Art auctioneers Whyte’s, who enjoyed a record breaking year in 2019, will kick off their 2020 art selling season on March 9. The evening sale of Irish and International Art at the RDS in Dublin includes works by Yeats, Paul Henry, William Conor, Beatrice Glenavy, William Sadler, Nathaniel Hone the elder, Louis le Brocquy, Tony O’Malley, Donald Teskey, Barrie Cooke and many more. Whyte’s results in 2019 were aided in no small part by the record breaking November sale of the Ernie O’Malley Collection at which two works by Yeats soared past the million euro barrier. A 1948 Yeats, Rusty Gates, is the most expensively estimated lot in this upcoming sale with an estimate of €100,000-150,000. It depicts two elderly gentleman standing before a gateway in a high stone wall in a setting reminiscent of Co. Wicklow with a Sugar Loaf like mountain in the background.The first ROSC exhibition in Dublin at the RDS in 1967 was built around 50 of the “best” living artists at that time and included Francis Bacon, Willem de Kooning, Roy Lichtenstein, Joan Miro and Pablo Picasso. Among those exhibiting was Polish artist Tadeusz Brzozowski (1918-1987). His work Mastiff from that show returns to the RDS to go under the hammer as Lot 53 with an estimate of €80,000-100,000. The Bog Road by Paul Henry dates to 1917-1923 and is estimated at €50,000-70,000, Stage Girls by Daniel O’Neill is estimated at €30,000-50,000 and works by Sir John Lavery include two portraits and a painting of two cigarette girls in Seville in colourful costume. There is art by Gerard Dillon, Colin Middleton and George Campbell and Reclining Woman by Roderic O’Conor is estimated at €15,000-20,000. Large oils by John Shinnors and Donald Teskey, Sculptor’s Scarecrow and Coastal Report II are each estimated at €10,000-15,000, Mayo Summer by Tony O’Malley is estimated at €15,000-20,000, Rakaia Gorge I by Barrie Cooke is estimated at €6,000-8,000 as is an Aubusson tapestry from the 1970’s by Patrick Scott.The Embarkation of King George IV at Kingstown 1821 by William Sadler II is full of minute detail recording the historic visit to Ireland by the British monarch. The King arrived drunk and suspicions persisted that the main purpose of the trip was to visit his mistress, Lady Conyngham at Slane Castle. The visit was presented as a success and Lot 98 is estimated at €12,000-18,000.There are 200 lots on the catalogue, which is online.
