This 1904 portrait of James Hugh Smith-Barry by Sir William Orpen comes up as lot 123 at Fonsie Mealy’s sale of Irish and international art on March 23. Closely associated with Barryscourt Castle and the Fota estate in Cork the Barry family were prominent from Anglo-Norman times. With the death in 1823 of the 8th Earl of Barrymore the title became extinct. It was revived in 1902 when Arthur Hugh Smith-Barry was created Baron Barrymore. He commissioned Orpen to paint a posthumous portrait of his father to be hung at Fota with the Barry ancestors. It was based on a pastel sketch made in 1854 by James Rannie Swinton. The estimate is €20,000-€30,000. UPDATE: THIS MADE 19,000 AT HAMMER
Original Sins by Hughie O’Donoghue at the National Gallery of Ireland until June 19 addresses memory, history and questions of identity. The series of six large paintings depicts six historical figures drawn from ancient history, modern history, and the contemporary world and paired together. Best known to many as a central figure in Daniel Maclise’s The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife, princess Aoife is paired with William the Conqueror. Represented very differently from the way in which she appears in the famous Irish work, the painting will hang alongside the others in this installation under the gaze of Maclise’s monumental masterpiece in the Gallery’s Shaw Room.
Dr Brendan Rooney, Head Curator at the National Gallery of Ireland, commented: “The Gallery is delighted to be collaborating with Hughie as part of its contribution to the Decade of Centenaries. It is very exciting to see Daniel Maclise’s monumental The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife subjected to the scrutiny of an artist for whom history and memory are so important. The installation of Hughie’s six new paintings in the Shaw Room represents an unprecedented repurposing of the Gallery’s most famous display space, and casts Maclise’s picture, which inspired them, in a new light.”
The National Gallery marks the conclusion of the Decade of Centenaries with three special displays in 2022. Two exhibitions will open later in the year. Keating’s Allegories of Change(from August 20) centres around Seán Keating’s 1924 painting An Allegory, which addresses the divisive nature of the conflict of the Irish Civil War. Estella Solomons: Still Moments (from September 3) features a number of portraits by Solomons of leading revolutionary and cultural figures of the time.
Mahogany pharmacy shop back with 84 labelled drawers. UPDATE: THIS MADE 13,200 AT HAMMER
The clearance sale of contents from the chain of Hayes Conyngham Robinson chemist shops at Victor Mee next week is just the tonic for collectors with an interest in Ireland’s retail history. An entire era of shop fittings went into long term storage when the business was taken over by Boots in 1998. Historic items like beautiful old cash registers and the kind of medicine bottles your grandmother would have been familiar with will come under the hammer at a three day live and online sale from Belturbet, Co. Cavan, which will include pub and advertising memorabilia, starting on Monday.
Founded in 1897 HCR operated for over 100 years, ending up with 30 locations across Ireland. All proceeds from the HCR lots are to be donated to Bernardo’s. Chemist jars with black and gold labels and early 20th century amber glass chemist bottles are redolent of an era that many older readers will fondly remember, a time when no visit by a child with an adult to a chemist shop would be complete without a twisted orange coloured barley sugar stick. The ingenuity of collectors is legendary and the thought of new life and new uses for venerable items like an early 20th century mahogany chemist counter back is heartening. This one, complete with centre glazed door and gilded PRESCRIPTIONS pediment, is estimated at €1,500-€2,500. There is an estimate of €1,000-€2,000 on a mahogany chemist counter and a shop counter with a bank of 50 drawers is estimated at €1,500-€3,000.
Collection of eight Bristol blue chemist bottles. UPDATE: THESE MADE 200 AT HAMMER
There are various collections of chemists poison bottles, amber bottles and glass jars at estimates of from €50 to €250. There are wall cabinets, wooden advertising boxes, floor cabinets with adjustable shelving, shop display cabinets and even an animatronic chemists advertising machine.A Kirker and Green advertising mirow from the Connswater Distillery in Belfast, which closed in 1929, is a leading lot in the pub memorabilia section. There is a highly collectible Mitchell’s Whiskey mirror, Capstan and Players cigarette machines and some bottles of rare Irish whiskey. The catalogue is online and Victor Mee is hosting actual viewings for the first time in two years. Auctions are at 5 pm on March 14, 15 and 16.
A messenger bike from Roches pub grocery shop on Inishbofin. UPDATE: THIS MADE 550 AT HAMMER
Whiskey barrel with a stainless steel top. UPDATE: THIS MADE 120 AT HAMMER
Aidan Foley will offer the contents of the Ardhu Bar, Ennis Road, Limerick at an online auction due to begin at noon on March 13. Included is a long bespoke mahogany bar counter, outdoor benches, whiskey barrels, parasols, bar furniture and sound systems. There is viewing at the bar today from noon to 4 pm.
