antiquesandartireland.com

Information about Art, Antiques and Auctions in Ireland and around the world
  • ABOUT
  • About Des
  • Contact

    • Archive for the ‘AUCTIONS’ Category

    THE LADY OF THE DECORATION BY HARRY CLARKE AT ADAMS

    Saturday, September 20th, 2025

    The Lady of the Decoration by Harry Clarke UPDATE: THIS MADE 110,000 AT HAMMER

    The largest and most spectacular ink and watercolour by Harry Clarke highlights a collection of important works on paper by the artist at the James Adam sale of Important Irish Art on the evening of September 24. Commissioned by the Glasgow based paint manufacturers John Duthie and Sons for a wall calendar The Lady of the Decoration was executed in 1914 and carries an estimate of €60,000-€80,000.

    It is one of a number of illustrations by Clarke from various collections in the auction. The artist illustrated a number of books for the publisher George Harrap including Geothe’s Faust. An ink and watercolour drawing for the title page, an unpublished illustration for the 1925 edition, is estimated at €40,000-€60,000. An unfinished 1915 drawing for The Playboy of the Western World has an estimate of €20,000-€30,000. There are five original ink illustrations used in Harrap’s Faust (1915), Swinburne’s Selected Poems (1928) and The Fairy Tales of Perrault (1922) along with signed limited edition illustrated books and two stained glass panels by Harry Clarke of Dante and Beatrice.

    The sale offers a highly desirable selection by stalwarts of the Irish art scene like Jack B Yeats, Roderic O’Conor, William Scott, Sean Scully, Mainie Jellett, John Doherty and Gerard Dillon.

    Love Alloy and Perspex by Rowan Gillespie. UPDATE: THIS MADE 12,000 AT HAMMER

    The inspiration for Love, an alloy sculpture by Rowan Gillespie (€12,000-€18,000) is universal. It depicts two figures divided by a sheet of perspex. “One of the first pieces I made after getting married in 1976” the sculptor explained, “when I realised that it wasn’t so easy. All the best intentions, but so often a barrier of misunderstanding separated us”.

    The universality and timelessness of art is apparent in the inspiration for Sean Scully’s watercolour Robe (€30,000-€50,000). The source is a medieval manuscript, the Book of Durrow at TCD. The artist was struck by the elaborate geometric chequerboard pattern on the robe worn by St. Matthew the Evangelist resembling nothing so much as an abstract composition transported back through time. The auction is now on view at Adams and the catalogue is online.

    The autumn art sale season is well and truly upon us.  Whytes sale of Irish and International art in Dublin on September 29 offers many exciting opportunities for collectors and will be on view at Molesworth St. from next Monday. The catalogue cover lot is le Brocquy’s Image of Samuel Beckett from 1980 (€100,000-€150,000).

    The catalogue for the Irish Art Auction by de Veres on September 30 is online and the sale of 230 lots is open for bidding.  It offers lots by Martin Gale, Barbara Warren, Robert Taylor Carson, Basil Ivan Rakoczi and many more.  There will be a sale of Irish and International art by Gormley’s on September 30.

    The Vet’s Surgery, Schull by John Doherty. UPDATE: THIS MADE 16,000 AT HAMMER

    Tags: , ,
    Posted in ART, AUCTIONS | No Comments »

    SEAN SCULLY ROBE SERIES WORK AT ADAMS IRISH ART AUCTION

    Thursday, September 18th, 2025

    Sean Scully (b.1945) – Robe (2002). UPDATE: THIS MADE 30,000 AT HAMMER

    This watercolour over pencil by Sean Scully comes up as lot 40 at the James Adam sale of Important Irish Art on September 24. The estimate is €30,000-€50,000. The initial inspiration for the robe series was the Book of Durrow at Trinity College, Dublin, dated to the latter half of the 7th Century. Scully was taken with a page featuring a remarkable representation of St Matthew the Evangelist. The saint is attired in a lavish robe with a flatly rendered geometric chequerboard pattern, incorporating diagonal panels. It’s so striking it appears anachronistic, as though an abstract composition has been transported back through time. Viewing for the auction gets underway in Dublin on September 19 and the catalogue is online.

    Tags: , ,
    Posted in ART, AUCTIONS | No Comments »

    COMPLETE SET OF CUSTOMS HOUSE MASKS MAKES €125,000

    Wednesday, September 17th, 2025

    RORY BRESLIN (B. 1963) – Custom House Keystones. UPDATE: THESE MADE €125,000 at hammer

    A complete set of 14 patinated bronze masks of the Custom House keystones of the rivers of Ireland by Rory Breslin made a hammer price of €125,000 at Sheppards Irish and International art sale in Durrow. The Original Set of 14 – Liffey, Erne, Foyle, Slaney, Nore, Suir, Lagan, Lee, Shannon, Bann, Atlantic, Blackwater, Barrow and Boyne – were from the artist’s private collection. They are cast after the original keystones carved by Edward Smyth (1749–1812) for the Custom House, Dublin, c. 1791. This exceptional series reimagines one of the great achievements of Irish neoclassical sculpture: the monumental keystones personifying the Atlantic and the principal rivers of Ireland.  Smyth’s original carvings, designed under architect James Gandon, embodied the aspirations of an Irish Parliament-era Dublin. Each head is laden with symbolic attributes — maritime emblems, flora, fauna, and produce — evoking the geography, economy, and folklore of its river basin. Breslin’s Variations project captures these qualities with striking fidelity while revealing the energy, texture, and modelling of the originals through the medium of bronze.

