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).
Victorian Inlaid Walnut Pillar Clock with Double Scroll Base
This Victorian walnut clock comes up as lot 176 at Aidan Foley’s three day antique and home interiors auction in Sixmilebridge, Co. Clare on April 3, 4 and 5. It is estimated at 200-300. With a total of 1,866 lots the selection on offer is extensive. The sale is built around contents from three properties in Kenmare. There is antique furniture, Irish and European art, silver and collectibles. The catalogue is online and viewing at Sixmilebridge gets underway today.
Peter Curling (b.1955) – Loose Schooling. UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,800 AT HAMMER
This oil on canvas by Peter Curling is part of an online auction of artworks to aid the Irish Red Cross’s humanitarian work in delivering vital services to millions of people impacted by the conflict in Ukraine by Adams in conjunction with Suzanne MacDougald. The catalogue goes live today and will close for bidding on April 7. Peter Curling, Ireland’s best known equestrian painter and now also a novelist, has donated Loose Schooling which was painted in 2021 and is estimated at €4000-6000. With over 35 choice lots there’s something to appeal to every taste.
Roderic O’Conor (1860-1940) – Marine, au Clair de Lune
Roderic O’Conor’s Marine, au Clair de Lune made a hammer price of 160,000 euro at the James Adam sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin this evening. It had been estimated at 150,000-200,000. The Boat by Jack Butler Yeats made a hammer price of 150,000 over an estimate of 80,000-120,000. Wooded Defile with figures and distant castle by James Arthur O’Connor made 50,000 on the hammer, Girl with a Flower by Dan O’Neill made 38,000, a pen, ink and watercolour titled Porter by Yeats made 30,000 and so did Being by Louis le Brocquy.
This early 20th century Donegal carpet in remarkably fine condition sold for 5,292 GBP at Sotheby’s in London today. It came up at a sale of Art of the Islamic World including fine rugs and carpets and had been estimated at 4,000-6,000. Made in Killybegs in the early 20th century the carpet, with the label of Maple and Co. London and Smyrna, was discovered about 40 years ago in a sealed room by an antique restorer working on some library panels. It was thought then to have been stored for at least 50 years. The father of the present owner bought it, but found it too big for his home and passed it on to son, who also found it to be too big. So it has been stored ever since. It measures 368 cm x 265 cm approximately.
John Mitchel, Irish Patriot – Autograph letter signed, to Thomas Carlyle
An 1848 letter on Irish Independence written from prison in Dublin by John Mitchel to Thomas Carlyle comes up at Sotheby’s in London on April 13. John Mitchel was the editor of the United Irishman, which called for Irish independence in the bitter aftermath of the Great Hunger. Carlyle had met him on a visit to Ireland in September 1846, and Mitchel was deeply influenced by Carlyle’s “great man” theory of history. In May 1848 Mitchel was tried for seditious libel and sentenced to 14 years transportation. He was taken first to Ireland Island, Bermuda, to work on the construction of the British naval dockyard, then to Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania), from where he escaped in 1853. He spent much of the rest of his life in America, editing radical Irish Nationalist newspapers, but returned to Ireland to stand for election to Westminster in 1875. He won the election but was disqualified from sitting since he was a convicted felon. A second election was likewise decreed null. The estimate for the letter, in which he bids Carlyle farewell and sends his regards to Mrs. Carlyle, is 2,000-3,000 GBP.
The sale includes an 1848 letter from Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington to General Sir Edward Blakeney, Commander in Chief of the British Army in Ireland, on the possibility of a Chartist rebellion. Also on offer is a letter from William Huskisson, Minister for War, on the French Invasion of Ireland, 1798.
Robert Fagan – Emma Hamilton as a Bacchante. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This portrait of Lady Hamilton by the Irish artist Robert Fagan (1761-1816) comes up at Sotheby’s online sale of Old Master Paintings which runs from March 31-April 6. Estimated at 20,000-30,000 GBP it is from the collection of Sir Michael Smurfit. Robert Fagan was born to an Irish family, from Cork, in around 1761. He grew up in Covent Garden and eventually settled in Rome and became a close acquaintance of Sir William Hamilton, British Ambassador to Naples. He had married Emma in London in 1791. She is best known as the mistress of Lord Nelson
FLOWER SELLERS, GRAFTON STREET, DUBLIN – NORMAN TEELING (B.1944). UPDATE: THIS MADE 800 AT HAMMER
This Dublin scene by Norman Teeling comes up as lot 38 at Whyte’s Spring online auction which gets underway on the evening of March 28. It is estimated at 800-1,200. The auction of affordable art is designed to encourage first time buyers and seasoned bidders with 273 lots by artists who are well known.
