George Wallace: Reflections on Life is on view for the second time at the National Gallery of Ireland. More than 60 artworks drawn from the large collection presented to the Gallery by the Wallace family in 2016 are on display in a show previously closed due to Covid. There are etchings, monotypes, woodcuts and drawings. George Wallace (1920-2009) was born in Dublin but lived in Canada for most of his life. The exhibition continues until August 29.
These William IV limestone gate piers and cast and wrought iron entrance gates are standout lots at Victor Mee’s one day summer garden sale online on August 4. The gate piers are estimated at €1,500-2,000 and so are the gates. This sale of almost 600 lots and will include an array of garden furniture, planters and statuary. A life size bronze model of a giraffe is estimated at €3,000-5,000, there is a copper and brass armillary sundial, a Lutyens bench and a life size moulded statue of a Greek discus thrower included in the sale. UPDATE: THE GATE PIERS MADE 2,800 AT HAMMER, THE GATES MADE 1,600.
William Percy French (1854-1920) – Sunset in Mayo. UPDATE: THIS MADE 5,600 AT HAMMER
Sunset in Mayo, a watercolour by the noted songwriter and painter Percy French, is lot 30 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s online sale of Irish art which runs until August 3. The estimate is €4,000-€6,000. There are 256 lots on offer in a sale designed to suit all tastes. The many visitors to west Cork right now will have an opportunity to view this sale in person at Morgan O’Driscoll’s offices in Skibbereen. There will be in person viewing right over the August Bank Holiday weekend. The sale is on view from 11 am to 5 pm from July 30 to August 2 and from 11 am to 3 pm on the day of the auction.
The artist Robert Fagan (1761-1816) is described by Strachan Fine Art as one of the outstanding, unconventional Irish talents who feature in the history of 18th century British art. The London based portrait specialists will bring this unfinished portrait of the artist’s daughter Esther Maria Fagan (1792-1859) held by her nurse in an Italian landscape to the Cotswold Art and Antique Dealers Association fair at Compton Verney in Warwickshire from October 14-17. Robert Fagan’s parents came to London from Cork and his father established a successful bakery business at Long Acre. By 1781 he had settled in Rome where he painted portraits in the neoclassical style of English visitors. In 1807 he moved to Sicily and was eventually appointed Consul General for Sicily and Malta. His daughter, known as Estina, married William Baker and after his death married Francis Acton, nephew of Sir John Acton, Prime Minister of Naples.
THIS summer of auctions is continuing at a brisk pace. A variety of interesting and one off lots will come under the hammer in Ireland over the next few days. More than 600 lots will come under the hammer at Fonsie Mealy’s sale of contents from Osberstown House, Naas on July 27. Osberstown is an elegant country home with all the trappings that make such places special. Hunting through the catalogue you will find everything from a four poster bed and garden statues to antique furniture and rugs, a console mirror and even an Irish silver replica of the Phoenix monument at Phoenix Park. There are comfortable button back leather library armchairs, painting and limited edition prints by Pauline Bewick, a Victorian breakfront wardrobe, a walnut dining suite, an Arts and Crafts five drawer chest, a selection of artworks, a cylinder bureau, a cheval mirror and much more to choose from.Viewing by appointment will be available on Monday. The catalogue is online and the sale will be online only from Castlecomer.
UPDATE: The Osberstown House sale realised over €370,000 on the hammer. The top lot was a massive pair of recumbent Great Danes by Triton 2001 in a limited edition 21/100 which made €5,800 at hammer.
This four poster bed is lot 61 at Fonsie Mealy’s sale. UPDATE: THIS BED WAS WITHDRAWN FROM THE AUCTION
If you picture yourself as a Viking warrior slashing and burning your way through oodles of Covid restrictions and combatting bureaucratic enemies more fearsome and confusing than any ancient dragons then Sean Eacretts auction in Ballybrittas, Co. Laois on July 26 is for you. He is selling MGM props from Vikings and Game of Thrones online on Monday. International interest is guaranteed but estimates are reasonable. A pair of tall metal candleabra from Game of Thrones is estimated at €400-€800 and King Ivor’s throne from Vikings season four is estimated at €300-500. Or you might prefer King Alfred’s throne from season five. There are special tables and boat chairs along with a selection of axes, cabinets and chests in highly decorative hardwood from the Great Hall of Kattegat as filmed in Ashford, Co. Wicklow. The sale features fine art, antiques and collectibles as part one and MGM props as part two.
