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    TOP TEN IRISH ARTWORKS OF 2010 AT JAMES ADAM

    Friday, January 14th, 2011

    Lingering Sun, O'Connell St., once in the collection of John Huston was the most expensive Irish artwork sold at James Adam in 2010.

    Yeats, le Brocquy, Dillon, Lavery and Henry are all in the top ten of Irish artworks sold by James Adam in 2010.  Ireland’s largest auction house reported today that the total hammer price for the Irish art sales in their salesrooms was 4,873,030 in 2010, a 52 per cent increase over the 2009 figure of 3,216,150.

    The top ten Irish artworks sold at Adams last year are: Jack B. Yeats “Lingering Sun,O’Connell Bridge,Dublin”, 140,000 on  6/12/10; Louis Le Brocquy “Adam & Eve” (Aubusson Tapestry), 100,000 on 6/12/10; Louis Le Brocquy “Allegory” (Aubusson Tapestry), 80,000 on 6/12/10; Gerard Dillon “Mending the nets, Aran”, 80,000 on 2/6/10; Sir John Lavery “Portrait of Mrs Arthur Franklin”, 75,000 on 2/6/10;  Paul Henry “The Bog Road”  72,000 on 13/10/10;  Gerard Dillon “Italian washer women” 68,000 on 6/12/10; Mary Swanzy “A hilltop town in the South of France” 66,000 on 6/12/10;  Colin Middleton Opus 1 No. 41 Esmeralda (1942) 62,000 on 2/6/10 and  Daniel O’Neill “Figures on a beach,Newcastle 1928” 60,000 on 6/12/10.
    James Adam reports that the demand for high quality artworks was very strong. “Many purchasers were encouraged back into buying by the apparent good value and the increasing supply of quality, well provenanced and new to the market pieces”.
    They say:  “We took the view, early on, that it is vital for vendors to forget the bloated excesses of the height of the market and accept the new realities of life in 2010/ 2011. Those that did accept this advice were well rewarded as pieces with conservative estimates generally exceeded expectations. This phenomenon was confirmed by the very high sales rates which on average were 82% which is significantly higher than any other auction house”.
    The auction house reports that demand for ‘Blue Chip’ artists’ work is increasing while the demand for more contemporary artists’ work is definitely softening.  The years highlight was the sale of artworks from the Bank of Ireland collection.
    See antiquesandartireland.com posts for December 6 and November 30.

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    MADERSON WORK EVOCATIVE OF AN IRELAND THAT STILL EXISTS

    Tuesday, January 11th, 2011

    Arthur Maderson's Stepping Out at Dolans Art Auction. (click to enlarge) UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR 4,500

    This evocative painting by Arthur Maderson, entitled Stepping Out, features at Dolan’s art auction in Cork on January 23 next. Though not an image of contemporary, recession torn Ireland it does capture a somewhat hidden Ireland that continues to exist, line dancing included.
    A few months ago, at the annual away outing of the Munster Press Golf Society, I found myself at an old style music session and ceili in the clubhouse on the Dundrum House Hotel golf resort in Co. Tipperary.
    People from around the area regularly travel for miles to attend this midweek event in the bar of the clubhouse. This work evokes the enjoyable, devil-may-care and decidedly retrospective atmosphere of that evening in October 2010. The golf course is good too.
    The Dolan’s affordable Irish art sale takes place at Rochestown Park Hotel in Cork on Sunday, January 23 at 3 p.m.  Viewing is from January 21.  This is lot number 111 from that sale of 233 lots and it is estimated at 3,000-4,000, making it one of the more expensively estimated works on the catalogue.
    The sale features a number of works from the studio of Thelma Mansfield, the former RTE presenter who left the station in the 1990’s to pursue a career in painting.  There is art by a variety of painters and sculptors on offer including Kenneth Webb, John Schwatschke, Mat Grogan, Markey Robinson, Denis Orme Shaw,  Graham Knuttel,  John Kingerlee, Elizabeth le Jeune, Emer Byrne  and Sian Maguire.

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    WARHOL SELF PORTRAIT AT CHRISTIE’S LONDON

    Tuesday, January 11th, 2011

    Monumental Warhol self-portrait. (click on image to enlarge) UPDATE: IT MADE £10,793,250

    THIS re-discovered self-portrait by Andy Warhol (1928-1987) from 1967 comes up at Christie’s in London on February 16.  Completely unpublished, it has been in a private collection since 1974 when it was acquired from Leo Castelli, Warhol’s primary dealer.  The six foot square work is one of an historic series of 11 large-scale self-portraits executed in 1967, five of which are in museums (Tate, London; The Staatsgalerie Moderne Kunst, Munich; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and two at the Detroit Institute for Arts).

