The Flea Market by Gladys MacCabe is at Morgan O’Driscoll’s online auction of affordable Irish art which runs until December 7. The catalogue for the sale is online. This painting is estimated at 1,000-1,500. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 1,700 AT HAMMER
One of the most sought after Irish football match programmes comes under the hammer at Mullens online Collectors Cabinet sale in Laurel Park, Bray on December 5. The sale was postponed in October. The programme for the Ireland v Germany match at Dalymount Park in 1936 is estimated at €600-€800. It shows the Swastika decorated Nazi German flag and the Irish tricolour. Ireland won by five goals to two. It is from the collection of Christy Rooney from The Liberties, Dublin, a lifelong Manchester United and Ireland supporter. Nearly 4,000 programmes will be offered in 64 lots with estimates from €60-€800. A 1986 facsimile of the Book of Kells is estimated at €5,000-€7,000.
Among a large selection of film posters is lot 448, the 1964 Goldfinger poster. Sadly Sean Connery, Margaret Nolan, the actress whose gold painted body featured in the film and Honor Blackman, who played Pussy Galore, all died this year.
Deirdre Breen’s art on Wandesford Quay. Credit: Clare Keogh
Injecting colour and life into a city during lockdown has been an ongoing project in Cork. Seven of Ireland’s most renowned street artists were invited to create works at key city-centre locations in response to a theme inspired by the 1920 Burning of Cork. Cork City Council, Creative Ireland and Fáilte Ireland set out to present street art in a safe outdoor space and at social distance in a project called Ardú – Irish for ‘Rise’. Cork City rose from the ashes 100 years ago and faces a challenge to rise again now. The artists involved are Deirdre Breen (Wandesford Quay); MASER (Kino, Washington St.); James Early (Henry St.); Peter Martin (Kyle St.); Shane O’Driscoll (Harley St.); Aches (Anglesea St.) and Garreth Joyce (Liberty St.). The response to the new artworks has been phenomenal and a new website, www.arducork.ie, will be live from this weekend.
Shane O’Driscoll’s work on Harley St. Credit: Clare Keogh
A 1939 All Ireland Hurling winners 9 carat gold Celtic Cross medal comes up at Fonsie Mealy’s Rare Book and Collectors sale in Castlecomer on December 9 and 10. Known as the Thunder and Lightning Final the match took place on September 3, 1939, hours after World War II was declared. Kilkenny and Cork under the captaincies of Jimmy Walsh and Jack Lynch, took to the battlefield of sport. The Cats prevailed on a score line of 2-7 to 3-3. Lot 522 is estimated at 1,500-2,000.
With an estimate of 200,000-300,000 The Blue Hills of Connemara is one of a number of major works by Paul Henry at Whytes sale of exceptional Irish art in Dublin on December 7. There are 136 lots on the catalogue, which is online. This wide ranging sale, with something for most pockets and most budgets, is rich in major paintings like this one.
THE BLUE HILLS OF CONNEMARA, 1933 PAUL HENRY RHA (1876-1958). UPDATE; THIS SOLD FOR 240,000 AT HAMMER
The first ever exhibition in Ireland of work by Piet Mondrian opens at the National Gallery of Ireland today. The landmark show features loans from the Kunstsmuseum Den Haag. It ranges from Mondrian’s little known early landscapes to his world renowned abstract works with their black and white grids and primary colours. There are 40 paintings by Mondrian as well as a selection of works by De Stijl artists Theo van Doesburg, Bart van der Leck, and Gerrit Rietveld. The exhibition continues until February 14. The National Gallery re-opens today after 73 days of closure.
Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) Composition with Large Red Plane, Yellow, Black, Grey and Blue, 1921
A portrait of of George Villiers, 4th Viscount Grandison of Limerick (1618-99) by Sir Peter Lely comes up at Sotheby’s Old Masters day sale which runs from today until December 5. It is estimated at £10,000-15,000. Grandison was the uncle of two notable Royal mistresses: Barbara Villiers, later Countess of Castlemaine and Duchess of Cleveland (1640-1709), perhaps the most notorious of King Charles II’s many mistresses; and Elizabeth Villiers, Countess of Orkney (1657-1733), the presumed mistress of King William III. His eldest son, Brigadier-General the Hon. Edward Villiers, who married Katherine, the daughter of Sir John FitzGerald and changed his name to FitzGerald in order to inherit that family’s estates at Dromana, County Waterford, predeceased him and he was succeeded by his grandson, John Villiers, 5th Viscount and 1st Earl of Grandison (1684-1766), at whose death, without surviving male issue, the Earldom became extinct.
Sir Peter Lely Portrait of George Villiers, 4th Viscount Grandison of Limerick UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £12,600
A four panel Chinese lacquered screen with court scenes comes up at Lynes and Lynes in Carrigtwohill, Co. Cork on December 5. The online auction of 360 lots comprises two house contents including those of a downsizing couple who lived in China and Canada before retiring to west Cork. The screen, inlaid with mother of pearl and soapstone, is estimated at €600-€800. There are two stained glass panels by Desmond Kyne, one commemorating the 1979 visit of Pope John Paul II to Ireland, the other titled Our Lady Queen of Ireland. Each is estimated at €300-€500. The sale features a selection of books, glass, collectibles and drawings.
Irish collectors are faced with a dizzying array of online choices in a whole series of end of year sales in the run up to Christmas. Historically rare archival items, collectibles, antique furniture, Irish glass, porcelain, jewellery, silver and art will all come under the hammer. And there will be a series of major art sales in Dublin from December 7. The Woodwards online sale in Cork on December 5 offers a good selection of antique furniture, rugs, collectibles and art. There is a set of eight Cork 11-bar chairs (€2,500-4,000); a GCeorgian secretaire (€1,000-€1,500); an Edwardian drawingroom suite (€1,000-€1,500) and a pair of Waterford Crystal chandeliers (€800-1,500). At Sixmilebridge in Co. Clare Aidan Foley has a four day online sale with more than 2,000 lots starting on December 5 with a large collection of books, records and CD’s. This will be followed by auctions of antique furniture, mirrors, Persian rugs and art on the following three days. One of the prime lots is a large Killarney davenport with an estimate of €6,000-€8,000. The Collectors Cabinet sale by Mullens of Laurel Park, postponed from October, takes place on December 5. More than 500 lots of all sorts of everything from books and cinema posters to a facsimile of the Book of Kells, Irish Republican memorabilia and a collection of nearly 4,000 football programmes including the famous Irish v Germany games in 1936 when the Tricolour was published alongside the flag of Nazi Germany are due to come under the hammer.
In Dublin James Adam is running a timed online only At Home sale until December 2. There is silver, jewellery and watches, antique furniture, old Irish glass, art and collectibles with nearly 600 lots to chose from. More than 900 lots will come under the hammer online at a two day Christmas auction by Sean Eacrett of Ballybrittas, Co. Laois on December 5 and 6. The sale contents from an antique shop and a stamp collection.
A pair of Waterford Crystal chandeliers at Woodwards. UPDATE: THESE MADE 2,400 AT HAMMER
Christmas shows are usually in full swing in galleries up and down Ireland at this point. The sector has been hard hit by the pandemic but many art galleries are fighting back. An online showcase just launched at Uilinn: West Cork Arts Centre features a collection of art by more than 60 artists from the city and county of Cork. The range at Cork Artists Winter Showcase encompasses oil, acrylic, and watercolour painting, to textile and glass work, to print, photography and sculpture. “We will truly miss seeing everyone at our annual Uillinn Christmas Fair, but this exhibition will provide that space for a wide public to see and support the talented artists who are living and working in this region” Uillinn Director Ann Davoren said.
