Thaddeus Ropac will exhibit Bird Watch, 1988 by Robert Rauschenberg at Frieze
Bringing together over 280 major league galleries from 42 countries, with specially curated sections Frieze London and Frieze Masters opens today at Regent’s Park. Frieze London will feature over 160 of the world’s leading contemporary galleries. Frieze Masters will feature over 120 galleries, showing work from ancient to modern. The fair is taking place against the uncertain backdrop of inflation, a weakening pound, rising interest rates and energy prices and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Galleries are hopeful that a strong dollar will help sales. Frieze continues until October 16.
STAMPA 2022, the Irish National Stamp Exhibition runs from October 7-9 at Griffith College conference centre, South Circular Road in Dublin. There will be exhibits of stamps and postal history from collections and leading Irish stamp dealers will be on hand.
A pair of gouaches from Samuel Dixons mid 18th century “Foreign and Domestick Birds” are among the works being exhibited by the Gorry Gallery at Timeless, the Irish Antique Dealers Fair which continues today and tomorrow at the RDS. This is Gorry’s first time exhibiting at the fair, which is designed to appeal to a broad audience. There will be specialist interest too in a c1785 demi lune side table by renowned Dublin maker William Moore. Contemporary pieces include an original Brionvega RR126 record player and speaker similar to a set in the collection of the late David Bowie. To be displayed by Acquired it will stand alongside mid century pieces like a Camelonda sofa by Mario Bellini. Gallery Zozimus, which has opened at a new location at Francis St. in Dublin, is at the fair too.
A portrait of Grace Kelly by Andy Warhol will be offered by Gormley’s at Timeless, the Irish Antique Dealers’ Fair at the RDS in Dublin from September 23-25 with a preview on September 22. Warhol’s portrait of the actress is based on a still from her first film, Fourteen Hours, in 1951. Gormley’s has priced the screenprint at €200,000. The artist completed the edition in 1984 two years after the actress’s death, aged 52.
“Grace Kelly is extremely popular with collectors and investors as there are very few on sale at any one time,” Oliver Gormley said. “We sold one in 2019 for €136,000 and we expect this to sell for around €200,000 at Timeless, which reflects the appreciation in value for Warhol and high-end contemporary art”.
A walnut crossbanded tilt top table at the National Antiques Fair in Limerick
Time to giddy-up, clear all hurdles and chase over to Limerick Racecourse, the new and larger venue for the National Antiques Art and Vintage fair on September 10 and 11. The race is on to this winners enclosure of rare, unusual, desirable and collectible pieces from right around the island of Ireland including Northern Ireland. Pick a winner from more than 60 antique shops, vintage shops, art galleries and collectibles dealers with everything from antique furniture to art, jewellery, books, silver, porcelain, coins, banknotes, militaria and vintage fashion.
The Irish Antique Dealers Association will be represented by members including Martin Maguire of Mayo, Weldons Dublin, Donegal Antiques, Marie Curran, Dublin, Greenes Antiques, Drogheda, Treasures Irish Art, Athlone and Courtville Antiques, Dublin. With costume jewellery from €5 to top end diamonds at €50,000 there will be something here for everyone. The odds are in favour of keen punters and collectors at this convenient location with ample parking.
This c1785 demi lune table by the renowned Irish furniture maker William Moore will be a highlight at Timeless – The Irish Antique Dealers Fair at the RDS in Dublin from September 23-25. Returning after an absence this year the fair will offer a blend of antique and contemporary focussed pieces and is designed to appeal to a wide audience. Contemporary pieces include an original Brionvega RR126 record player and speaker set similar to David Bowie’s personal model. It will be displayed by Acquired and stand alongside their mid-century designs like an iconic Cameleonda sofa by Mario Bellini upholstered in green velvet mohair. The demi-lune table by William Moore will be shown by McBain and Byrne.
Wendy’s Way of Life will present this selection at Birr Vintage Week antique and art fair
The Birr Vintage Week antique and art fair takes place at the County Arms Hotel on August 1 and 2. There will be around 30 dealers in attendance from all over Ireland at this Hibernian Antiques Fair event. Among those showing for the first time is Wendy Boonstra who has moved to Ireland from Holland. Wendy’s Way of Life specialises in Italian and French costume jewellery.
The 1851 Great Exhibition carved bog yew armchair by Arthur Jones of Dublin at Butchoff Antiques.awarded a Vetting Committee Highlight for the stand out piece of furniture at the fair.
