You might never be able to dance like Zizi Jeanmaire, but you can dress like her thanks to the online sale of her Yves Saint Laurent wardrobe at Christie’s from January 13-26. The sale will pay tribute to the performer of “Mon truc en plumes”, who passed away last summer at the ground old age of 96. Saint Laurent was by her side throughout her career. The clothes and accessories that make up this wardrobe reflect the image of the queen of music hall with jet-black hair: often black, a stunning silhouette, glitter, embroidery and feathers. The admirers of the one who “had eyes that could empty a monastery”, as Boris Vian described her, will find around 100 lots including tuxedos, jackets, dresses, trousers, shoes and accessories.
SAINT LAURENT RIVE GAUCHE 1970s LARGE BELT IN BLACK SUEDE AND BUTTERFLY METAL BUCKLE ESTIMATE €200 – 300
SAINT LAURENT RIVE GAUCHE 1970s BLOUSE IN BLACK SILK CHIFFON, WITH LAVALLIERE COLLAR ESTIMATE €300 – 500
This 19th century horse drawn carriage, complete with leather style deep button seating and carriage lamps, is at Sean Eacrett’s timed auction of items from various tv programmes and series which runs until November 15. There are 204 lots and the catalogue is on Easy Live Auctions. The carriage is estimated at 2,500-3,500.
Deep Blues by William Scott sold for £837,800 over a top estimate of £500,000 at Sotheby’s re-scheduled sale 44 Fitzwilliam Square – Works from the Estate of the Late Patrick Kelly, in London today. Lockdown failed to put a stop to the gallop of this sale of contents from the Dublin home of the late property developer. There was huge interest online and on the telephones as the auction was in progress. It had been scheduled to take place on March 18 and postponed due to lockdown.
Achill Sound by Paul Henry sold for £207,900 over a top estimate of £100,000. Young Men, The Showground Revisited and Early Morning, Glasnevin all by Jack B. Yeats each sold for £176,400, A View of Killarney with the Passage to the Upper Lake by William Ashford sold for £252,000 and Still Life, Fruits by Roderic O’Conor sold for £100,800. A c1760 Irish Georgian mahogany side table sold for £30,240, a pair of Irish clear blue and oval glass mirrors sold for £56,700, a George III style Irish oval hall mirror sold for £25,200 and a pair of mottled pink marble pedestals sold for £13,860. The sale total was £3.3 million.
AN exceptionally rare 14.83 carat Fancy Vivid Purple-Pink, Internally Flawless, Type IIa diamond comes up at Sotheby’s in Geneva on November 11. Named ‘The Spirit of the Rose’ after Vaslav Nijinsky’s legendary ballet, Le Spectre de la rose, the diamond was mined, cut and polished in Russia. It is the largest Purple-Pink diamond to ever appear at auction. It was cut from the largest pink crystal ever mined in Russia. It is estimated at CHF 21-35 million or $23-38 million US. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $26.6 MILLION
There was a record for any work of Italian design at Sotheby’s contemporary art sale in New York when a unique dining table by Carlo Mollino sold for $6.2 million. This was more than double the $3 million high estimate. From the Brooklyn Museum it was designed in 1949 and executed by Appelli and Varesio in Turin for the travelling exhibition Italy at Work: Her Renaissance in Design Today. This groundbreaking event, hosted initially by the Brooklyn Museum in 1950, set out to expose Italian art and design to an international audience in an attempt to stimulate Italy’s economy after World War II. Carlo Mollino (1905-1973) was an architect pushing the boundaries of design whose passions included skiing, poetry, racecar driving, photography and flying stunt planes. He developed the technique of bending and moulding plywood and his name became synonymous with complex, sinuous lines and forms.
A stunning array of Irish pictures from the 18th to the 20th centuries as well as Georgian and Regency furniture and decorative arts will come under the hammer at Sotheby’s in London on November 10. If there is a certain sense of deja vu about the auction of contents from 44 Fitzwilliam Square in Dublin it is because this sale was first scheduled to take place in London last March. The first lockdown landed and it was re-scheduled to November just in time for lockdown number two to take off. Things are different this time round, the auction world has adjusted spectacularly well to the online model and there is a zoom boom.
