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David Hockney – The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011 (twenty eleven) – 4 January UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £304,800
The Arrival of Spring is the title of the David Hockey sale at Sotheby’s in London on October 17. There are 17 limited edition iPad drawings printed in colours on wove paper on offer ranging from January to June of that year. Estimates are from £80,000-£180,000.
FRANZ WEST (1947-2012) – BLUE LUCK. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £285,750
Franz West began producing his beloved large-scale, brightly painted tubular and bulbous sculptures in the mid-1990s, initially in welded sheets of aluminium and later in fibreglass. Many of them include places to sit. Blue Luck, constructed of fibreglass, epoxy resin and lacquer, is lot 31 at Christie’s 20th/21st Century evening sale in London on October 15 with an estimate of £300,000-£500,000. The sale offers revolutions in art making from Impressionism to Modernism with art by Paul Cezanne, Paul Signac, Lucian Freud, Gerhard Richter, Paul Rego, Peter Doig, Chris Ofili and Jean Michel Basquiat among the 61 lots on offer.
The Picasso exhibition now underway at the National Gallery in Dublin offers insightful paintings, sculpture, ceramics, works on paper and photographic work. This show places Picasso in the context of his studios and explores key locations that inspired him from his arrival in Paris at the start of the 20th century to his studio at Villa La Californie (1955-1961) at Cannes.
The personal life and work of the most innovative and influential artist of the 20th century were deeply intertwined. His homes and his studios were intimately linked and no space exemplifies this more than the Chateau de Boisgeloup in Normandy, purchased in 1930. Here during an intense love affair with Marie-Therese Walter he created some of his more iconic works. The exhibition presents renowned and lesser known pieces from captivating perspectives by placing works within the context of their creation. Photographic and audio visual work will immerse visitors in his creative spaces from rustic French farmhouses to expansive seafront villas.
Picasso: From the Studio, in collaboration with the Musée Picasso in Paris, traces his diverse phases, styles and passions over more than 50 years through more than 60 works. It runs until next February 22.
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) The Studio at La Californie, 1956 Musée National Picasso-Paris © Succession Picasso / DACS, London 2025 © GrandPalaisRmn (Musee National Picasso-Paris) / Mathieu Rabeau
Stephen McKenna PPRHA (1939-2017) – Two Melons 1990. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
An oil on canvas by Stephen McKenna entitled Two Melons with an estimate of €4,000-€6,000 will lead the timed online only autumn art sale at Whyte’s which runs until October 20. Among the artists in the sale are Graham Knuttel, Liam O’Neill, Elizabeth Cope, Kenneth Webb, Dan O’Neill, Tony O’Malley, Pauline Bewick, Banks and Picasso. The sale is on view at Whyte’s in Dublin from October 13 and the catalogue is online.
Attributed to James Seymour – Sir Edward O’Brien in Hunting Costume of his Day. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Behind this portrait of a man on a horse – one of the leading lots at Adams Country House Collections at Townley Hall on October 13 and 14 – lies a partial history of sporting life in Ireland in the 18th century. Attributed to James Seymour it is a painting of Sir Edward O’Brien of Dromoland in the hunting costume of his day estimated at €50,000-€80,000.
Renowned for his extravagance and passion for horse racing the 2nd baronet of Dromoland entered the Irish House of Commons in 1727 and represented Clare until his death nearly four decades later. He epitomised a certain type of Irishman renowned in song and story in the 18th century.
This was in the century that witnessed the first steeplechase from Buttevant to Doneraile (resulting from a bet in 1752) and the Rakes of Mallow. The song written by Ned Lysaght around 1740 describes the rakes as the true begotten sons of Bacchus spending faster than it comes. Known for his heavy gambling and reckless managemen O’Brien knew the pleasures and perils of 18th century sporting culture. On the plus side the walled garden, the stable block, the Temple of Mercury, the octagonal pond and the Dromoland turret were all constructed under his watch. On the minus side his lifestyle prevented him from being chosen as heir to the vast Thomond estates.
A c1750 Irish bureau-writing cabinet UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Now an annual auction fixture Adams Country House Collections at Townley Hall showcases fine period furniture, paintings, silver and decorative arts. Highlights include the dress sword presented by the East India Company to Lt. Col. Barry Close (€300,000-€400,000), a painting from the circle of John Wootton (1682-1764) of a race on the Beacon Course at Newmarket with the Prince of Wales and others believed to include Sir Edward O’Brien in the foreground (€60,000-€80,000), a c1750 Irish George II mahogany bureau cabinet (€40,000-€60,000) and a portrait entitled Nellie by Sir George Clausen (€20,000-€30,000) once in the collection of the late Cork artist Marshall Hutson.
