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    • A $57 MILLION BASQUIAT AT CHRISTIE’S

    May 11th, 2016
    Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) Untitled Acrylic on canvas Painted in 1982 © The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat / ADAGP, Paris / ARS, New York 2016.

    Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) Untitled
    © The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat / ADAGP, Paris / ARS, New York 2016.

    An untitled 1982 acrylic on canvas by Jean Michel Basquiat was the top lot at Christie’s Post War and Contemporary art evening sale in New York on May 10. Bought by a collector in Asia it made $57,285,000 in a 60 lot auction which realized $318,388,000.  The sale was 87% sold by lot and 91% by value.

    Mark Rothko’s No. 17 painted in 1957 made $32.6 million: Clyfford Still’s PH-234 made $28.1 million and an enamel on aluminum by Christopher Wool painted in 1992 sold for $13.6 million.  Others in the top ten were Agnes Martin, Joan Mitchell, Richard Prince, Robert Ryman, Cy Twombly and Roy Lichtenstein.

    There were six new world auction records for artists including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Agnes Martin, Mike Kelley, Richard Prince, Kerry James Marshall and Barry X Ball. The results bring the week’s running total to at Christie’s to $396.5 million, which includes the price achieved by the May 8 evening auction of Bound to Fail. Registered bidders from 39 countries took part, with strong bidding from Asia, Europe and the United States.

    Sara Friedlander, Vice President, Head of Evening Sale, Post-War and Contemporary Art, stated: “We built our sales this season to reflect the macro environment, providing an ideal balance that suits an array of collecting tastes. Tonight’s success is the result of a tightly edited sale with top quality works, which were extremely fresh to the marketplace. 84% of the lots had never been sold at auction, and of the 10 works that had been sold, only 4 had been offered over the past 10 years”.

    Brett Gorvy, Chairman and International Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art, remarked: “We are very proud of the record price achieved for Basquiat’s monumental portrait of the artist as devil at a time when top collectors are pursuing works of the very highest quality. This painting drew intense competition that dispelled questions of a market contraction”.

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    NEW WORLD RECORD FOR RODIN AT SOTHEBY’S

    May 10th, 2016
    Maurice de Vlaminck - Sous-boix

    Maurice de Vlaminck – Sous-bois sold for $16,378,000

    There was a new world record for Rodin at Sotheby’s sale of Impressionist and Modern Art evening sale in New York on May 9.  L’Eternel printemps – a white marble rendering of a passionate couple – sold for $20.4 million.  There was spirited bidding for other masterpieces in a sale which brought in $144.5 million.

    Auguste Rodin - L’Éternel Printemps

    Auguste Rodin – L’Éternel Printemps

    Sous-Bois by Maurice de Vlaminck sold for $16,378,000, Paul Signac’s Maisons du Port made $10,666,000, Claude Monet’s Maree Basses aux petites Dalles sold for $9,822,000 and Camille a l’Ombre by the same artist sold for $9,434,000.

    (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for April 21, 2016)

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    STILL DARING AFTER ALL THESE YEARS

    May 9th, 2016
    Henri Gervex - Rolla

    Henri Gervex – Rolla

    An artwork which stopped the traffic in Paris in 1878 is still daring after all these years.  Aged twenty-six, French artist Henri Gervex experienced a succès de scandale  when he exhibited Rolla, his most famous work. The painting was pulled from exhibition at the Salon by the Surintendant des beaux-arts on grounds of immorality, and subsequently put on public view by a Parisian dealer for three months where, according to Gervex, ‘there was an uninterrupted procession of visitors with a queue of carriages backed up to the Opera’.

    Sotheby’s will offer Henri Gervex’s réplique of Rolla, in which the artist faithfully reprises the detail and palette of the monumental original (now belonging to the French state, and a highlight of the recent Splendeurs et Misères exhibition in Paris and Amsterdam). Most likely painted on commission for a collector who wanted their own piece of the scandal, the painting is the first full version of Rolla to come to auction in over twenty-five years, and the only known variant of its size. It comes up in London at a sale of 19th century European Paintings on May 25, with an estimate of £400,000-600,000.

