Rodin’s most iconic sculpture The Thinker will highlight a sale at Christie’s in Paris on June 30. With an estimate of €9-14 million will highlight an auction entitled Le Grand Style : An apartment on the Quai d’Orsay designed by Alberto Pinto. The powerful presence of Rodin’s emblematic masterpiece was a central feature in a breath-taking apartment overlooking the river Seine on the Quai d’Orsay.
The Thinker, was first conceived around 1880 as part of the famous and monumental Gates of Hell inspired by Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. It was only in 1904, when it is exhibited for the first time at the Salon de Paris, that it became a work on its own. It was immediately met with extraordinary enthusiasm and when a public appeal for funds was launched, donations poured in with the sculpture becoming the property of the City of Paris and the colossal bronze taking pride of place in front of the Pantheon in 1906.
The work will go on a world tour of exhibitions from New York to Hong Kong and London before arriving back in Paris for one week of viewing from June 23 prior to the auction on June 30.
Giacometti From Life opens at the National Gallery of Ireland on April 9. This landmark exhibition, the first Giacometti show at our National Gallery, focuses on the close relationships with the friends and family members who modelled for him, like his wife Annette above. It offers a rare opportunity to see more than 50 works by the world renowned master including sculptures, paintings, and drawings. Among them is a 1922 oil on canvas by Alberto of a young Diego, his brother who became a celebrated sculptor/designer. Organised by the National Gallery of Ireland and the Fondation Giacometti it runs until September 4.
THIS Killarney davenport made a hammer price of 11,000 at Aidan Foley’s sale in Sixmilebridge, Co. Clare, today. The 19th century piece is inlaid with yew and arbutus wood profusely decorated with shamrocks and an Irish Harp, a deer and an eagle. A Victorian mahogany serving table made 2,500 and a pair of satinwood commodes made 2,200.
WILLEM DE KOONING (1904-1997) – Untitled XXI. UPDATE: THIS MADE $25 MILLION
Willem de Kooning’s Untitled XXI will come up as a highlight at Christie’s 20th century evening sale in New York in May. Estimated in in excess of $20 million the painting is fresh to the market and has been in the same private collection for more than 30 years. It was painted in de Kooning’s studio in East Hampton in 1977, a year when he turned out a group of radiant, large-scale abstractions that had a new level of mastery about them. Art historians regard 1977 as a highpoint of his career, his annus mirabilis, or “miraculous year,” as the British critic David Sylvester wrote. The art market has confirmed that view: three of de Kooning’s top four highest prices achieved at auction were for paintings from 1977.
Irish Silver Soup Tureen and Cover, Richard Sawyer, Dublin, 1807. UPDATE: THIS MADE $8,820
This silver soup tureen and cover, made more than two centuries ago by Richard Sawyer, comes up at Sotheby’s sale of European furniture, silver and ceramics in New York from April 7-12. It is estimated at $8,000-12,000. Weighing 169 ozs the tureen is engraved with a key pattern collar between bold dolphin handles. The lower body is chased with vertical stiff leaves and engraved with talbot’s head crest. Other Irish silver lots in the sale include a two handled cup by Ambrose Boxwell, Dublin 1779 ($1,500-2,500) and a pair of large sauce boats by William Hughes c1775 ($1,500-2,500). UPDATE: The two handled cup made $1,008, the sauceboats made $2,772.
The Collection of Anne H. Bass featuring a selection of 12 magnificent artworks by leading 19th and 20th century artists including Degas, Monet, and Rothko will come up at Christie’s in New York during Marquee Week in May. The most important American collection to arrive on the market this season comes to Christie’s directly from the interior of Mrs. Bass’s impeccably designed New York City home. These 12 works form a singularly compelling narrative that speaks to both the power of connoisseurship and the enduring relevance and radicality that characterize the greatest works of art. Presented as a dedicated single-owner evening sale, The Collection of Anne H. Bass is expected to exceed $250 million.
CLAUDE MONET (1840-1926) – Peupliers au bord de l’Epte, automne ($30-50 million)
Prodigal Son by Hughie O’Donoghue, which comes up at Morgan O’Driscoll’s Irish and International art auction on April 26, is based on a poignant First World War photograph from the Imperial War Museum in London. The subject – a dazed German soldier waiting for stretcher bearers – is linked by O’Donoghue to his Kerry grandfather, countless economic migrants like him and even preserved Iron Age bodies found in bogland. According to a catalogue note by Aidan Dunne they all represent painting as an act of excavation for the artist, a means of recording lost and forgotten histories of people helplessly caught up in the currents of their time like emigration, war and disaster. O’Donoghue, he explains, addresses the universal in the particular, the nature of life and the limitations within which people pursue their ambitions.
An inquiry into the formation of masculinity is the subject of an exhibition at IMMA in Dublin until May 2. ‘What Does He Need?’ is a long-term project by artist, writer and educator Fiona Whelan, theatre company Brokentalkers and Rialto Youth Project. This project is a critical inquiry into the formation of masculinity, exploring how men and boys are shaped by and influence the world. Responses to the question What Does He Need? gathered through workshops with diverse groups are presented as short texts accompanied by 30 minute audio telling the story of a fictional boy from birth to early adulthood. Under the prevailing circumstances We need to talk about Vladimir might have been a more topical title.
Among the highlights at The Winter Show which opens in New York today is this unique tapestry designed by Alexander Calder and woven in the Cauquil-Prince workshop in Paris. It is being show by Boccara Gallery of New York, the leading gallery specialising in modern and antique tapestry. The postponed fair, which runs until April 10, is at 660 Madison Avenue, the former flagship location of Barney’s. More than 60 exhibitors are spread over four floors in the building. Among them are Aronson of Amsterdam, Daniel Crouch Rare Books, Hirschl and Adler Galleries, Hyde Park Antiques, Koopman Rare Art, Richard Green, Ronald Phillips and Veronique Bamps of Monaco. On show is a collection of museum-quality works that span art, antiques, and design, from antiquities to contemporary art.
Regency work table. UPDATE: THIS MADE 440 AT HAMMER
Georgian, William IV, Regency and Edwardian furniture will come up at Woodwards online sale in Cork on April 2. Highlights in this sale of more than 300 lots include a Regency inlaid yew fitted work table (€1,500-€2,500), a George II walnut kneehole desk €1,000-€1,500) and a pair of Coalbrookdale garden benches (€1,500-€2,000). Estimates are more reasonable than would have been the case a couple of decades ago, underlining once again how vintage furniture is undervalued right now. Here are some examples: A George II walnut card table (€700-€1,000); Edwardian cellarette (€400-€600); William IV rosewood teapoy (€600-€1,000); three pillar d-end dining table (€500-€800); Regency gilt window seat (€400-€600); Georgian walnut bureau €400-€600); Georgian library armchair (500-€800); Edwardian bonheur du jour (€300-€400) and a Victorian walnut drop leaf table (€400-€600).