An American silver gilt dinner service (€30,000-€50,000), a pair of Limerick silver salvers by Joseph Johns (€15,000-€20,000) and a pair of silver sauce boats by Paul de Lamerie (€8,000-€12,000) feature among the leading lots.
A George III commode attributed to William Moore UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
A George III harewood and marquetry commode attributed to William Moore (€20,000-€30,000), a George III three pillar extending dining table (€15,000-€20,000), a c1850 Victorian carved oak extending dining table from Dunecht House in Scotland (€12,000-€18,000), a pair of c1770 carved giltwood console tables with yellow marble Siena tops (€12,000-€16,000), a pair of Irish stained pine side tables with green marble tops (€12,000-€15,000) and a 17th century Louis XIV boulle and red tortoiseshell desk (€10,000-€15,000) are feature antique furniture pieces.
As in any big sale there are plenty of pickings for those of us whose budget does not extend to an €80,000 portrait, no matter how colourful the gentleman depicted used to be. With everything from Georgian knife boxes to a Cork silver basting spoon by Carden Terry to a 1729 book on The Procedure, Extent and Limits of Human Understanding by Dr. Peter Browne (1665-1735) theologian, Bishop of Cork and Ross and Provost of Trinity College, Dublin there is available a wide variety of lots at highly affordable estimates.
Viewing at Townley Hall, Drogheda is underway. An online only auction of the first 317 lots will begin to close from 2 pm on October 13. The live and online sale of lots 400-825 will get underway at Adams saleroom in Dublin on October 14.
A pair of c1760 Limerick silver salvers by Joseph Johns. UPDATE: THESE WERE UNSOLD
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for October 4, 2025)
This very rare and early Queen Anne Cork silver mug dating to around 1710 is a feature lot at Hegarty’s online sale in Bandon on October 15. Made by Anthony Semirot, a Huguenot refugee who became a significant silversmith in 18th century Cork and was made a Freeman of the Cork Goldsmiths Co. in 1693, it is estimated at €6,500-€7,500. The catalogue for the sale, which offers a good selection of jewellery, is online. UPDATE: THIS WAS NOT SOLD BUT WAS UNDER OFFER AFTER THE AUCTION
Andy Warhol (1928-1987) American – With Hat, from Ingrid Bergman (1983). UPDATE: THIS MADE 70,000 AT HAMMER
Andy Warhol’s image of Ingrid Bergman with hat is among the leading lots at Morgan O’Driscoll’s Irish and International online art auction which runs until October 21. The screenprint is hand signed, numbered 47/250 and estimated at 50,000-70,000. The most expensively estimated lot is Cottages on Achill Sound by Paul Henry (€120,000-€160,000) and there are leading lots by Louis le Brocquy, John Shinnors and Sir John Lavery. The auction is on view in Skibbereen from October 10-13 and at the Minerva Suite at the RDS from October 17-20. The catalogue is online.
Francis Bacon – Portrait of a Dwarf. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £13.1 MILLION
Portrait of a Dwarf by Francis Bacon is, at £6 million – £9 million, the most expensively estimated lot at Sotheby’s contemporary evening art sale in London on October 16. Executed in Paris in 1975 the painting stands alone in Bacon’s oeuvre. Four years after George Dyer’s tragic death on the eve of the artist’s Grand Palais retrospective in the same city, Bacon turned to Velazquez, his ‘God’, once again for inspiration. In the same way as his Popes had been presented on a dais or throne, here his subject is raised up to meet and confront the viewer directly. An amalgamation of Dyer’s hairline, Peter Beard’s face, Lucian Freud’s torso and Bacon’s own foreshortened legs, this figure melds some of his closest friends and greatest loves – yet still recalls Velazquez’s A Dwarf Sitting on the Floor
Picasso: From the Studio which opens at the National Gallery of Ireland on October 9 invites visitors to explore the relationship between maker and place in the context of one of the world’s most well-known artists. Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973) lived surrounded by his art. His personal life and his work, his homes and his studios were always intimately linked. This exhibition highlights the various facets and phases of his art and life, exploring the key locations that defined him. From his arrival in Paris at the start of the twentieth century to his final studio Notre-Dame-de-Vie (1961-1973) in Mougins, visitors will see paintings, sculptures, ceramics, and works on paper, as well as photographic and audio-visual works.
Spanning more than 50 years of work, it is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to see so many works by one of the most influential artists of the 20th century in Ireland. The exhibition is organised in collaboration with Musée national Picasso-Paris and proudly supported by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport and KMPG Ireland, exhibition partner. It runs until next February 22.
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) – Woman Reading, 1935 Musée National Picasso-Paris © Succession Picasso / DACS, London 2025 © GrandPalaisRmn (Musee National Picasso-Paris) / Adrien Didierjean
