THE NEW ORLEANS ARMCHAIR (1999), Pigmented polyester, gel coat and fiberglass UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Ron Arad first constructed the Big Easy chair in 1988. “I was thinking about an overstuffed club chair”. he said. It was among the first pieces of contemporary design added to NOMA’s decorative arts collection.” Arad later released this moulded-polyester version called NEW ORLEANS where he daubs colour inside a mould before pouring in the polyester, imprinting the chair with the element of painting, the effect combining art and sculpture to create something unique. This version comes up as lot 30 at de Veres International Art and Design Auction in Dublin on April 30. The chair is a powerful statement on volume and illusion and fully blurs the distinction between furniture and sculpture.
An assemblage portrait of Tony Bennett by David Hockey. UPDATE: THIS MADE $22,750
He might have left his heart in San Francisco but millions of people everywhere took singer Tony Bennett to their own hearts. His extraordinary life and career will be celebrated at a live and online sale by Julien’s Auctions in New York at Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame in Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 18 and 19. With everything from a 1965 letter of appreciation from Martin Luther King (for his performance at the 1965 Selma march) to acclaimed original sketches and signed sheet music duets the sale tracks how his life mirrored American cultural, social and political history over many decades.
There is an assemblage portrait of Bennett by David Hockney, art by Willem de Kooning and LeRoy Neiman, a sketch by Tony Bennett of Princess Grace signed by her and letters from Presidents Ford, Carter, Clinton and Bush, Martin Scorsese, Madonna, Elton John, Quincy Jones, Barbra Streisand, Al Pacino are testament to how much he was loved.
In 2007 he was inducted into the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame for his lifelong activism and work in social justice. He won 20 Grammys, recorded more than 70 albums and sold 50 million records. He recorded with K.D. Lang, Stevie Wonder and Billy Joel and next generation superstars like Christina Aguilera, Amy Winehouse and Lady Gaga. He scored three Guinness Book of Records entries, for the oldest performer to reach No. I, the longest time between the release of a recording and the re-recording of the same single by the same artist and for being the oldest person to release a new album. Tony Bennett died aged 96 last July.
UPDATE: The white glove sale made a total of over $2.1 million, four times the pre-sale estimate. Collectors came together from countries all over the world including the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Spain, Singapore, Switzerland, Australia and more, garnering nearly 14,000 bids. The “75th Birthday Book of Extraordinary Letters,” which contains over 100 Pieces written by Martin Scorsese, Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George Bush, Madonna, Elton John, and more, sold for $19,500, two times its estimate of $8000. The letter from Martin Luther King about the Selma march sold for $78,000.
A sketch by Tony Bennett of Princess Grace signed by Grace UPDATE: THIS MADE $2,275
Adams will offer 254 lots headed by an oil painting of the Cutty Sark by the Tory Island artist James Dixon in their Irish Vernacular auction on April 16. There is art including an oil on card of an Irish Farmer by the Bandon artist Charles Henry Cook, silver, country furniture including a settle bed, a set of Irish deer antlers, some Carrigaline pottery and many other items of interest to collectors. Viewing gets underway in Dublin on April 12 and the catalogue is online. UPDATE: THIS MADE 36,000 AT HAMMER
An Irish Georgian tallboy originally at Brittas Castle, Thurles UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,300 AT HAMMER
Irish furniture, silver and glass with an old family provenance will feature at the Lynes and Lynes sale in Carrigtwohill, Co. Cork on April 20. The auction will feature lots from the estate of Roma Peare (nee Knox) of Kinsale and Tipperary. The Tipperary connection relates to the Knox family of Brittas Castle, Thurles and Parkville, Clonmel. The family owned Brittas from 1853. A total of 64 acres of land at Parkville changed hands last month for €2.45 million. It was bought by Coolmore Stud.
Lots from the estate of Roma Peare include a Georgian tallboy (€800-€1,200), a Georgian cellarette (€500-€700), a convex mirror with eagle and dolphins (€600-€800), a large collection of silverware including an Irish silver teapot with a typically florid 19th century inscription as follows: “A memento from the inhabitants of St. Peters Parish Cork until the Rev Nich.s C Dunscombe to record their high esteem of him for his indefatigable labours as a Parish Minister and a Public Benefactor being the main spring of the Temperance cause in his native city. January 30th 1840”.
