 26. From the collection of Bruce Arnold the gouache on paper is estimated at 3,500-5,000. It is one of a number of lots by Jellett in the sale, which opens for viewing at Kildare St. in Dublin today. The catalogue is online.
Viewing gets underway in Dublin today for Whyte’s Spring online art auction on March 25. This is a sale of accessible art from Ireland and around the world with artists including Gerard Dillon, Seán Keating, Nano Reid, Mary Swanzy, Maurice MacGonigal, George Campbell, Pauline Bewick, Graham Knuttel, Richard Gorman and John Ffrench. Pictured here is lot 7, Clown by Markey Robinson which is estimated at €1,200-€1,800. The catalogue is online.
A Waterford Crystal replica of the Sam Maguire Cup comes up at a two day in person and online sale of 733 lots by Aidan Foley at the Castle Cinema, Oldcastle next Wednesday and Thursday, March 20 and 21. It is one of five made. One was presented to President Bill Clinton. The auction, in association with Niall Mullen, will include contents from Middleton Park House, Westmeath, formerly a wedding venue. The replica is estimated at €2,000-€4,000. Viewing is underway in Oldcastle and the catalogue is online.
In Dublin viewings get underway on March 22 for upcoming sales of important Irish art at both James Adam and de Veres. The sale at James Adam on March 27 features some of Ireland’s best loved artists with estimates of from €500 to over €60,000 for The Bog by Paul Henry (€60,000-€80,000).A number of paintings by Patrick Hennessy and Harry Roberston Craig from the collection of Pamela and George Fegan, a Dublin couple who were friends of both artists and bought directly from them, will feature. The catalogue cover lot is a 1951 painting by Patrick Hennessy, The Rebuilding of Monte Cassino, located about 130 kilometres south east of Rome and site of a major Second World War battle in 1944. This work, which has not been on the market before, is estimated at €10,000-€15,000.
Eliza Doolittle in Dublin by Sean Keating (€50,000-€70,000) is the most expensively estimated lot at de Veres sale on March 26. Based on Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw the 1965 work depicts a daffodil seller against a background of Georgian buildings and thunderous clouds. Sean Keating, along with many others, was vociferous in his condemnation of the destruction of Georgian Dublin which got underway in the 1950’s. Among the other highlights at de Veres are John B Vallely’s Heading for the Final Sprint with a pack of cyclists in full flight and Letitia Hamilton’s Wind Blown Tree, Killary. There is a collection of works on paper by Mainie Jellett. All catalogues are online now.
A bidding battle between a telephone bidder and an online bidder saw an origin an original unseen study by Sir John Lavery of The Trial and Roger Casement sell for a hammer price of £124,000 (£155,200 with fees) at Dreweatts Modern and Contemporary art sale at Newbury in Berkshire. The final price was over ten times the original low estimate. The high-profile case against Roger Casement for treason took place in 1916 in the High Court in London and was witnessed by Lavery. The full-scale painted version of The Hearing of the Appeal of Sir Roger Casement was proposed by the presiding judge, Sir Charles Darling 1st Baron Darling, PC (1849-1936). Having commissioned the artist to paint other portraits of his family and having seen the artist’s other publicly exhibited works, he invited him to capture the court proceedings. The finished final painting of the work was produced in Lavery’s studio and completed in 1931. It remained there until the artist’s death in 1941, when he left it to the nation. It hung firstly in the Royal Courts of Justice and in 1950 at the request of Sergeant Sullivan, who had been part of Casement’s defence team, it was lent to King’s Inn, Dublin.
Lavery’s portrait of Lieutenant John Clive Darling, 20th Hussars (1887-1933), son of the Honourable Mr Justice Charles John, 1st Baron Darling sold for £8,190 against an estimate of £7,000-£10,000. A portrait of Mary Caroline Darling, mother of Major John Clive Darling, made £5,040 against an estimate of £3,000-£5,000. A Grey Day by Lavery made £32,700 against an estimate of £10,000-£15,000 and a study by Laver for a full length portrait of Minnie Plowden and her son Humphrey, painted in c. 1897 made £8,190 against an estimate of £7,000-£10,000.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for February 14, 2024)
There is something highly appropriate about this print by Peter Curling in this Cheltenham Festival week. Entitled Owners it comes up as lot 250 at Whyte’s Spring online art auction with an estimate of just 200-300. Numbered 139 from an edition of 500 it is one of three racing prints by the artist. The others are entitled Lads and Jockeys and all estimates are the same. The catalogue, with 284 lots, is online and bidding is underway. Viewing gets underway at Whyte’s at Molesworth St., Dublin on March 20.
Marée Montante by Roderic O’Conor comes up at Christie’s Modern British and Irish art evening sale in London on March 20. The composition employs an unconventional perspective with an unusually high horizon line and a lack of traditional recession, reminiscent of the aesthetic language of Japanese wood-block prints so fascinating to fellow artistic pioneers around Pont-Aven at the time. This departure from the typical expansive landscape format plunges the viewer into a vertiginous exploration of vertical depth, evoking an awe-inspiring portrayal of the sea as a living, breathing entity. The work was exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants in 1906 and it is estimated at £100,000-£150,000.
Paul Henry’s Cottages by a Lake, Achill, Connemara was the top lot at Whyte’s sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin this evening. It made a hammer price of €220,000. Jug and Pear 1983 by William Scott made €120,000 at hammer, Waves at Bowmore, Rosses Point 1936 by Jack B Yeats made 85,000 and The Last General Absolution of the Munsters at Rue du Bois by Fortunino Matania made 61,000. Among the other leading prices A Professional Man by Jack B Yeats made 34,000, Little Waves, Achill by Grace Henry made 30,000, Tide Coming In, Ballycastle, Co. Mayo made 28,000, Fair Day, Roundstone 1959 by Frank McKelvey made 26,000, Autumn Coastline by Donald Teskey made 18,000, Sunshower by Dan O’Neill made 18,000, Wild Cherry by Norah McGuinness made 14,000, Like a Dream by Barbara Warren made 12,500, Beyond the Bog by Patrick Collins made 11,500, Captive Man of ’83 from 1983 by Rowan Gillespie made 11,500, Surface, 1995 by Linda Brunker made 9,500 and a Facsimile of the Book of Kells made 18,000.
In the catalogue note to Barbara Warren’s Like a Dream estimated at €4,000-€6,000 (pictured below) Adelle Hughes of Whyte’s pointed out that the work feels distinctly Modern and European yet the feeling it inspires also sits comfortably within the traditional West of Ireland scene. Warren’s death at the age of 91 in 2017 marked the end of a living connection to a generation of pioneering Irish female artists like Mainie Jellett, Evie Hone, May Guinness, Norah McGuinness and Elizabeth Rivers who, like Warren, studied in Paris with Andre Lhote.
UPDATE: THE AUCTION REALISED 1.2 MILLION
THIS portrait of epidemiologist and executive director of the World Health Organisation Dr Michael Ryan is to go on display at the National Portrait Collection next month. The work is a commission by artist Aidan Crotty, winner of the Zurich Portrait Prize in 2020 and is now a permanent part of the collection. Dr Ryan began his career as an orthopaedic and trauma surgeon. After he sustained a serious injury working in Iraq, he moved away from practice and towards a life at the forefront of managing global health emergencies. Since beginning work at the WHO in 1996, Dr Ryan has been involved in the emergency response to the 2003 SARS outbreak and the Ebola crisis. Most notably, he led the WHO’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, Dr Ryan is among those engaging in humanitarian work in Gaza, as well as leading the response to the food insecurity and health emergency in the Greater Horn of Africa and the health crisis in Afghanistan.