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    138TH ANNUAL SHOW BY DUBLIN PAINTING AND SKETCHING CLUB

    May 9th, 2016

    The 138th annual exhibition of the Dublin Painting and Sketching Club runs at Dun Laoghaire County Hall for two weeks from today. This year the exhibition, which is sponsored by Whyte’s, will mark a centenary of Irish literature.  Among the diverse range of nearly 300 works by 80 artists are paintings inspired by Irish poets and writers.  Some non-member artists have been invited to participate this year.  Here is a small selection:

    ‘Anna Livia Plurabelle You’re Changing from me Or is it me is’, by Kate Bedell

    ‘Anna Livia Plurabelle You’re Changing from me Or is it me is’, by Kate Bedell

    The Stone Field’, oil on canvas by Mary Duffy

    The Stone Field’, oil on canvas by Mary Duffy

    ‘Ulysses Molly Bloom, All the Lovely Places We Could Go’, ink and watercolour by Brid Clarke

    ‘Ulysses Molly Bloom, All the Lovely Places We Could Go’, ink and watercolour by Brid Clarke

    ‘Colm’, a portrait of writer Colm T?ibín by Aidan Hickey, the new president of the Dublin Painting & Sketching Club

    ‘Colm’, a portrait of writer Colm Toibín by Aidan Hickey, the new president of the Dublin Painting & Sketching Club

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    WORLD AUCTION RECORD FOR MAURIZIO CATALAN

    May 9th, 2016
    Maurizio Catalan - Him.

    Maurizio Catalan – Him.

    A 2001 sculpture of a kneeling Hitler made a world record auction price for Maurizio Catalan at Christie’s in New York. Entitled Him and composed of wax, human hair, suit, polyester resin and pigment it sold for $17,189,000.  It was the top lot at Christie’s Bound to Fail evening sale on May 8.  The auction brought in  $78,123,250 with sell-through rates of 97%  by lot and 98% by value. The sale established seven new world auction records for artists including Paola Pivi, Neil Jenney, Olivier Mosset, Daniel Buren, Rebecca Horn, John Armleder, Maurizio Cattelan. Records were also set for a sculpture by Richard Prince and a video by Bruce Nauman.

    Loic Gouzer, Deputy Chairman, Post-War and Contemporary Art, remarked: “With Bound to Fail, we sought to push the envelope with an auction that emphasized artists and works that challenge the traditional notions of commercial success. The auction’s strong outcome was the result of enthusiastic bidding from a diverse group of collectors from all over the world. We were encouraged by the passionate response to works that have traditionally been overlooked or construed as challenging. Maurizio Cattelan’s, Him, set a world auction record for the artist when it sold for $17,189,000 after over five minutes of bidding. The depth of interest for this work speaks to its international notoriety, and its ability to breach the boundaries of fine art and popular culture, forcing the viewer to reconsider challenging questions about action and absolution”.

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    AN AUCTION AT THE RECTORY IN MONASTEREVIN

    May 8th, 2016

    An interesting sale of 500 lots of furniture and garden items from the Old Rectory at Monasterevin in Co. Kildare will be held by Ashgrove Auctioneers on May 10.  The on the premises auction  offers everything from a Wylie and Lockhead couch to a half tester bed.   The catalogue is online and the auction will be live on the saleroom.com Here is a small selection:

    A Wylie and Lockhead couch (600-800).

    A Wylie and Lockhead couch (600-800).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 600

    A granite mill stone (200-400)

    A granite mill stone (200-400)  UPDATE: THIS MADE 260

    A French 19th century brass chandelier (1,000-2,000)

    A French 19th century brass chandelier (1,000-2,000)  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 1,000

    An Irish golf pocket watch (800-1,200)

    An Irish golf pocket watch (800-1,200)  UPDATE: THIS MADE 850

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    CILLA’S LOWRYS AT SOTHEBY’S

    May 6th, 2016

    Three works by L.S. Lowry from the collection of the late Cilla Black will come up at Sotheby’s sale of Modern and Post-War British art in London on June 13.  Cilla rose to stardom as a singer managed by Brian Epstein, with songs written for her by close friends Paul McCartney and John Lennon. Decades on, she continued to delight millions with her unique brand of unaffected humour and charm. She was introduced by Epstein to the pleasure of buying art. The three paintings have a total estimate of £520,000-830,000.

    Her sons are quoted by Sotheby’s saying:  “Mum and dad bought art that they loved and that they could relate to, and since L.S. Lowry painted the world that our mother grew up in there was very much a personal connection to each of these particular paintings. It was Brian Epstein who first introduced them to buying art when they were able to afford to, and he introduced them to a number of artists who were prominent at the time. Dad had a good eye for seeking out great works, and mum wanted to feel a connection to the works on a personal level and Lowry was an artist they were both drawn to”.