Nicholas Dunscombe was a leading Protestant clergyman and a founder member, along with Fr. Matthew, of the temperance movement in Cork. The distinctive Dunscombe fountain, installed in the 1880’s at the bottom of Shandon St. in Cork, supplied drinking water for almost a century. It was constructed by friends of the Rev Dunscombe as a memorial to him. Cast in Glasgow the antique structure was removed sometime before the 1980’s and is still missing.
A convex mirror UPDATE: THIS MADE 950 AT HAMMER
Silver from the Knox estate include a pair of Cork bright cut tablespoons by J. Warner along with some fine tea sets and flatware. The family also collected Irish glass and there are several examples in the sale. There are Knox family portraits including a large oil of Col. William Knox which is in need of restoration.
Art by Marshal Hutson and 18th century engravings of Cork and Youghal and a large old framed map of the City of Cork and suburbs by John Rocque from 1759 will create interest. Among the more unusual lots is a 1961 Morris Minor which has been with the family since 1961 and unused for the past 15 years. Viewing gets underway in Carrigtwohill next Saturday (April 13).
A timber fairground horse. UPDATE: THIS MADE 550 AT HAMMER
LAURENCE STEPHEN LOWRY (1887-1976) – DOCK STREET, BELFAST (1964). UPDATE: THIS MADE 46,000 AT HAMMER
The painter L.S. Lowry was proud of his Irish heritage and visited regularly from the mid 1950’s. He painted scenes in Dublin, Skerries, Drogheda and Belfast. This drawing of Dock St., Belfast from 1964 comes up as lot 16 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s Irish and International art sale which runs until April 9. The estimate is €15,000-€20,000. Viewing for the sale gets underway at the Minerva Suite at the RDS today and continues until Monday. The catalogue is online.
A pair of Sèvres hard-paste Vases Hollandois or flower-pots and stands, 1775-85. UPDATE: THESE SOLD FOR 19,200
Important furniture, Old Master paintings and drawings and Italian ceramics from Italian collections lead the Classics sale at Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr in Paris on April 16.A selection of 60 works from an important Italian collection from Rome will feature old master drawings, paintings and furniture, drawing interest from international buyers with classical tastes. Among the highlights are a pair of Sèvres hard-paste Vases Hollandois or flower-pots and stands, 1775-85. These vases were in the celebrated collection of Edouard Chappey (c1858-1907) and are estimated at €6,000-8,000. A pair of northern Italian amaranth, bois citronnier, green-stained sycamore and tulipwood marquetry commodes, Lombard or Genoese, in the taste of Giuseppe Maggiolini, late 18th century are estimated at €20,000-25,000.
A pair of late 18th century northern Italian commodes. UPDATE; THESE SOLD FOR 48,640
Tiziano Vecellio, called Titian (Pieve di Cadore circa 1485/90-1576 Venice) – Rest on the Flight into Egypt. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £17,560,000, A NEW WORLD AUCTION RECORD FOR TITIAN
Titian’s early masterpiece Rest on the Flight into Egypt will headline Christie’s Old Masters Part I sale in London on July 2. Estimated at £15 million – £25 million it offers a very rare opportunity for buyers to become part of the next chapter in this fabled picture’s remarkable story. It is being offered by Lord Bath and the Longleat Trustees as part of their long term investment strategy and is one of the last religious works from the artist’s celebrated early years to remain in private hands. It has been owned by Dukes, Archdukes and Holy Roman Emperors, was looted by Napoleon’s troops in 1809 and stolen from Longleat in 1995. It was recovered seven years later in a carrier bag in greater London, minus the frame.
Claude Monet’s Moulin de Limetz will be a highlight at Christie’s 20th century evening sale in New York in May. The work is being offered by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City and the heirs of Ethel B. Atha and proceeds will benefit future art acquisitions for the Nelson-Atkins. Moulin de Limetz is one of only two canvases by Claude Monet picturing the subject of the mill at Limetz-Villez, near Giverny. Painted in 1888, this example presents a prologue to Monet’s development into series, which would become a defining tenet of his late career. Featuring dazzling kaleidoscopic light that reflects and sparkles off the gently flowing water and shimmers off the rustling foliage, Monet’s painterly achievement radiates color with depth and complexity through layers of thick, rich and sumptuous pigment. The estimate is $18-$25 million.
