Francois Xavier-Lalanne (1927-2008) – Rhinocrétaire I sold for €18,335,000
Francois Xavier-Lalanne’s unique 1964 piece Rhinocrétaire I made €18,335,000 at a dedicated stand alone single lot auction at Christie’s in Paris today. This is a new world record for Lalanne. His first major sculpture had been estimated at €4-€6 million. Rhinocrétaire I first appeared at Jeanine Restany’s trailblazing Galerie J in the artist’s debut joint exhibition with his wife Claude Lalanne. A functional, metamorphic work, Rhinocrétaire I is at once a bar, an illuminated writing desk, and a seminal early sculpture that foreshadows the poetic exuberance and preternatural inventions that defined the artist’s work for the next forty-four years. Exhibited only one other time, at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in 2010, Rhinocrétaire I has remained in the private collection of the same French family since the 1964 Galerie J. exhibition.
A 1915 gold award medal from Trinity College, Dublin presented to pioneering biochemist William Robert Fearon (1892-1959) made a hammer price of £6,500 at Noonans sale of Historical Medals in London this week. The top lot of the auction, from an Irish collector, had been estimated at £2,400-3,000. It attracted interest from all over the world and was purchased by a collector in the Far East. The medal achieved a record price for any medal from Trinity College Dublin.
William Robert Fearon (1892-1959), pioneer biochemist was educated at St Andrew’s College, Dublin between 1908-11, followed by Trinity College between 1911-17, where he received a BA in natural science and was awarded the gold medal, a Harvey research prize from the Royal College of Physicians, Dublin in 1918, and the Carmichael prize from the Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin. He went on to work as a researcher for the British food ministry and the food investigations board between 1917-19. He was a Mackinnon research student of the Royal Society at Emmanuel College, Cambridge from 1919-21 and was elected fellow of Trinity College Dublin in 1921. The chair of biochemistry at Trinity was founded for him in 1943 and he represented the Dublin University constituency in Seanad Éireann from 1943 until 1959, sitting on many government committees.
A PAIR OF LATE LOUIS XV GILTWOOD AND WHITE-PAINTED FAUTEUILS – Price Realized: $6,221,000 Louis Delanois, Joseph-Nicolas Guichard, Jean-Baptiste Cagny, supplied to Madame Du Barry for Château De Louveciennes, Circa 1770-1771
The landmark Rothschild auction series at Christie’s in New York totalled $62,656,516. There was strong demand for decorative arts of all categories and price levels, and underscoring the enduring power of the Rothschild provenance on both sides of the Atlantic. The four sales averaged 280 percent sold hammer above low estimate, and 98 percent sold by lot. Millennial buyers accounted for an average of 15 percent of bidders and buyers across the week, and bidders and buyers from 40 nations participated. Christie’s broke the record for European 18th century seat furniture and then broke that record in the very same sale. Records were also set for Hispano-Moresque and Bernard Palissy earthenware as well as for 17th century flatware.
The series began with a sale of masterpieces. The leading lot was Gerrit Dou’s A young woman holding a hare with a boy at the window which made $7 million. A pair of late Louis XV gilt walnut fauteuils a la reine by the 18th-century French furniture maker Louis Delanoisset the record for 18th century European chairs making $4,406,00, and then shortly after that this record was broken again by a Delanois pair of late Louis XV giltwood and white-painted fauteuils, supplied to Madame Du Barry for her Château De Louveciennes, Circa 1770-1771, which made $6,221,000, the second-highest price ever for European chairs of any era.
George II Irish silver strainer, Dublin, 1727. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This early Irish silver tea strainer comes up at Sotheby’s online sale of the Edith and Stuary Cary Welch collection which opens today and runs until October 27. There is no makers mark on the 1727 piece and the two handles are engraved with a crest. The estimate is £1,500-2,500.
This 2004 work by Cy Twombly comes up as a highlight at Christie’s 21st century evening sale in New York on November 7. The work comes from the artist’s celebrated Bacchus series which stands as a culmination of Twombly’s fifty years of painterly practice. The iconic looping theme had been integral to his body of work since the meandering scrawl of his 1960s Blackboard paintings. The character of Bacchus (or Dionysus in Greek), god of revelry and wine, is a notable presence, employed repeatedly throughout Twombly’s career. The character is first referenced in his 1975 collage Dionysus, then again in a 1977 series on the theme of Bacchanalia, and once more in a 1981 triptych Bacchus.
The 2003 – 2008 Bacchus series is broken into three distinct sets. Untitled (Bacchus 1st Version II) comes from the first and is one of six portrait-format paintings Twombly completed in 2004, not exhibited until 2008 at the Red October Chocolate Factory in Moscow. This set includes the only works with text. Four, including the present example, are inscribed with ‘Psilax’ translating to “the Giver of Wings” a surname attributed to Dionysus. This work is estimated at $18. – $25 million.