Meantime Aidan Foley’s summer sale of antiques and interiors online from Kilcolgan, Co. Galway takes place today and tomorrow. There is art by George Gillespie, Maurice Wilks, Graham Knuttel, Arthur Maderson, John Skelton, Colin Middleton and others. The auction offers Persian rugs, antique furniture, silver, Waterford Crystal, a pair of 19th century military epaulettes, old banknotes and garden furniture.The pub section, which is always popular, includes a Bendigo Tobacco mirror from a pub clearance in Ballyhaunis as well s prints, collectibles and glassware. The online sale is on view today in Kilcolgan and the online auction is at 11 am tomorrow and on Monday.
Bill Bowerman’s handmade prototype logo track spikes with waffle sole from the heart of Nike will be a highlight of Sotheby’s Olympic Collection, running online in New York until August 2. When it came to shoe ingenuity and design Nike co-founder Bowerman – obsessed with weight and performance – was one of the greatest innovators of his generation. He made this pair for Canadian track and field sprinter and Olympian Harry Jerome, who set seven world records in his career. Produced in the 1960’s and modified in the 1970’s these shoes are an important milestone in the origin of Nike and feature four prototype logos which resemble the Nike swoosh. The waffle soles under each set of track spikes was the first notable innovation introduced by Nike when they premiered the moon shoe at the 1972 Olympic trials. Not just any old pair they are estimated at $800,000-$1.2 million. The online sale is an assemblage of over 50 lots of memorabilia, sneakers and collectibles related to Olympic athletes.
These handmade Bowerman Nike shoes are estimated at $800,000-$1.2 million. UPDATE: THESE SOLD FOR $315,500
There will be 627 lots at Fonsie Mealy’s sale of contents from Osberstown House, Naas online from Castlecomer on July 27. There is a fine selection of antique furniture, art, lamps, mirrors, garden furniture and a variety of collectibles.
Patricia Jorgensen – Arum Lilies ’94 watercolour (150-250). UPDATE: THIS MADE 520 AT HAMMER
Film props from Vikings and Game of Thrones will go under the hammer in Ireland next week. The online sale by Ballybrittas, Co. Laois based auctioneer Sean Eacrett takes place on July 26. A pair of metal candelabra from Game of Thrones is estimated at 400-600 and there will be wooden thrones up to two metres tall from Vikings which ran for six series and was filmed in Ashford, Co. Wicklow.
King Alfreds thrown from Vikings, season 5 (300-500). UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 370 AT HAMMER
A four phase exhibition to showcase the collection of the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) and to mark 30 years of IMMA opens in Dublin on July 30. The Narrow Gate of the Here-and-Now will open in four phases throughout 2021. Each new chapter will explore the past three decades through different thematic approaches. Chapter One: Queer Embodimentopens on 30 July followed by Chapter Two: The Anthropocene on 24 September; Chapter Three: Social Fabric on 5 November; and Chapter Four: Protest and Conflict on 19 November. The exhibition traces urgent themes across the 30-year period as they impact the personal, the political and the planetary, and prompts thinking about the effects of globalisation today in the Irish context as we respond to global crises from COVID-19 to Climate Change and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Queer Embodiment maps the context for the project. It reflects on the dramatic legislative changes that occurred in Irish society such as the decriminalisation of homosexuality (1993), provision of divorce (1996), marriage equality (2015) and the repeal of the Eighth Amendment (2018). These moments in the struggle for human rights find echoes across the globe, as grassroots movements continue to contest the impact of the State on the Body.
Zanele Muholi. S’thombe,La Réunion, 2016 (I), detail. Quadriptych Silver Gelatin Print. David Kronn Collection, Promised Gift to IMMA.
There is art by William Conor, Charles Lamb, Derek Hill, Breon O’Casey and Markey Robinson at Bonhams sale of British and Irish art at Knightsbridbge in London on July 21. The auction is led by Summer Holiday by Sherree Valentine-Daines (born. 1959) which is estimated at £5,000-7,000.