    An Abstract Constructivist Composition (Study) c1920’s by Thorvald Hellesen made €33,000 over a top estimate of €9,000.

    (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for September 15, 2025).

    THORVALD HELLESEN (NORWEGIAN, 1888 – 1937) – Abstract Constructive Composition (Study) 

    Tags: , ,
    Posted in ART, AUCTIONS | No Comments »

    DOWNTON ABBEY AUCTION SUCCESS AT BONHAMS

    Tuesday, September 16th, 2025

    The Grantham family car, a 1925 Sunbeam Saloon, sold for £172,500 including premium.

    The Grantham family car and the Downton Abbey bell wall were highlights of the Downton Abbey auction which ran online at Bonhams until September 16. The car made £172,500, the wall of bells from the servants quarters sold for £216,300 including premium against an estimate of £5,000-£7,000. The bell wall was first seen in Season 1, in the Servant’s Hall and made by the Art Department’s model makers. It was an integral part of the Downton Abbey world and featured from the first season to the last. The 267 lot auction achieved £1.7 million, more than six times the pre-sale estimate, and was 100% sold.

    (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for August 16, 2025)

    The Downton Abbey bell wall sold for £216,300 including premium.

    Tags: ,
    Posted in AUCTIONS, COLLECTIBLES, Miscellaneous | No Comments »

    THE GENIUS OF PAUL HENRY ON DISPLAY IN THIS WORK AT WHYTE’S

    Tuesday, September 16th, 2025

    Paul Henry – In Connemara. UPDATE: THIS MADE 90,000 AT HAMMER

    This oil on panel by Paul Henry with an estimate of €90,000-€120,000 is among the leading lots at Whyte’s sale of Irish and International art in Dublin on September 29. Painted in the open air three cottages viewed from above are located in the bottom third of the image. In a catalogue note Dr. Mary Cosgrove observes that: The freedom and spontaneity that this little sketch demonstrates was learnt by Henry in Paris. The technique derives from the ébauche stage of the academic system of painting that affected the practice of landscape painting in particular and led to the development of Impressionism. Henry’s genius lay in amalgamating his artist’s eye with this training whilst still leaving space for the emotion to dwell in. At the same time he was painting what he saw and what people recognised, a new realism in Irish art.

    Tags: ,
    Posted in ART, AUCTIONS | No Comments »

    TWO CENTURIES OF ART AT SHEPPARDS AUCTION

    Monday, September 15th, 2025

    Thorvald Hellesen – Abstract Constructivist Composition (Study) UPDATE: THIS MADE 9,000 AT HAMMER

    Viewing is underway in Durrow for Sheppards evening sale of important Irish art on September 16.  With 263 lots the sale spans two centuries, from 19th century landscapes from artists like William Ashford (1746-1824)  to bold contemporary work from artists like Felim Egan and Sean Scully.  My Country, a c1956 work by Dan O’Neill is estimated at €20,000-€30,000 as is Ballycastle Bay, Co. Mayo (2021) by Donald Teskey. There is sculpture by John Behan, Sionbhan Bulfin, Rory Breslin and others, a box set by Banksy of the Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem City, Palestine, a watercolour by Jean Dufy and a c1920’s Abstract Constructivist Composition (Study) by the Norwegian artist Thorvald Hellesen (1888-1937), an early adopter of Cubism in Scandinavia, influenced by Leger and the Parisian avant-garde.

    Tags: ,
    Posted in ART, AUCTIONS | No Comments »

    WARHOL AND BANKSY AT SHEEN FALLS, A KERRY YEATS AT ADAMS

    Sunday, September 14th, 2025

    Turfcutter by Liam O’Neill

    Getting to see Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, Banksy, Julian Opie and Salvador Dale in Kerry – where Jack B Yeats went to study Irish in 1913 – is not an opportunity that arises every day.  In latter years Gormley’s have attracted tens of thousands of people to exhibitions of Irish and international art and sculpture in luxurious settings like the K Club, the Culloden Estate and Spa and Castlemartyr Resort.

    Set in stunning natural surroundings Sheen Falls Lodge in Kenmare will be added to this list from tomorrow.

    There will be a striking collection of outdoor sculpture along with an exhibition of new work by the renowned Kerry artist Liam O’Neill.   Art at the Falls runs from tomorrow until October 12, but there are certain days when it will be closed so it is advisable to check before travelling.

