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Irish artworks by Roderic O’Conor, William Scott and Jack B. Yeats are among the artists whose work will feature at Christie’s sale of Modern British and Irish Art at South Kensington in London on July 16.  Here is a sample.

UPDATE: Early Away by Jack Butler Yeats sold for £50,000.

William Scott, R.A. (1913-1989) Blue Still Life (£40,000-60,000).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £74,500

Roderic O’Conor, R.H.A. (1860-1940)
Seated female nude (£5,000-8,000)  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £27,500

Sekhemka – Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014

The rape of a Sabine by Giambologna. Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014.

AN Egyptian painted limestone statue dating to the Old Kingdom, Late Dynasty was the top lot at The Exceptional Sale at Christie’s in London tonight.  The statue for the Inspector of the Scribes Sekhemka sold for £15,762,500 and set a world record price at auction for an Ancient Egyptian work of art.  The Exceptional Sale realised £31,048,50, the highest total for any various-owner sale of classical decorative arts.  It broke the record of £28.7million established by Christie’s Exceptional Sale in 2011. The statue of Sekhemka dates to circa 2400–2300 B.C. and it is probably from Saqqara in Lower Egypt.

Robert Copley, Deputy Chairman Christie’s UK, International Head of Furniture said: ‘The finest and rarest examples achieved exceptional prices as increasingly multi-national bidders competed for works of exceptional quality.  Several records were set including Giambologna’s ‘The Rape of A Sabine’, which realised £3.6 million, surpassing the previous record for the artist set by this work when it last came to the market at Christie’s 25 years ago. Following the inaugural Exceptional auction in 2008, these results build on Christie’s success with this pioneering sales platform. It continues to demonstrate the enduring appeal of individual masterpieces, which were highly admired over the past few weeks while they have been exhibited alongside highlights of the Old Master, Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary art in London.’

(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for July 7 and June 17 2014)

Sir Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen 1577-1640 Antwerp)
Samson and Delilah (recto); Figure studies, probably of soldiers (verso) (£1.5-2.5 million). Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014.  UPDATE: SOLD FOR £13.2 MILLION.

A drawing by Sir Peter Paul Rubens was the top lot at the sale of the I.Q. van Regteren Altena collection Part I at Christie’s in London on July 10. Samson and Delilah made a world record price of £3,218,500 in a sale which brought in £13.2 million and established 15 auction records.

Benjamin Peronnet, International Head of Old Master Drawings at Christie’s said: “We are elated with the results of the first sale of the collection of IQ van Regteren Altena.  With a sale total of over £13 million it more than doubled the pre-sale high estimate.  Over 15 auction records were set for drawings by Northern artists, including seven of the top ten sale results. Extraordinary prices were achieved for great masters such as Peter Paul Rubens, Hendrick Goltzius, and Jacques de Gheyn II, as well as for extremely rare artists such as Jan Lagoor, Johan Verwer and Abraham Rutgers.  There was nearly unprecedented participation across the market with international museums, private collectors and dealers aggressively bidding throughout the sale in a crowded saleroom, on the telephone and online. This first sale of the most important collection of Old Master Drawings to appear on the market in over a generation will stand as a landmark auction in the history of Old Master Drawings sales. The enthusiasm exhibited in the saleroom by bidders and buyers today is a fitting homage to the great scholar and connoisseur, I.Q. van Regteren Altena.

(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for February 24, 2014)

The 15th century portable altarpiece of the Flemish Primitive School

A 15th century Flemish altarpiece of the Primitive School, discovered in a clearout by a catholic priest in an outbuilding at a presbytery in Co. Wexford, made 40,000 at Sheppards sale in Durrow, Co. Laois tonight.  It was bought by an anonymous buyer in Belgium.  The  estimate  was 60,000-120,000.  The money is to used to benefit the parish of Piercetown, between Wexford and Rosslare.  The altarpiece was of the type made for private prayer.

An oil on canvas by Andre Derain entitled Le Modele sold for 120,000. Painted c1924-25 it came with a certificate of authenticity from the Comite Derain in Paris and is to be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonne of the artist.

(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for July 6, 2014)

Sandro Botticelli – Study for a seated St. Joseph, his head resting on his right hand 

The only drawing by Botticelli to appear at auction in over a century sold for a record £1.3 million at Sotheby’s in London tonight.  Study for a Seated St. Joseph, his head resting on his right hand, was sold from the collection of the late Barbara Piasecka Johnson, art connoisseur, philanthropist and wife of the late John Seward Johnson, heir to the Johnson and Johnson medical and pharmaceutical firm. She bought it from Sotheby’s for $88,000 in 1988. Proceeds from the sale will benefit her foundation, primarily devoted to helping children with autism.

The top lot of the evening was Tygers at Play by George Stubbs which sold for £7,698,500.  The Old Master sale achieved £68.3 million, the highest total for such a sale ever.  Alex Bell, Joint International Head and Co-Chairman of Sotheby’s Old Master Paintings Department said: “This evening’s results set a record for an Old Master and British Paintings Evening sale at Sotheby’s London and eclipsed our landmark 2002 total of £67.58 million. With 17 auction records and unprecedented international participation, we saw the market at its best. The prestigious aristocratic and private collections that constituted the core of tonight’s sale were the secret of this success. Having remained in the same collections for centuries, most of the works carried the imprimatur of the greatest art patrons of the day, such as the Dukes of Northumberland and the Earls of Warwick and bore witness to the discerning eye of some of the most important collectors of the 20th century, including Baron Coppée and Barbara Piasecka Johnson”.

(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for May 28, 2014)

Francesco Guardi (1712-1793)
Venice, the Bacino di San Marco with the Piazzetta and the Doge’s Palace

Vermeer – Saint Praxedis – © Christie’s Images Limited 2014

A view of Venice by Francesco Guardi was the top lot at Christie’s evening auction of Old Master & British Paintings in London on July 8.  Venice, the Bacino di San Marco with the Piazzetta and the Doge’s Palace made £9,882,500 in a sale which realised £44,986,000. There were 145 registered bidders from 27 countries across 5 continents. The Guardi, from the Baron Henri de Rochschild collection, set the second highest price for a work by the artist at auction.  Vermeer’s St. Praxedis sold for £6,242,500.  This is the earliest dated picture by Vermeer and one of only two of his 37 known works remaining in private hands. It was from the collection of Barbara Piasecka Johnson.

(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for February 27 and June 9, 2014)