This portrait of a young lady with a blue scarf is the catalogue cover lot for the James Adam sale of Fine Asian Art in Dublin next Tuesday (November 23). It is by Vu Cao Dam (1908-2000) who graduated from the fine arts school of Hanoi in 1931, in which year he participated in the Paris International Exhibition. He settled in France where he was mostly known for his sculpture. Influenced by Fauvism and the Paris School his creations lie on the edges of Asian traditions, particularly Chinese and Vietnamese art. This c1950 portrait is estimated at €30,000-€50,000. The sale of 440 lots is split into four sections, Arts of China and Himalaya, Arts of Vietnam and South-East Asia, Asian Painters and Arts of Japan and Korea.
THIS extremely rare copy of the First Printing of the Final Text of the United States Constitution sold for $43.2 million at Sotheby’s in New York last night. Making more than double the $20 million high estimate it set a world auction record for any book, manuscript, historical document, or printed text. The sale followed an eight minute bidding battle. The underbidder was Constitution DAO, a group of more than 17,000 people from around the world who banded together through social media within the last week to raise money to acquire the document, marking this cryptocurrency effort as the largest crowdfunding initiative ever put together. It is one of just 13 known copies of the official printing produced for the delegates to Constitutional Convention and for the Continental Congress, and only two copies of the first printing of the Constitution that remains in private hands. Full proceeds from the sale will benefit The Dorothy Tapper Goldman Foundation, whose mission is to further the understanding of the constitutional principles and how the acts of all citizens can impact our democracy.
**The previous world auction record for any printed text was $14,165,000 for the Bay Psalm Book sold at Sotheby’s New York in 2013
**The previous world auction record for any book and manuscript was $30,802,500 for The Codex Leicester sold at Christie’s in 1994
**The previous world auction record for any historical document was $21.3 million for the 1297 Magna Carta sold at Sotheby’s in 2007.
Nice to See You Again by Yoshitomo Nara made $15.4 million and was the top lot at Sotheby’s Now evening auction in New York last night. The monumental work epitomises the artist’s career-long exploration of themes of innocence, adolescence, and universal angst. Ostensibly innocuous, the rosy-cheeked, wide-eyed, kawaii girl peers toward the viewer with startling intensity; as one notices her chubby fist brandishing a knife however, any assumptions of vulnerability are undermined. Set against a vibrant periwinkle background Nara’s archetypal child is concurrently innocent and violent, docile and unruly, illustrating the radical potential of subversive and anarchic youth. The Now Evening Auction focussed on art executed in the last 20 years and brought in $71.8 million.
Sean Scully – Untitled (1993). UPDATE: THIS MADE £37,800
Untitled (1993) by Sean Scully comes up at Sotheby’s online auction of Irish art which opens today and runs until November 23. The watercolour and pencil on paper is estimated at £25,000-£35,000. The sale features a selection of works by contemporary artists in Ireland across paintings, sculpture, ceramics and pottery.
John Shinnors – Small Scarecrow, Striped Kites. UPDATE: THIS MADE 15,000
Small Scarecrow, Striped Kites by John Shinnors is lot 20 at de Veres sale of Outstanding Irish Art on November 23. The auction has now gone on view at Kildare St. in Dublin and the catalogue is online. There are major works by Roderic O’Conor, Paul Henry, Sir William Orpen and a number of other leading Irish artists. This work is estimated at €8,000-€12,000.
THE Modern evening auction at Sotheby’s in New York totalled $282.9 million. Claude Monet’s Coin du bassin aux nympheas was the top lot of the evening. It made $50.8 million. Frida Kahlo’s Diego y yo made $35.5 million, a new record both for the artist and for Latin American art.
Eric Clapton’s guitar, Kurt Cobain’s handwritten setlists and Whitney Houston’s multi-print Versace jacket are among the star-powered music memorabilia at Julien’s Auctions Icons and Idols live and online sale from the Hard Rock Cafe, New York on November 19 and 20. Clapton’s 1968 Martin D-45 acoustic instrument is reckoned to $300,000 to $500,000. According to Martin Nolan of Julien’s this estimate is probably conservative.
Nearly 1,000 sensational artefacts and memorabilia owned and used by some of the world’s legendary music artists of all-time including The Beatles, Guns N’ Roses, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, Madonna, Robert Plant, Elvis Presley, Trent Reznor, Keith Richards, Eddie Van Halen, U2, and others will be offered.
ERIC CLAPTON’S 1968 Martin D-45 Guitar. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $625,000 IN A SALE THAT BROUGHT IN NEARLY $5 MILLION
The Macklowe Collection made a total $676.1 million at a white glove sale at Sotheby’s in New York last night. Highlights included Mark Rothko’s No. 7 which sold for $82.5 million, Albert Giacometti’s Le Nez which achieved $78.4 million, Jackson Pollock’s Number 17, 1951 which more than doubled its low estimate to achieve $61.2 million, a new artist record, and Cy Twombly’s monumental Untitledwhich sold for $58.9 million. The 35 pieces belonged to real estate mogul Harry Macklowe and his former wife Linda. The pair were told to sell the collection and split the proceeds during their 2018 divorce trial.
Central Bank of Ireland, £20, 6 August 1943, serial number 01X 066040, War Code A, Brennan and McElligott signatures. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £4,200
This fine and very rare £20 Lady Lavery note from the Central Bank of Ireland with a War Code from 1943 comes up at Dix Noonan Webb in London on November 25 with an estimate of £4,000-£5,000. It is a highlight from the collection of the late Gus Mac Amhlaigh of Dublin. Most of his collection is Irish and will be auctioned in several parts over the next year. It also contains groups from Scotland and the Isle of Man. Lots 196 to 334 in the November sale are from his collection. Gus Mac Amhlaigh began collecting banknotes in the early 1970’s. A civil servant he moved from the Department of the Environment to the Custom House Docks Development Authority. He was a key figure in formulating the first masterplan for the Dublin Docklands, primarily focused the International Financial Services Centre. He was responsible for the largest ever regeneration scheme in the history of the State. More than 21,000 people are now employed in the docklands and a further 22,000 people live in the area. He left the Docklands Authority in 1999 and became ceo of the Irish Pension Unit Trust, one of the largest property funds in the country. He worked there until his retirement in 2007 and then joined the board of directors of the commercial estate agents, Bannon Commercial.
The jewellery collection of the late Marie Conway comes up online at an evening sale at Sheppards in Durrow on November 18. Marie who passed away in 2009, was a well- known face, whose auburn hair, flamboyant style of dress, unusual jewellery and sense of humour, singled her out at auctions and antique fares around Munster and beyond for decades. Lot on offer range from a diamond tennis bracelet to a white gold and peridot diamond drop pendant to a three stone diamond ring. The catalogue is online and there will be viewing on November 17 and 18.
AN 18 CARAT WHITE GOLD EMERALD AND DIAMOND RING. UPDATE: THIS MADE €1,500 AT HAMMER