    Francis Outred, Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art, Christie’s Europe: “I’m incredibly excited at the prospect of offering this rediscovered masterpiece by Andy Warhol. At the time of its execution Warhol was at the peak of his creative powers and this very rare series of works were the largest self-portraits he had made. This work shows a classic image of the artist in an imposing, larger than life scale, with an extraordinary presence of thick, red paint. That five of the works from this series are in museums is a testament to their importance.”
    It will be offered at the Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction and is expected to realise £3 million to £5 million.
    A shot up Warhol portrait of Mao Zedong made $302,500 at Christie’s in New York on January 11, more than 10 times its high estimate. Easy Rider start Denis Hopper shot two bullet holes through the 1972 portrait. A friend of the actor, who died aged 74 last May, explained that Hopper saw the Mao out of the corner of his eye in the shadows and was so spooked that he shot at it. A delighted Warhol called him a collaborator and labelled the damage  “warning shot” and ” bullet hole”.   It had been estimated at $20,000 to $30,000.
    UPDATE|  It made £10,793,250.

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    JOHN LENNONS FERRARI TO BE SOLD AT BONHAMS, PARIS ON FEBRUARY 5

    Tuesday, January 11th, 2011

    John Lennon's blue Ferrari

    JOHN LENNON’S 1965 Ferrari GT coupe will be sold at Bonhams sale of motor cars at the Grand Palais, Paris on February 5.  It is estimated at 120,000-170,000 euro.
    Philip Norman recounts in his biography John Lennon – A Life: ‘In February 1965, John passed his driving test, an event that made headline news across the nation. Within hours, every luxury car dealership in the Weybridge area, hoping for business, jammed the road outside Kenwood’s security gates with Maseratis, Aston Martins, and Jaguar XK-E. John strolled out to inspect this gleaming smorgasbord, eventually selecting a £2,000 light blue Ferrari.’
    Better known is Lennon’s Rolls-Royce Phantom V Limousine delivered two months later and subsequently painted in psychedelic colours.
    UPDATE:  The car was withdrawn two days before the auction.  Bonhams say this was due to “seller’s remorse”.

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    OLD MASTERS FROM ACROSS EUROPE AT SOTHEBY’S IN NEW YORK

    Friday, January 7th, 2011

    The Madonna and Child enthroned with Angels, flanked by St. Bridget and the Archangel Michael at Sotheby's in New York. (click to enlarge)

    SIGNIFICANT works by artists from across Europe feature at Sotheby’s Important Old Master Paintings & Sculpture sale in New York on January 27.  This sale features Titian’s Sacra Conversazione (see antiquesandartireland.com post for November 2) estimated at $15/$20 million.

    Among the works to be sold by the J. Paul Getty Museum to benefit future painting acquisitions is
    The Madonna and Child Enthroned with Angels and Flanked by Saint Bridget and the Archangel Michael.  Erroneously known as “The Poggibonsi Triptych”  the work has been attributed to the as-yet-unidentified Master of Pratovecchio, who worked in and around Florence in the mid-15th century. It is estimated at $200/300,000.
    The afternoon session of Old Master Paintings and Sculpture is led by an Italian marble relief portrait of Cosimo I de ‘Medici by Baccio Bandinelli, executed just prior to the future Grand Duke’s rise to power in 1537.
    Luis Meléndez’s Still Life with Tomatoes, a Bowl of Aubergines and Onions leads the Spanish paintings.   It is estimated at $1.5/2 million.  A popular exhibition of 40 still lifes by Meléndez (1716-1780), organised in collaboration with the Prado Museum in Madrid, was held at the National Gallery of Ireland in the summer of 2004.

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    GAUGUIN STILL LIFE AT CHRISTIE’S

    Friday, January 7th, 2011
    GAUGUIN’S Nature morte à “L’Espérance is the highlight of Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art evening sale in London on February 9. Christie’s Art of the Surreal sale takes place on the same evening.
    The pre-sale estimate of £73,880,000 to £109,060,000 is the second highest for the February Impressionist sales at Christie’s in London.  The corresponding estimate in 2010 was £56.5 million to £80.8 million.
    Paul Gauguin’s (1848-1903) historically important still life was painted in 1901 when he was still living in Tahiti.  The work has been exhibited at over 20 major museum exhibitions including the artist’s first landmark Retrospective at the Grand Palais, Paris, in 1906. It is expected to realise £7 million to £10 million.
    Four works to be sold by the Art Institute of Chicago are led by Nature morte à la guitare (rideaux rouge) by Georges Braque (1882-1963) (estimate: £3.5 million to £5.5 million).
    A collection of works on paper by Paul Gauguin made in France and Tahiti between 1894 and 1902 will be sold at Sotheby’s in London on March 30.  From the Collection of Stanley J. Seeger, the American privagte collector, the ten works have a well-recorded provenance. They can be traced back in most cases directly to the artist. The group will lead the sale of Old Master, Modern and Contemporary Prints, and is estimated at £430,000-574,000.
    UPDATE:   There was disappointment when this work failed to sell in an otherwise sucessful auction that realised £84.9 million.  It was suggested that the brown colour of the work had something to do with this.

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    LAST SKETCH MADE BY YEATS AT BONHAMS

    Tuesday, January 4th, 2011

    Roundabout Ponies by Jack B. Yeats. (click to enlarge) IT SOLD FOR £5,760

    The last sketch by Jack B. Yeats (1871-1957) has been consigned by the family of his former nurse to Bonhams first Irish art sale in London on February 9 next.  The pen and ink drawing, `Roundabout ponies’, measures just over 5 x 4 inches and is estimated at £1,500-2,000.