    The artist Jack B Yeats spent time learning Irish in Kerry in 1913 and produced a series of landscapes from around Mount Brandon, Lough Gill, Castlegregory and Tralee Bay. A small oil on board from that period entitled Hot Weather/A Hot Day will feature at the sale of Important Irish Art at James Adam in Dublin on September 24.  The estimate is €40,000-€60,000.

    Jack B Yeats – Hot Weather/A Hot Day 1913. UPDATE: THIS MADE 69,OOO AT HAMMER

    Tags: , ,
    Posted in ART, AUCTIONS | No Comments »

    TREASURES FROM CASTLE MATRIX AT FOLEY AUCTION

    Saturday, September 13th, 2025

    Some of the guns to be sold from the collection at Castle Matrix.

    Hidden in plain sight the treasures of Castle Matrix  – mostly to be sold without reserve at three online evening sales by Aidan Foley – are many and varied.  Militaria, books and collectibles from a collector with an inquiring mind who led a fascinating life will come under the hammer.

    Col. Sean O’Driscoll was aide to General Douglas MacArthur when he accepted the Japanese surrender in 1945.  On retirement in 1961 the Irish-American officer bought and restored Castle Matrix near Rathkeale, originally built around 1420, opening it for mediaeval banquets in 1971. Castle Matrix served as headquarters of the International Institute of Military History and the Heraldry Society of Ireland and it remained open for tours until the colonel’s death in 1991. 

    A large rug and some uniforms

    Take a deep dive into the auction by Aidan Foley in Doneraile on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday week (September 22, 23 and 24) and there is no knowing what you might find.  More than 300 lots of books will be sold in an auction with a total of 997 lots.

    The extensive library contains works on everything from war, ancient and modern Irish culture, English homes and Scottish castles to mystic Madame Blavatsky who once told WB Yeats: “There are only about half a dozen real Theosophists in the world.  And one of those is stupid”.  O’Driscoll must have had a real interest in the occult.  His castle is reputedly haunted by the murdered 9th Earl of Desmond and in an address to the Fellowship of Isis in 1976 he claimed the poet Edmund Spenser, Sir Walter Raleigh and the wizard Earl of Desmond had practiced magic there.  

    Isis Unveiled by Madame Blavatsky

    You can’t shoot a ghost but more than 50 guns from a military man and a collector are on offer. Flintlock pistols, double barrel shotguns, rifles with bayonets and even a Colt revolver along with accoutrements like an armoured tank telescope and the tunic of an American platoon sergeant are there to be picked up.

    In storage at Collins Barracks, Cork over the years the guns will be sold under strict conditions. Some are decommissioned, others not, and no drug dealers need apply.  There will be limited viewing of the firearms at the Doneraile auction rooms where the sale will be on view for four days from next Friday (September 19).

    Many of the Japanese swords he collected with discrimination were sold by Whyte’s in 2017.  Available now is a selection of art, Irish silver, Persian rugs, porcelain, antique and vintage furniture.  Among the artists featured are Ivan Sutton, Markey Robinson, Graham Knuttel, John Kingerlee, James Humbert Craig, Michael Hales, Louis le Brocquy, Picasso (a lithograph) and pencil drawings by John Butler Yeats.  The catalogue is online.

    Library of Congress Washington Papers, 1775-80 

    Tags: , , ,
    Posted in ART, AUCTIONS, COLLECTIBLES, FURNITURE | No Comments »

    LURE OF PURE KASHMIR SAPPHIRES PROVES STRONG AT ADAMS

    Thursday, September 11th, 2025

    KASHMIR SAPPHIRE: A VERY RARE EARLY 20TH CENTURY SAPPHIRE AND DIAMOND BROOCH, CIRCA 1905 SOLD FOR €540,000 AT HAMMER

    Two Kashmir sapphires made just under €1.1 million at the James Adam sale of fine jewellery in Dublin. A c1900 sapphire and diamond brooch with a central stone of 8.24 carats (pictured below) made a hammer price of €550,000 over a top estimate €300,000. The c1905 sapphire and diamond brooch pictured above with a central stone of 6.53 carats made €540,000 at hammer over a top estimate of €250,000.

    (See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for August 22 and May 13, 2025)

    This c1900 sapphire and diamond brooch made €550,000 at hammer.

    Tags: ,
    Posted in AUCTIONS, Miscellaneous | No Comments »

    IRISH ART ONLINE AT MORGAN O’DRISCOLL SALE

    Thursday, September 11th, 2025

    Mark O’Neill (b.1963) – Sunlight in the Old Town, Nice (2010). UPDATE: THIS MADE 8,000 AT HAMMER

    This oil on board by Mark O’Neill is at Morgan O’Driscoll’s current Irish art online auction which runs until September 15. The estimate is €4,000-6,000. The auction offers a wide variety of artists, from Graham Knuttel and Mr. Brainwash to Sir William Orpen and Sean Scully. The catalogue is online.

    Tags: , ,
    Posted in ART, AUCTIONS | No Comments »

    « Older Entries
    Newer Entries »