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SEVEN DECADES OF MIRO AT CHRISTIE’S IN FEBRUARY

January 2nd, 2014

A collection of 85 works showcasing seven decades of the career of Joan Miro (1893-1983) will be offered at Christie’s in London in February. Most often associated with Surrealism Miro’s work has an appeal that transcends traditional categories and collectors of both Impressionist and Modern Art and Post War and Contemporary Art compete for his paintings, works on paper and sculptures.

Miro – Seven Decades of His Art features property formerly in a private corporate collection being sold by decision of the Portuguese Republic. The two top lots are Femmes et oiseaux (Women and Birds), 1968 ( £4-7 million) and Painting, 1953 (£2.5-3.5 million). With estimates ranging from £10,000 to £7 million, this collection provides collectors at every level with a remarkable opportunity. The works will be offered across three sales: The Art of the Surreal Evening Sale on February 4; Impressionist and Modern Art Day Sale and Impressionist and Modern Art Works on Paper Sale, on February 5. The complete collection is expected to make more than £30 million.

UPDATE: These works were withdrawn following a legal dispute.

Miro- Femmes et Oiseaux © Christie’s Images Limited 2013

Miro – Painting, 1953. © Christie’s Images Limited 2013

Miro – Birdsong in Autumn © Christie’s Images Limited 2013

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OLDCASTLE AUCTION KICKS OFF NEW YEAR

January 1st, 2014

An antiques, fine art and interiors auction kicks off the New Year auction list at Matthews Auction Rooms, Oldcastle, Co. Meath on Saturday January 4 at 2.30 p.m. More than 450 lots will come under the hammer. The catalogue is online. Here is a small selection:

Victorian rosewood side table with drawer (400-700)

Art Deco style marquetry decorated table (200-300)

A butler’s tray on glazed stand (120-180)

Antique mounted antlers (200-300)

A three pillar dining table with two extra leaves (2,000-3,000)

An Edwardian snooker cue rest, provenance Tullynally Castle (60-90).

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TURNER AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF IRELAND

January 1st, 2014

JMW Turner (1775-1851)
Sunset over Petworth Park, Sussex, c.1828
Photo © National Gallery of Ireland

The annual January exhibition of Turner watercolours is now on display at The National Gallery of Ireland. The show is comprised of a bequest from Henry Vaughan, who died in 1899 aged 90. His will stipulated that the works be exhibited in January, when natural light is at its lowest.

There were 31 watercolours in the Vaughan bequest. Over the years the gallery has added to these. The exhibition now comprises 36 delicate watercolours in prime condition. The collection covers all periods of the artist’s career, including topographical scenes and expressive images from his later European tours. It is a major annual attraction in the gallery calendar.

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THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF IRELAND

December 25th, 2013

Girolamo Troppa (1630-after 1710)
Adoration of the Shepherds, 1670s
Photo © National Gallery of Ireland

This is a beautiful seasonal image from the collections of the National Gallery of Ireland. The Adoration of the Shepherds by Girolamo Troppa dates from the 1670’s.

A very Happy Christmas from antiquesandartireland.com

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A GIFT TO MAKE CHRISTMAS AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF IRELAND VERY SPECIAL

December 23rd, 2013

A gift of 107 pieces of antique Irish silver would make Christmas very special for the National Museum of Ireland. The Museum of Decorative Arts at Collins Barracks in Dublin is seeking a sponsor for a private collection valued at 1.75 million. It is available to the museum until the end of February 2014. After that it will be broken up and sold.

Highights include the earliest known Cork bullet teapot by Thomas Lily (1723); a trowel used to lay the foundation stone for New Geneva in Co. Waterford in 1784, an 18th century project to settle Protestant Swiss craftspeople in this country which never materialised; the John Pennyfather Strawberry Dish of 1717 and a pair of George I Cork tazzae by William Clarke 1715 for Fota House in Co. Cork. A process exists whereby an Irish taxpayer could offset 80 per cent of the market value of the purchase. A catalogue of the collection can be seen on the website of silver dealers L and W Duvallier at www.antiqueirishsilver.com

This contains a letter from the Director of the National Museum of Ireland Dr. Raghnall O Floinn which states that this acquisition would: “Transform the National Museum of Ireland’s Collection into the premier collection of its type, surpassing the Irish silver holdings of rival institutions such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the San Antonio Museum, Texas. Collections of this quality are exceptionally rare and are not normally offered for sale collectively but are usually sold off as individual lots. The dispersal of this collection piecemeal either by private teaty or at auction would represent a great loss to the country”.

A Cork bullet teapot by Thomas Lily 1723.

A large Cork gallery tray by John Nicholson.

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RESTITUTED PISSARRO MASTERPIECE AT SOTHEBY’S

December 23rd, 2013

Camille Pissarro – Boulevard Montmartre, matinée de printemps UPDATE: SOLD FOR £19.9 MILLION.

A restituted museum quality work, the greatest painting by Camille Pissarro ever to appear at auction, will be a highlight at Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern art sale in London on February 5. The masterpiece, entitled Boulevard Montmartre, matinée de printemps dates from 1897 and is estimated at £7-10 million. It was originally owned by Max Silberberg a Jewish industrialist based in Breslau whose legendary collection of 19th and 20th century art included major works by leading names such as Corot, Courbet, Degas, Van Gogh and Manet.