    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Family Group, 1938 (£300,000-500,000)

    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Family Group, 1938 (£300,000-500,000)

    Laurence Stephen Lowry, The Black Church, 1964 (£120,000-180,000)

    Laurence Stephen Lowry, The Black Church, 1964 (£120,000-180,000)

    Laurence Stephen Lowry, The Spire, 1949 (£100,000-150,000)

    Laurence Stephen Lowry, The Spire, 1949 (£100,000-150,000)

     

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    JAGGER, CALLAS AND AN 1890 ALL IRELAND FOOTBALL MEDAL AT WHYTE’S

    May 6th, 2016
    The collection of 12 Gaelic Football medals.

    The collection of 12 Gaelic Football medals.  UPDATE: THESE MADE 5,400

    What have Mick Jagger, Maria Callas and an historic collection of 12 GAA medals got in common?  They all feature at Whyte’s Eclectic Collector sale in Dublin on May 14.

    A collection of 12 Co. Cork Gaelic Football medals including an 1890 All Ireland Championship medal is estimated at 3,500-4,500. It includes the medals won by William Buckley at the Cork County Football Championship in 1889 and the Football Championship of Ireland in 1890.

    There is a limited edition colour lithograph print of a portrait of Mick Jagger by Ronnie Wood. Number 179 out of an edition of 295 of a print entitled “Paint it Black – Out of Control” is estimated at 1,500-2,000. A signed photograph of Maria Callas dated 1971 has an estimated of 300-500.  The Capital Records photographic studio image is inscribed “To Michael Comber – Sincerely – Maria Callas”.  There is much for collectors to pour over in this sale of 470 lots. The catalogue is online.

    A photograph signed by Maria Callas

    A photograph signed by Maria Callas  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    Ronnie Wood - "Paint it Black - Out of Control".

    Ronnie Wood – “Paint it Black – Out of Control”.  UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,500

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    JOHN DOHERTY AT TAYLOR GALLERIES

    May 5th, 2016
    John Doherty - Strand Street, Youghal, Co. Cork from the show at Taylor.

    John Doherty – Strand Street, Youghal, Co. Cork from the show at Taylor.

    Legacy is the title of John Doherty’s exhibition at Taylor Galleries in Dublin until May 21.  Long known for his finely detailed studies of the minutiae of life in an Ireland that is in the process of slowly fading from view much of Doherty’s work focuses on the effect that the passage of time has on the surface of things.  He returns frequently to familiar leitmotifs – old shops in small country towns, petrol pumps, public houses that have long since called last orders and marine paraphernalia that resemble marooned relics of another time and place. In Legacy he presents a series of paintings that together comprise a close study of our built environment and encompass a vast array of architectural quirks and foibles, as well as intriguing aesthetic decisions made by owner/occupiers, that make them rich in vernacular variety and visual interest.

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    THE LARGEST ROUGH DIAMOND DISCOVERED IN OVER A CENTURY

    May 4th, 2016
    THE 1109-CARAT “LESEDI LA RONA”

    THE 1109-CARAT “LESEDI LA RONA”

    The largest rough diamond discovered in over a century  – the 1109 carat Lesedi la Rona – will be offered in a stand alone sale at Sotheby’s in London on June 29.  The largest rough diamond in existence today is estimated to make more than $70 million.  Lesedi la Rona (“Our Light” in the Tswana language spoken in Botswana) was uncovered by Lucara Diamond Corp. in November 2015, at their Karowe mine in Botswana. Around the size of a tennis ball (measuring approximately 66.4 x 55 x 42 mm), this colossal rough diamond of exceptional transparency and quality is around 2.5 to over 3 billion years old.

    Diamonds have been mined continuously for centuries in multiple locations around the world and yet nothing of the size and quality of Lesedi La Rona has been found in over 100 years. In terms of its size, the rough is exceeded only by the legendary Cullinan Diamond, mined in South Africa in 1905.  The 3016.75-carat Cullinan Diamond produced nine major diamonds that are part of the historic Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, including the Great Star of Africa – currently the largest top-quality polished diamond in existence, weighing 530.20 carats.

    According to a study by the Gemological Institute of America, the Lesedi La Rona’s “top colour and transparency exemplify the “limpid” appearance commonly associated with type IIa diamonds” – a rare and coveted subgroup which comprises less than 2% of all gem diamonds. Stones in this group are “the most chemically pure and often show extraordinary optical transparency”.

    David Bennett, Worldwide Chairman of Sotheby’s Jewellery Division, commented: “The Lesedi la Rona is simply outstanding and its discovery is the find of a lifetime. It is a huge honour for Sotheby’s to have been entrusted with its sale. Every aspect of this auction is unprecedented. Not only is the rough superlative in size and quality, but no rough even remotely of this scale has ever been offered before at public auction”.  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    Here is a short video about about the stone:

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