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Butterfly Spin by Damien Hirst comes up at Morgan O’Driscoll’s current off the wall online art auction which runs until January 8. The estimate for the acrylic on paper is €3,000-€5,000 and it is among the most expensively estimated works on offer in this sale. The catalogue is online now and there will be viewing in Skibbereen from January 4.
Given that 2023 has been the warmest year on record there might be more interest than usual in this moulded stone two tier fountain at Victor Mee’s Winter Decorative Interiors sale on December 30. Surmounted with cherubs it it estimated at €2,000-€4,000. There are 764 lots in offer in a sale that will get underway at noon. The catalogue is online and the sale is on view today. UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,000 AT HAMMER
Viewing gets underway today for Matthews annual holiday sale in Kells on December 29 and 30. Antique furniture, collectibles, rugs, mirrors and Waterford Crystal are among the lots to be offered on December 29. Jewellery including watches, earrings, a tennis line bracelet and a Ceylon sapphire and diamond ring will come under the hammer on day two. The auction is comprised of lots from private clients and unredeemed pawnbroker pledges. Sales get underway at 2.30 pm on each day and the catalogue is online.
This painting of the Holy Family by Nicolas Poussin dates to 1649 and is in the collection of the National Gallery of Ireland. Seated at the centre of the composition is the Virgin with the Christ Child on her lap. Behind them stand St Joseph and St Anne, who gaze downwards fondly. Anne rests one hand on the Virgin’s shoulder and the other on Christ. In the foreground, St Elizabeth holds the infant John the Baptist. Putti pick flowers and present garlands to Christ, their inclusion adding an antique note to the Christian scene.
We wish all our readers a very Happy Christmas.
If you think your car isn’t regal enough and should not be petrol driven Bonhams has the answer. A reproduction of Britain’s gold state coach comes up at The Crown auction in London on February 7. Used in Season 3 episode 10 the coach is inspired by the 1760 commission by Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings for King George III. The repro is approximately 74 inches wide, 220 inches deep and 124 inches high. One of the more challenging and expensive props of the series it is estimated at £30,000-£50,000 (€35,000 – €58,000).
Built in 1762 for King George III, the real coach has been used at every coronation since 1831 when King William IV succeeded to the throne. A rococo masterpiece, it was designed by architect Sir William Chambers, best known for Somerset House in London and the pagoda at Kew Gardens, and was constructed in the workshop of coachbuilder Samuel Butler. The coach is made of gilded wood with elaborate carvings by sculptor Sir Joseph Wilton, who, like Chambers, was a founding member of the Royal Academy. Upholstered in velvet and satin, the interior also features wonderful illustrated panels, painted by Giovanni Battista Cipriani, depicting Roman gods and goddesses.
The auction of sets, costumes and props from Series 1-6 of The Crown will be toured to New York, Los Angeles, Paris and London ahead of two auctions in February, an online sale from January 11-February 8 and the sale on February 7. Proceeds from the live auction will go towards establishing the Left Bank Pictures – The Crown Scholarship programme at the National Film and Television School, allowing the next generation of film and television makers to receive world-renowned training.
Andy Warhol Three Times Out continues at the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin until January 28. The exhibition of paintings, prints, photographs, films and installations covers a range that spans four decades. It includes more than 250 works on loan from museums and private collections in the US, Canada, Europe and the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. There is everything from the iconic Campbell’s Soup Cans, Flowers, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Kennedy and Chairman Mao, to his observations on identity and mortality in his multiple self-portraits, skulls, electric chairs and avant garde films Empire, Sleep, Kiss and Outer and Inner Space. In addition, visitors to the exhibition can experience Warhol’s immersive Silver Clouds sculpture.
A section unique to the show focuses on collaborations both Andy Warhol and Francis Bacon had with acclaimed US artist and photographer Peter Beard, provoking new thinking on the status of these two titans of the 20th century.
The erudite collection of Philip Hewat-Jaboor (1953-2022), chairman of the Masterpiece Fair in London, at Christie’s next February 8 will offer objects of antiquity, antique furniture and important collectibles. An old style connoisseur he had a particular passion for porphyry and the auction will offer a notable collection headed by early 19th century neoclassical vases. He collected work from legendary British patrons and collectors William Beckford (1760-1844) and Thomas Hope (1769-1831) like a pair of c1815 Roman giltwood armchairs probably purchased by Beckford from Cardinal Fesch in Paris in 1816 (£30,000-£50,000)(€34,960-€58,270). Joseph Fesch was Napoleon’s half uncle and one of the most famous art collectors of his period. Hewat-Jaboor’s collection of antiquities includes a 2nd century AD Roman marble bust of Bacchus (£70,000-£100,000) (€81,570-€116,530). The 200 works in the collection are expected to realise more than £1.5 million (€1.75 million) and estimates range from £700 to £120,000 (€815-€139,840).
This Ming Dynasty white jade carved group with an egret amongst flowering stems made a hammer price of €34,000 over an estimated of €2,000-€3,000 at the Fine Asian Art sale at James Adam in Dublin on December 18. It had been in an Irish private collection since the early 20th century. The top lot of the sale was A Charioteer by Kattingeri Krishna Hebbar (1911-1996) which made €65,000 at hammer over a top estimate of €40,000. A Ding Kilns white stoneware bowl from the Northern Song Dynasty made €23,000, a celadon glazed jar and cover made €20,000 and a Qing Dynasty soapstone seal made €10,000.
More than 650,000 people were able to see the Vermeer Exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam this year. An online 360 degree tour of the exhibition launches today. Just go to Rijksmuseum site and scroll down til youy come to Watch the Vermeer Exhibition at Home. You can click on any image for more detail. It’s been a historic year at the Rijksmuseum, thanks in part to the Vermeer exhibition, which ran for four months this spring. It was the best-attended exhibition in the history of the museum. A total of 2.7 million people visited the museum in 2023.
A beautiful, romantic ballerina-length evening dress designed by Moroccan-British fashion designer Jacques Azagury made a new world record for a dress worn by Princess Diana when it sold $1.1 million, eleven times the low estimate, at Julien’s and TCM’s Hollywood Legends sale. The most successful Hollywood memorabilia sale in Julien’s 20 year history brought in more than $7 million. There was 16,351 registered bids from bidders across the globe from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, Sweden, Italy, Hong Kong, Israel, The Netherlands, Ireland, Austria, Finland, Uruguay, South Korea, New Zealand and Switzerland. They took part in the Los Angeles sale live, online and on the phone. Pictured here is the Princess of Wales wearing the Azagury dress in Florence, Italy in April 1985. With padded shoulders it features a black velvet bodice with embroidered stars in metallic thread made from Jakob Schlaepher fabric with a two-tier royal blue organza skirt with a sash and bow. A blush pink chiffon Emanuels blouse worn in her famous 1981 engagement portrait sold for $381,000.
