The first major David Hockney at auction in Asia, 30 Sunflowers from 1996, comes up at Sotheby’s Hong Kong Contemporary Art evening sale on July 9. Bearing strong reminiscence to Vincent van Gogh’s iconic Sunflowers this is an update of the classic still life for contemporary times. Executed in 1996, on the brink of Hockney’s sixtieth year, 30 Sunflowers marks the epitome of the artist’s return to figurative painting after a decade primarily immersed in photography. Led by important masterpieces by Hockney and Liu Ye, the evening sale showcases an international line-up of works by blue-chip Western artists alongside the most prominent Asian names, including Clyfford Still, Albert Oehlen, Kazuo Shiraga, Yayoi Kusama and Yoshitomo Nara.
DAVID HOCKNEY, 30 SUNFLOWERS, 1996. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR US$14.8 MILLION
Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels: Part I at Sotheby’s Geneva is open for bidding until June 24. There is a selection of jewellery from the 19th century to the present day from renowned houses such as Sterlé, Suzanne Belperron, René Boivin and Hemmerle.
A sapphire and diamond ring by Harry Winston (CHF 30,000-50,000)
AN online sale of works on paper and prints at Christe’s until July 1 showcases the breadth of artistic styles of modern masters from the 1890s to the 1990s. More than 100 lots from intimate drawings to suites of artist prints, prices in Modern Edition range from £800 to £150,000 providing price points for collectors of all stages.
Here is a video from about Clyfford Still’s PH144 (1947-Y-No.1) which comes up at Sotheby’s Contemporary Art evening auction on June 29 in New York. The monumental work, with its forceful combination of deep black, bright yellow and crimson red, was selected by the artist for inclusion in his seminal 1959 exhibition. It leads a group from the collection of Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson in the sale and is estimated at $25-35 million. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $28.7 million
The daring heist that was Britain’s biggest robbery is recalled in the sale of a rare £1 million Treasury Bill at Dix Noonan Webb in London on June 24 A knifepoint mugging in broad daylight resulted in the theft of a staggering £292 million in treasury bills. Bought by financial institutions at less than face value and sold back to the government on maturity the secretive system of treasury bills enables the British government to manage short term borrowing. Bills collected by messenger from the Bank of England could be cashed in by whoever held them.
On May 2, 1990 John Goddard, a 58 year-old messenger with money brokers Sheppards, was mugged by a thief who got away with 301 treasury bills and certificates of deposit. Only the $1 billion theft from the Central Bank of Iraq by one of Saddam Hussein’s sons in 2003 has exceeded this robbery.
City of London Police and the FBI infiltrated the gang involved in laundering the bills and eventually recovered all but two of them. One man was jailed for his part but Patrick Thomas, the petty criminal from south London believed to have carried out the mugging, was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head before he could be charged. The system is in place today but it is computerised. The last bills were produced in September 2003 and one of these comes up at the live online auction by Dix Noonan Webb. Effectively a one million pound note it is on watermarked paper bearing the signature of Andrew Turnbull, then Permanent Secretary to the Treasury, and stamped cancelled. It is estimated at £5,000-7,000. The auction will feature 188 Irish banknotes including a rare Munster and Leinster Bank £10 Ploughman’s Note from December 5, 1931 (£2,400-3,000) and a £50 Central Bank of Ireland note from May 1943 (£3,400-4,000).
Wayne Thiebaud’s Four Pinball Machines, 1962 will come up as a central highlight at Christie’s ONE: A global sale of the 20th century, on July 10. With an estimate of $18-25 million it is expected to more than double the artist’s world auction record currently held by Encased Cakes, 2011, which made $8.5 million in November 2019.
Alex Rotter, Chairman of Post-War and Contemporary Art, Christie’s, remarked: “It is always a privilege to have the opportunity to present a painting that is categorically recognized as one of the best works that an artist has ever created, but in this case it is particularly exciting given its prominence within the canon of Pop art. This is precisely the case with Thiebaud’s Four Pinball Machines, 1962. In his centennial year, Thiebaud is among the most loved and revered artists of the 20th century, both for his extraordinary artistic talent and vision, but also for the delight that his paintings instill into anyone who stands before them. Four Pinball Machines is a painting that combines all of the qualities that people treasure about Thiebaud’s work: an iconic subject imbued with American nostalgia, the joyful palette and the masterly quality of the expressionistic brushstrokes. This work is the most important example by the artist in private hands“
Wayne Thiebaud – Four Pinball Machines, 1962. UPDATE: THIS MADE $19,135,000
More than 270 lots will come under the hammer at Hegarty’s online sale in Bandon on June 14. Antique furniture, jewellery, garden pieces, rugs and collectibles including old Irish glass will come under the hammer. There are three online platforms for this auction, Easy Live Auctions, The Saleroom and Invaluable.
A pair of Gainsborough armchairs (1,250-1,500). UPDATE: THESE MADE 1,200 AT HAMMER
Torse by Jean Arp was the the top lot at Christie’s Paris Hommage a Jean Arp, Collection Greta Stroeh online sale which has just finished. It made €394,000 at an auction where 75% of lots sold above estimate anbd 32% of registered buyers were new. The sale total was €1,176,625 in an auction which was 100% sold by lot and by value.
Dublin born Bantry based sculptor Jeanne Rynhart has died aged 74. Her work includes the statues of Annie Moore at Cobh, Co. Cork and at Ellis Island, New York and the Molly Malone statue at Suffolk St. in Dublin. She graduated from the National College of Art and Design in 1969.
Jeanne Rynhart – Molly Malone at Suffolk St. in Dublin.