Primrose Hill by Frank Auerbach UPDATE: THIS MADE 21,000 AT HAMMER
With signed Andy Warhol and Joan Miro screenprints, contrasting approaches to landscape in views of Primrose Hill by Frank Auerbach and Union Hall by Donald Teskey, an oil on canvas by Conor Harrington, still lifes, interiors and a bravura portrait by Genieve Figgis the April 9 Irish and International sale by Morgan O’Driscoll is characterised by great variety.
The first two artworks of the 164 lots on offer, a pen drawing by Jack B Yeats redolent of an Ireland long vanished and a fairly abstract lithograph entitled Coloured Wall by Sean Scully, illustrate this diversity very well. The most expensively estimated lot is Villas near the Sea, Cassis (1913) by Roderic O’Conor (€70,000-€100,000). At the other end of the cost scale is a 1980 photograph of Samuel Beckett by John Minihan (€300-€500) and an oil on board of The Rosses, Co. Donegal by Estella Solomons (€500-€750).
Artists are often fascinated by the unformed drawings of the very young. At first glance Primrose Hill by Frank Auerbach – a series of crayon squiggles on a page – looks like something your average two or three year old might have produced. The clue is in the title. Look more closely and an image of Hampstead Heath on a summer day emerges, complete with winding path, trees, blue sky and approaching dark clouds. The colour range is precise. In his catalogue entry Peter Murray notes: “Much of the drawing’s zest and energy is created by this understanding of colour theory translated into action that underpins the seemingly random and chaotic marks and results in an impressive work of art created from the simplest materials”. Auerbach’s Primrose Hill (€15,000-€25,000) is indeed fascinating and no, you could not do it yourself.
Union Hall, West Cork by Donald Teskey. UPDATE: THIS MADE 29,000 AT HAMMER
Union Hall by Donald Teskey presents a beguiling picture of the charming west Cork fishing village and is estimated at €20,000-€30,000.
The catalogue cover lot is a screenprint by Andy Warhol titled Ladies and Gentlemen II.135 (1975). The estimate is €7,000-€9,000. A William Scott screenprint, Still Life with Frying Pan and Eggs, is estimated at €5,000-€7,000 and there are etchings and prints by Georges Braque, Damien Hirst, Mr. Brainwash and Joan Miro whose La Megere et La Lune (1973) was published by Maeght Paris and numbered 36 from an edition of 50. A pencil drawing of Dock St., Belfast by L.S. Lowry dates to 1964 and is estimated at €15,000-€20,000.
Master of Money and Mirrors by Conor Harrington. UPDATE: THIS MADE 40,000 AT HAMMER
Master of Money and Mirrors is an oil on canvas by the Cork artist Conor Harrington whose street art propelled him to fame. He is now represented in a growing number of collections and this piece is estimated at €40,000-€60,000. Portrait of a Lady by Dublin born Genieve Figgis, whose use of Twitter propelled her to the international stage, is estimated at €30,000-€50,000.
A portrait of a lady in a white dress by Cork born Adam Buck (1759-1833) is estimated at €2,000-€3,000 and a unique 3D wood relief by Maser has an estimate of €4,000-€6,000. There is sculpture by, among others, John Behan, Rowan Gillespie, Helen Walsh, Patrick O’Reilly, Siobhan Bulfin and Mark Rode.
Viewing takes place in Skibbereen on today, tomorrow and Monday and in Dublin at the RDS from April 5 to April 8. The auction will begin to close at 6.30 pm on April 9.
No to War by Patrick O’Reilly. UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,400 AT HAMMER
A World War I British Army recruitment poster featuring Inchigeelagh born Victoria Cross recipient Michael O’Leary comes up as lot 18 at O’Donovan’s online auction in Newcastlewest on April 3. He was awarded Britain’s most prestigious award for gallantry for single handedly charging and destroying two German barricades defended by machine gun positions at Cuinchy in France in 1915.
Subsequently feted in London and Macroom he was jeered by Ulster Volunteers during a recruitment drive in Ballaghaderreen in the autumn of 1915. This caused such a scandal that it was raised in the Houses of Parliament. O’Leary, who died in London in 1961, served in France in the same regiment as British actor Stanley Holloway and the two, both born in 1890, remained lifelong friends. Holloway often stayed at The May Fair Hotel where O’Leary was concierge. The recruitment poster is estimated at €150-€250. The contents of two pubs in Cork and Limerick will be offered by O’Donovan’s. The auction offers collectibles and many items of interest including a Michael Collins portrait poster, a Dan Breen wanted poster, an Allman’s Irish Whisky mirror, advertising signs and road signs of various sorts.