Between 1935 and 1937, Silberberg’s collection was dispersed in a series of forced sales (or “Jewish auctions” as they were known), and soon after he and his wife Johanna were deported, first to Grüssau, and later to Theresienstadt and then Auschwitz where they perished. Thanks perhaps to a secret deal struck between Max and the authorities, Max and Johanna’s only son Alfred was released from Buchenwald concentration camp in 1938. He and his wife Gerta fled to England soon after, finding employment as a butler and a cook respectively.

Alfred Silberberg died in 1984. Some 16 years later, Boulevard Montmartre, matinée de printemps was restituted to Gerta. The painting had by then found its way into the collection of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, and in recognition of the museum’s collaborative and exemplary approach, Gerta loaned the the painting back to the museum where it remained on display until her death earlier this year. It will be sold to benefit people and causes close to Gerta’s heart.

Helena Newman, chairman of Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art Department Europe, said: “It is an honour to be entrusted with offering the greatest work by Camille Pissarro ever to appear at auction – a work

that encompasses such a richly painted canvas and a supremely elegant composition. The appeal of these extremely desirable attributes to discerning collectors is enhanced by the painting’s history of having been

housed in a collection as important as Max Silberberg’s. With the enduring demand for Impressionist masterpieces – particularly works of such rarity as this work by Pissarro – we anticipate interest from around

the globe.”

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ON THE PREMISES CONTENTS AUCTION IN RANELAGH

December 22nd, 2013

An on the premises antique auction by Matthews of Oldcastle takes place at 44 Mountain View Road, Ranelagh, Dublin on Sunday December 29 at 2.30 p.m. More than 500 lots are on offer. Some of them are available on a partial catalogue at Matthews. Here is a small selection:

These cast iron gothic benches are estimated at 1,000-1-500.

An Irish side table with shell motif (2,000-3,000).

A Dresden group (70-120).

Oriental brush pot (150-250).

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AUCTION SALES UP 19% AT SOTHEBY’S IN 2013

December 20th, 2013

The Pink Star. (Click on image to enlarge it).

The Pink Star, the most espensive diamond ever sold at auction made $83,171,381. (Click on image to enlarge it).

PABLO PICASSO
1881 – 1973 FEMME ASSISE PRÈS D’UNE FENÊTRE was the most expensive painting sold at auction in Europe this year. It made £28,601,250.

Auction sales grew by 19% at Sotheby’s in 2013 reaching $5.2 billion dollars. Sales of Asian art, jewellery, Impressionist and Modern Art outpaced the market by significant margins according to chairman and ceo Bill Ruprecht. Celebrating 40 years in Asia in 2013 the company’s sales of Asian art grew by 50 per cent. This year Sotheby’s sold the most expensive diamond and the most expensive printed book ever at auction.

Sales of Impressionist and Modern art grew by 21 per cent. Picasso’s Femme Assise pres d’une Fenetre was the most expensive artwork sold at auction in Europe this year. It made £28.6 million in London in February. Sales of jewellery grew by 32 per cent and the November evening auction of Contemporary Art in New York brought $380,642,000, the highest total of any sale in company history.

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CHRISTIE’S DOUBLE PRE-SALE ESTIMATES IN MUMBAI

December 19th, 2013

An auction shot with Untitled by Vasudeo S. Gaitonde (1924-2001) being sold.

Pre-sale estimates were more than doubled at Christie’s first auction in India at the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai this evening. The sale totalled 96.5 million rupees or $15.4 million US dollars and 98 per cent of lots sold. The top lot, an untitled work by Vasudeo S. Gaitonde, made $3.7 million and was bought by a private US collector. The auction house said that the sale marks an historic moment for Christie’s, building on a 20-year history in India, and a decade of global market leadership in Modern Indian Art through sales in New York and London. Buyers were from India, across Asia, the US and Europe.

“It has been a true privilege to be in India where we have been honoured by the warm welcome. The response to our sale and events has been extraordinary,” said Steven Murphy, Christie’s ceo. “Holding an auction in India for the first time is the realization of a long held dream for Christie’s. We are delighted to have welcomed several thousand members of the public and clients over the course of the month. Our mission remains to serve our clients with exceptional works of art and to serve artists and all those passionate about art by convening them with our global network. We hope to continue to share the vibrant creativity we have experienced in Mumbai with a global audience as we grow our operations here in India.”

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THE AUCTION CALENDAR FOR THE REST OF DECEMBER IS NOT ENTIRELY EMPTY

December 19th, 2013

There is a lull in Ireland’s auction calendar for the rest of the month. But it is not entirely empty. If you really need an auction fix you will be glad to note that at Cork Auction Rooms there is a sale on Sunday, December 29 with viewing on the previous day. And a quick glance at our Next column reveals that this is not the only auction on this day. In Cork there will be around 600 lots with everything from a large vintage wooden elephant to a Victorian pitch pine church pew to a first edition of The Big Fellow by Frank O’Connor. The catalogue is online. Here is a small selection.