Masterpiece, in full swing at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London until July 6, is a place of discovery. The UK’s premier antiques fair – making a welcome return after a three year gap – offers the finest works of art, design, furniture and jewellery from antiquity to the present day. The fair is remarkable for its depth, breadth and scholarship. Quality is a byword and everything on display has been rigorously vetted by a panel of 180 experts.
This is an outing not just for the rich, who are catered for royally, but for the culturally curious. It offers much to discover in a non 21st century way. “Search engines direct us to what we supposedly want or need. I think Masterpiece does the exact opposite: it encourages people to discover things they weren’t expecting to find”, Lucie Kitchener, the Masterpiece managing director said. You might not, for example, be expecting to find something by our remarkable Cork based sculptor Eilis O’Connell. But you will, a carved Portuguese pink marble work entitled Thornmorph, at sculpture specialists Pangolin London priced at £14,600.
There was definitely something familiar about a heavily carved Irish chair at Butchoff Antiques, also of London. The 1851 Great Exhibition carved bog yew armchair, made by Arthur Jones of Dublin, had featured at a local auction in Ayr last December where it sold for a hammer price of £44,000 over a top estimate of £3,000. There is Irish furniture, as there is nearly always at the world’s leading fairs. Among a number of Irish pieces displayed at Rory Rogers Ltd. is a wonderful c1780 glass oval mirror with original cobalt blue and opaque glass studs. This one is enclosed in a carved giltwood frame.
A pair of antique Irish mirrors not too dissimilar in style turned up at Lynes and Lynes in Cork last Saturday where they made a hammer price of €4,600.A remarkable ceramic sculpture by Merete Rasmussen, another artist from the Pangolin stable, garnered much attention from the pre-fair publicity. The sinuous yellow sharp edged piece entitled Ouroboros dates to 2019 and is priced at £22,000. The sculpture series curated by Melanie Vanderbrouck of the V and A considers innovative investigations of form and matter and how other disciplines may inform and enrich sculptural practice.
The super rich on whom this fair relies are less affected by harsh financial reality than the rest of us. Challenges remain nevertheless. It will be interesting to see whether Brexit will have an adverse impact on a selling event that is, in fact, global. Russians are absent and Covid is present. Possible good news is that Masterpiece is not immune to the pent up demand released everywhere by the ending of lockdown.In the face of all the adversities of 2022 Masterpiece – with 128 exhibitors including 27 from overseas – is a welcoming place that offers a visitor experience that is pretty much unrivalled. From Roman statues to contemporary jewellery, Andy Warhol to a panelled Georgian Tavern settle, Tutankhamum (the centenary of the discovery of his tomb is being marked with a 21st century virtual display) to Rodin and Matisse, to jewellery, silver and furniture from across the ages this fabulous fair is a place for curators, collectors, the curious and those who want to learn.
Irish oval mirror in a carved giltwood leaf frame at Rory Rogers Ltd.
Important Irish George II mahogany silver table at Rory Rogers Ltd. priced at £115,000
Sales were brisk at the preview day at Masterpiece, the UK’s leading art fair which opens to the public today and runs until July 6. The fair, which is normally a fixture on the summer calendar in London, is on again after three years and most people seem delighted to be back. Visitors can view and buy the finest works of art, design, furniture, and jewellery – from antiquity to the present day – secure in the knowlege that everything on display has been vetted.
This is a slightly slimmed down and possibly less international than usual version, with 127 stands as opposed to 150 in 2019. There are various reasons for this, TEFAF Maastricht – normally on in March – is ending today adding to a busy time of year in the international season. Brexit has added layers of bureaucracy to the work of most dealers. The London market, post Covid and post Brexit, is coming from behind. London remains a major global location but there is a sense about the fair that feels more local this year.
Masterpiece is a marvellous fair. Sandwiched between a 60 million year old Triceratops dinosaur skull, two Ferrari’s and luxury boats you will find antiquities, Old Masters, contemporary art, jewellery, a three volume first edition of Jane Austen’s Emma inscribed by the author to her friend Anna Sharpe (£375,000 at Peter Harrington), jewellery, silver and design of a very high order. Expect a degree of security, no heavier than usual, but on alert after the jewellery heist at Maastricht earlier in the week.
THERE were dramatic scenes at TEFAF in Maastricht as four men with a sledgehammer broke into a jewellery display and escaped with an unknown quantity of jewellery. No one was hurt but the fair was closed for an hour in consequence. At least one of the raiders is thought to have been armed with a gun. It was one blot on an otherwise unblemished TEFAF fair, which had reported strong sales. TEFAF is normally held in March but was postponed for three months as lockdowns gradually ended. The theft occurred at the stand of upscale London luxury jewellers Symbolic and Chase of Old Bond St. TEFAF runs until June 30.