Sixteen Jackies by Andy Warhol will be featured as a leading highlight at Christie’s 20th Century evening sale inn New York on November 9. This 1964 painting depicts a 4×4 grid of a repeated press image of First Lady Jackie Kennedy taken during her husband’s funeral procession. The work will come to auction a week and a half shy of the day marking the 60th year anniversary of JFK’s death. A seminal work by the 20th century icon, Sixteen Jackies sits at the pinnacle of the group of artworks that became known as his Death and Disaster paintings. It is estimated at $25 million – $35 million.
An inlaid ormolu mounted side table at Woodwards. UPDATE: THIS MADE 480 AT HAMMER
Collectors have much to choose from in a variety of upcoming sales up and down the country. Prime lots at Woodwards in Cork on October 21 include an inlaid ormolu mounted side table, a set of Queen Anne chairs with hoof feet, a walnut serpentine fronted desk, a William IV teapoy and a Havana cigar humidor. A Bechstein baby grand piano in perfect condition is a feature lot at Aidan Foley’s two day live and online sale at Kilcolgan, Co. Galway on October 21 and 22 at noon on each day. Meantime more than 500 lots will come under the hammer at R.J. Keighery’s sale in Waterford on October 16. Feature lots include a Victorian dining table with five leaves, a four piece Irish silver tea and coffee set, two 19th century ebonised burr walnut side cabinets with ormolu mounts and some Waterford Crystal chandeliers. In Bandon Hegarty’s will offer a selection of antique furniture, Asian ceramics, bronzes, silver and jewellery in a live online sale on the evening of October 17. The catalogue is online.
A Bechstein baby grand piano at Aidan Foley’s Galway sal
Longboats from the Vikings Valhalla tv series. UPDATE: ONE OF THE LONGBOATS MADE 8,000 AT HAMMER, THE OTHER WAS UNSOLD
If a full sized replica of a Viking longboat is what you really really want then Victor Mee’s two day sale in Belturbet and online on October 17, 18 and 19 is the place to be. Not one but two such longboats feature in the auction each estimated at €10,000-€20,000. With 1,348 lots on offer in a remarkable sale drawn from BG Salvage yard at Naas the diverse range features a Buccaneer fighter jet pilots ejector seat and cockpit cover, bronze ship horns converted to table lamps, retro chrome and upholstered swivel chairs, a chemist and opticians sign from Disney’s “Disenchanted”, hand painted wooden panels from the film Braveheart and whatever you are having yourself.
A pair of 18th century painted pine doors with carved panels. UPDATE: THESE MADE 900 AT HAMMER
Salvage comes in all shapes and forms so there is plenty to explore here, for both interior and exterior use.Along with offering basic salvaged items BG Salvage is a resource for film, tv and stage productions in search of props and decor. The working longboats, measuring 46 feet and 49 feet respectively, are from the filming of the TV drama series Vikings Valhalla. Also from this series is an oriental table decorated with fo dogs and 19th century benches. There is a French gilded gesso room originally from a French chateau and a chemist and opticians signs from Disney’s Disenchanted. Among the film props are painted panels from Braveheart, a gothic angel from Reign of Fire, a timber and glass shop front from Penny Dreadful. There is a big selection of more than 400 furniture lots including gilded armchairs from Carton House, stained pine armchairs from the Tudor TV series, bar stools with leather upholstered seats and retro chrome swivel chairs.
A Brunswick style ebonised bar UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
There is a Brunswick style ebonised bar counter with mirrored back and glass panels, a painted hardwood shop cabinet with eight glazed doors above a bank of 40 drawers, a pair of 18th century painted pine doors, 19th century pitch pine doors with copper and glass panels, bronze sculptures, bronze lamps with reeded panels, a heavily carved tribal throne chair, blacksmith forged railings, a 19th century Irish pine kitchen table and a good selection of unusual architectural items from marbleised plaster Corinthian columns to onyx pedestals and a fibreglass wall panel depicting a Knight Templar and a wooden porthole window. Viewing at BG Salvage in Naas is from noon to 5 pm today and tomorrow.
A pair of chrome swivel chairs. UPDATE: THESE MADE 900 AT HAMMER
SEAN SCULLY (B.1945) – Barcelona (1998). UPDATE: THIS MADE 60,000 AT HAMMER
Barcelona, a 1998 watercolour on paper by Sean Scully, is lot 16 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s Irish and International online art sale which runs until October 24. The estimate is 50,000-70,000. Viewing for the sale gets underway today in Skibbereen and continues over the weekend until Monday. The sale will be on view at the Minerva Suite of the RDS from October 20-23.
MIES VAN DER ROHE – A BARCELONA DAY BED UPDATE: THIS MADE 14,000 AT HAMMER
Designed in 1930 this Barcelona day bed by Mies van der Rohe comes up as lot 6 at de Veres art and design auction on October 24 in Dublin. The sale features around 200 lots of classic design Danish and Italian furniture and lighting by some of the major names of the 20th Century including Mies van Der Rohe, Ingmar Relling, Marcel Breuer, Charles & Ray Eames, Rolf Benz and Ligne Roset. The Barcelona day bed shares the same simple elegance as the iconic lounge chair of the same name and is estimated at €4,000-€6,000.
