Titans of modern British, European and American art like Patrick Caulfield, Bridget Riley, Karl Appel, Milton Avery and Lucien Freud and a selection of sleek designer pieces by Italian, French, Finnish and Danish designers make for a fascinating Mid-Century Modern sale at James Adam in Dublin on May 10. No less than 28 of the 216 lots on offer are from the estate of a deceased Dublin collector with a deep interest in Modern art. A collection like this one offers a variety of once off opportunities with rich pickings for the significant band of Irish collectors with a growing appreciation of this relatively recent period. It provided the catalogue cover lot, Patrick Caulfield’s Coach Lamp from 1994 purchased from the Waddington Galleries in London and now estimated at €40,000-€60,000.
Three Squares in Yellow by Patrick Heron, regarded as one of the finest colourists of the 20th century, dates to 1960 and is estimated at €20,000-€30,000. Two Pines by the American artist Milton Avery, who is to be the focus of an exhibition at the Royal Academy this summer, is a mixed media work with an estimate of €20,000-€30,000 and Lucian Freud contributes an etching titled Head of a Man which dates to 1986/87 and comes with an estimate of €15,000-€20,000. There are paintings and drawings by Karl Appel, Jean Dubuffet, Josef Herman and Max Libermann. Among the Mod Brit artists on offer are Ben Nicholson, Graham Sutherland, Sir Terry Frost and Matthew Smith.
A set of six Les Arc chairs with leather seats on tubular black frames by Charlotte Perriand (€4,000-€6,000), an Imperial Safari Sofa by Archizoom (€10,000-€15,000), a large rosewood sideboard by Silvio Cavatorta (€4,000-€6,000) and a set of 12 chairs by Charles and Ray Eames with fibreglass shell seats on an aluminium base (€3,000-€5,000) will be of huge interest to collectors of modern furniture. A walnut sideboard by the Italian Gianfranco Frattini dates to 1960 and is estimated at just €3,000-€5,000, a 1950’s wood, brass and metal bench by Bugatti is estimated at €1,500-€2,000 and a c1950 dining table by Finn Juhl is estimated at €2,000-€2,500. Consoles, wall lights, bar cabinets, mirrors and armchairs from the period are included.Art from other private collections includes works by Stephen McKenna, John Boyd, Colin Martin, William McKeown, Mick Mulcahy, Francis Tansey, Eithne Jordan, Deborah Brown and Graham Gingles. Collectible graphic works by Francis Bacon, Sean Scully, Mark Geary and William Scott range in estimate from €500 to €5000. The catalogue is online now.