    It was gifted by the artist to the matron of Portobello Nursing Home in Dublin, where he died. They had been friends for a long time.
    Yeats Catalogue Raisonne author Hilary Pyle says of it: “He died on 28 March 1957. His last drawing, a tiny gay swirling sketch of two roundabout ponies on writing paper, was drawn two days before.”

    Penny Day, head of Irish art at Bonhams, said:  ”This little gem exhibits the unique artistic vitality he had right to the end.”
    See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for September 15 and December 22.
    UPDATE:  IT MADE £5,760 INCLUSIVE OF BUYER’S PREMIUM.

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    BACON BY LE BROCQUY AT BONHAMS

    Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010
    Bacon by le Brocquy is a feature lot at Bonhams first dedicated Irish art sale in London on February 9.

    Bacon by le Brocquy. (click to enlarge)

    An evocative portrait of Francis Bacon by Ireland’s foremost living artist, Louis le Brocquy, is estimated at £60,000 to £80,000.  Bonhams reckon the watercolour is one of the most significant lots to feature in the New Bond Street sale.

    Louis le Brocquy is on record as saying: “Contrary to a generally held view, I think that painting is not in any direct sense a means of communication or a means of self-expression. When you are painting you are trying to discover, to uncover, to reveal. I sometimes think of the activity of painting as a kind of archaeology – an archaeology of the spirit.”
    le Brocquy painted his friend Francis Bacon several times.  He set out to capture “the Baconness of Bacon”. The example at Bonham’s Irish sale is more representational than most.
    Penny Day, Head of Irish Art at Bonhams, says: “It is rare to find an image that combines the names and reputations of two giants of British and Irish art, in this instance as artist and sitter”.
    The worldwide reputation of Francis Bacon, who was born in Ireland, has grown steadily since his death in 1992. His South Kensington Studio has been re-constructed at the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin using the original door, walls, floors, ceiling and shelves. Over 7,000 items were catalogued on a specially designed database before their replacement.
    See antiquesandartireland.com post for September 15

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    MARKEY ROBINSON’S BLUE DOOR AT FIRST IRISH ART AUCTION OF 2011

    Monday, December 20th, 2010

    The Blue Door by Markey Robinson. (click to enlarge) UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR 3,000

    Girl Looking at an Andy Warhol is the title of this limited edition print by Robert Ballagh. (click to enlarge). This was unsold.

    The Blue Door by Markey Robinson dates from the 1960’s.  It is among the 250 works to feature in an affordable Irish art auction by Matthews Fine Art at Oldcastle, Co. Meath on Sunday January 2 at 3 p.m. Estimates range from 200 to 8,000.
    Artists whose work will feature include Percy French, Peter Collis, Colin Davison, Robert Ballagh, J.P. Donleavy, Markey Robinson, Patrick O’Reilly, Graham Knuttel, Sean Scully, Brian Ballard and Gladys McCabe.
    There is a collection of around 100 framed decorative oil paintings from the liquidator of an hotel group.  The Blue Door has an estimate of 3,000-5,000.  Robert Ballagh’s limited edition print entitled Girl looking at an Andy Warhol is estimated at 1,500-2,500.
    There will be viewing on New Year’s Eve from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., from noon to 5 p.m. on New Year’s Day and from noon to the start of the sale at 3 p.m. on January 2.
    UPDATE:  Percy French ‘Sunset over the Bog’  made 3,900, Markey Robinson ‘The Blue Door’ made 3,000, Elizabeth Brophy ‘The Grassy Beach’ made 1,800, Alice Maher ‘Night Garden Series’ 60″ made 3,800, Neil Shawcross ‘Standing Nude’ 26″ made 1,700, Ted Jones, ‘The Reader’, made 2,400, Breon O’Casey, ‘Abstract with Red’ made 1,850, Patrick O’Reilly, ‘A conference of Crows’ Bronze, Unique 23″ made 4,800 and Colin Davison, ‘Standing Nude, Morning Light,’ made 3,000.


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    RECORD BREAKING WINE SALES AT SOTHEBY’S

    Monday, December 20th, 2010
    THE Season to be Merry extended year round in some quarters.  Sotheby’s wine auctions in 2010 brought an overall global total of US$88,270,602.  This is more than double the figure for 2009 and the highest in the company’s forty years of wine auctions. There was extraordinary demand from Asian collectors with every bottle offered in eight Hong Kong auctions finding a buyer and major Asian participation in London and Hong Kong sales.  Globally 99% of wine lots found buyers, and all 23 auctions exceeded the high estimate.
    The Asian sales were led by the two auctions of wine direct from the Châteaux – Cheval Blanc, Yquem and Dom Pérignon which fetched $2.6 million in May and Lafite Ex Cellars which brought $8.3 million in October.
    There was a new record for a single standard sized bottle at the Ex Cellars sale when a bottle of Château Lafite 1869 sold for $232,692.
    Sotheby’s will offer the Andrew Lloyd Webber Wine Collection in Hong Kong on January 22 next.

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