Mary Swanzy HRHA (1882-1978) – Figures Gossiping UPDATE: THIS MADE 12,000 AT HAMMER
This painting by Mary Swanzy is lot 12 at the James Adam sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin on March 30. It is estimated at 8,000-12,000. The live and online sale offers a rich selection of paintings and sculpture from some Dublin collections. A number of works have not been seen on the market for a very long time. Among the highlights are works by James Arthur O’Connor, Roderic O’Conor and Jack B Yeats. The catalogue is online now and viewing at St. Stephen’s Green gets underway on March 25.
The art historian Brian Kennedy, who died in February, was curator of 20th century art and later Keeper of Art at the Ulster Museum, for which he acquired many important contemporary works. As an academic he was incredibly generous with his time and knowledge. He produced the catalogue raisonne on Paul Henry and his PhD under Anne Crookshank at Trinity College Dublin formed the basis of a ground-breaking book, Irish Art and Modernism, 1880-1950. Those who love Irish art owe him a debt of gratitude for his very accessible work and contribution to the promotion of Irish art and artists. Brian Kennedy was 79.
Courtyard lounge, ground floor, Givenchy’s Hotel d’Orrouer with Picasso’s Faun with a Spear. Courtesy, Christie’s Images Ltd. UPDATE: THIS PICASSO MADE €3,500,000 AT HAMMER
The first highlights from the collection of Hubert de Givenchy were unveiled by Christie’s today. They include Woman Walking by Alberto Giacometti (€20-30 million); Passage of the Migratory Bird by Joan Miro (€2.5 – €3.5 million) and Faun with a Spear by Pablo Picasso (€1.5 – 2 million). With over 1,200 lots dating from the 17th to the 20th century, this collection features a remarkable gathering of nearly 800 pieces of French and European furniture, including many masterpieces of classical furniture from the French Regency period to the Neoclassical period and onwards.
In the decoration of his homes, Hubert de Givenchy always considered the furniture in constant dialogue with the works of art, both ancient and modern. Alongside numerous major sculptures and paintings by old masters such as Hubert Robert, the collection includes several masterpieces of modern art: from the couturier’s friend and collaborator Alberto Giacometti’s Woman Walking, a key painting by Joan Miró never before presented on the market, several works by Alberto’s brother, Diego Giacometti and more contemporary works by Claudio Bravo and François-Xavier Lalanne.
Already underway in Palm Beach, a selection of works from the collection will be previewed in several cities including New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong. Sales will take place in Paris from June 14-17 and online from June 8-23.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for February 2, 2022)
Joan Miró – Passage of the Migratory Bird. UPDATE: THIS MADE €5,750,000 AT HAMMER
FLOWER SELLERS, GRAFTON STREET, DUBLIN – NORMAN TEELING (B.1944). UPDATE: THIS MADE 800 AT HAMMER
THIS painting of flower sellers in Grafton St. by Norman Teeling comes up as Lot 38 at Whyte’s Spring online art auction which runs until March 28. It is estimated at 800-1,200. The auction of 273 lots features many well known Irish artists, who are represented with affordable lots. The auction will be on view at Whyte’s at Molesworth St., Dublin from March 23 and the catalogue is online now.
STEVE BURGESS (B.1960) CANADIAN – Pint and a Packet (2021). UPDATE: THIS MADE 850 AT HAMMER
REDOLENT of a pub culture slowly returning to Ireland Pint and a acket by Canadian artist Steve Burgess is lot 6 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s off the wall online art auction which runs until March 14. The oil on board, signed and dated ’21, is estimated at 800-1,200. There is a selection of highly affordable art and sculpture on offer. The catalogue is online and the sale is on view on March 10, 11 and 14 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s offices in Skibbereen.
Pair of sandstone urns. UPDATE: THE CLOSING BID WAS RECORDED AS 8,000
These impressive sandstone urns, each 220 cm high, come up at Mullen’s timed classic and contemporary interiors sale which runs in Bray until March 13. The ovoid tapering urns, hung with ribbon tied floral festoons, are flanked by figural handles above a waisted sockel with square base. The estimate is 8,000-10,000, making this the most expensively estimated lot in an auction of 656 lots which is on view from March 10. Lot 2, an Arts and Crafts oak hat, coat and stick stand, is modestly estimated at 100-150. The catalogue is online.