Irish art has fared very well in times of pandemic and this sale offers an exceptional William Scott and five works by Yeats. The paintings by Yeats include The Showground Revisited, painted in 1950 (£150,000-250,000 / €170,000-282,000) and Young Men, painted in 1929 (£150,000-250,000 / €170,000-282,000). The Scott, entitled Deep Blues, has an estimate of £300,000-500,000 / €339,000-565,000.There is art by Daniel Maclise, George Barret, Paul Henry, Roderic O’Conor, George Mullins, James Arthur O’Connor, John Butts, james Humbert Craig, Jeremiah Hoad, Louis le Brocquy, Erskine Nichol, William Sadler, William Ashford, Douglas Alexander, Nathaniel Hone, Harry Kernoff and others including a set of 25 Views of Dublin by James Malton. These were all shown in Dublin a year ago as a curtain raiser to the November 2019 Irish art sale at Sotheby’s. Serious punters who viewed them then will have no trouble vividly remembering them now. The elegant Dublin townhouse, home to the late property developer Paddy Kelly, was a wonderful setting for these paintings and antique furniture pieces like a pair of Irish mirrors and a pair of demi lune side cabinets in the manner of the Dublin maker William Moore. On offer too is a c1820 Irish Regency serving table, a set of four Irish hall chairs c1815 and a matched pair of table globes by Cary. A Victorian silver gilt replica of the Ardagh Chalice has an estimate of £3,000-£5,000. An avid collector, Patrick Kelly (1942-2011) recognised the tradition of Irish painting from the eighteenth century through to the twentieth, complemented with fine Georgian and Regency furniture, silver and decorative arts, amassed from auctions and dealers over three decades.
Virtual antique fair number 3, a Christmas gift fair organised by Hibernian Antique Fairs, is now up and running and will continue today and tomorrow. More than 50 dealers, including nine members of the Irish Antique Dealers Association, are offering a range of objects from Irish art to antique furniture and collectibles for sale based on online photographs. Here is a link to the online event: http://hibernianantiques.ie/fairs/3/
Michael Flatley’s clearout of Castlehyde near Fermoy to prepare for a refurbishment offers something for collectors across the board – even those who might be into a spot of cannibalism. Pride of place in the sale, to be held online at Sheppards in Durrow on November 26-27, is the mask worn by Anthony Hopkins when he played Hannibal Lecter, the fictional forensic psychiatrist who liked to eat his victims. Signed by Hopkins and co-star Julianne Moore it is estimated at €80,000-€120,000.
UPDATE: THE HANNIBAL LECTER MASK MADE 85,000 AT HAMMER
AN INTERIOR VIEW OF CASTLEHYDE
Not the usual stuff of country house sales, but the Lord of the Dance, who has poured millions into the restoration of the Palladian mansion on the banks of the River Blackwater, is in the realm of collectors who are more extraordinary than ordinary. He is planning a major overhaul of the interior so these pieces are surplus to requirements.More than 700 items collected during the past 20 years will come under the hammer. Period pieces include a pair of 19th century French marble console tables (€8,000-€12,000), a pair of large gilt bronze figures of nymphs each holding a torch (€5,000-€8,000), a Victorian console table and mirror (€5,000-€8,000) and a pair of Edwardian satinwood wing armchair (€1,400-€1,800). There are medieval style suits of armour (€500-€800 each) which are reproduction. So are the Graeco Roman busts displayed in the dining room (from €500-€1,200). There is a Louis XVI desk (€4,000-€6,000), a full size billiard table (€3,000-€5,000), a hide covered Chesterfield (€1,000-€1,500) and some French Rococo style sofas.When he retired from dancing Michael Flatley took to art. One of his pieces, entitled Finishing Line, is at €40,000-€60,000, the second most expensively estimated item in the auction. UPDATE: THE FINISHING LINE ARTWORK MADE 37,000 AT HAMMER
19th century billiard table. UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,600 AT HAMMER
Andy Warhol’s Mao comes up at Christie’s in New York on December 3. It is from the collection of Barbara Allen de Kwiatkowski, which will be offered across eight sales, beginning in New York this December with Post-War & Contemporary Art (December 3), Impressionist and Modern Art (December 4), Magnificent Jewels (December 8), Jewels Online (November 18 to December 1), Design (December 11), Old Master Paintings Online (November 13 to December 4) followed by the April 2021 sales of The Collector (April 8) and Prints & Multiples (April 21).
Muse and close friend to Andy Warhol, she was part owner, cover star, and contributor to his Interview magazine. She and Warhol were famous at Studio 54 and shared a deep friendship. Highlights among more than 60 lots at Christie’s comprise works by Warhol including a silkscreen of Mao executed in 1973 ($1,000,000-1,500,000), an extremely rare portrait sketch of Barbara Allen drawn circa 1976 ($30,000-40,000), and a silkscreen titled VIP Ticket – Studio 54 executed in 1978 ($120,000-180,000). These will be offered alongside photographs by Peter Beard, another close friend. Also featured are important pieces of 20th century design including furniture by Diego Giacometti and vases by Jean Dunand and iconic jewels spanning designs by Belperron, Harry Winston, JAR, and Verdura.
Figures is the title of this mixed media work by George Campbell. It comes up at de Veres online sale of Irish art which runs until November 10. There are 100 works with estimates of 50-2,000. This one is estimated at 200-300.
