antiquesandartireland.com

Jack B. Yeats, Paul Henry and Louis le Brocquy all feature at the James Adam sale of important Irish art in Dublin on March 28.  A watercolor by Louis le Brocquy from his acclaimed Tinker series shown at the Arts Council of Great Britain’s “Thirty Contemporary Paintings” exhibition is estimated at 15,000-20,000. Paul Henry’s Sunset on Connemara Bog, from the collection of his friend and supporter John Louden of Belfast, is believed to have never been exhibited in public before.  The Novelist by Yeats is estimated at 100,000-150,000 and a 1909 Yeats entitled Downpatrick Head, Co. Mayo is estimated at 25,000-35,000.  The catalogue, which is on-line, lists 226 lots.  Here are a few of them (click on any image to enlarge):  UPDATE:  The Novelist sold for 95,000.

LOUIS LE BROCQUY HRHA (b.1916) Tinker Women (1946) watercolour signed and dated ‘46 (15,000-20,000). UPDATE: THS MADE 27,000.

BASIL BLACKSHAW RHA RUA (b 1932) Self Portrait (Given by the artist to gallery owner Tom Caldwell on his 80th birthday in 2001) (3,000-5,000). UPDATE: THIS MADE 5,200.

PAUL HENRY RHA RUA (1876-1958) Sunset on a Connemara Bog (30,000-50,000). UPDATE: THIS MADE 37,000

CECIL MAGUIRE RHA RUA (b.1930) Going to Church, Aran (From the estate of photographer Bill Doyle) (2,000-3,000). UPDATE: THIS MADE 5,600.

The Dolan’s Irish art auction at Castletroy Park Hotel in Limerick on March 25 at 3 p.m. offers a wide selection of affordable art for collectors at all levels. There is work by both established and up and coming Irish artists, and a good selection by the Limerick artist Henry Morgan who deserves to be better known. The catalogue is on-line. Here is a small selection (you can click on any image to enlarge):

UPDATE: MORE than 80 per cent of the lots on offer were sold. The top lot, a landscape by Arthur Maderson, made 6,500.

HAULING UP THE CURRACH, ACHILL BY IVAN SUTTON IS ESTIMATED AT 1,200-1,600. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD.

Burren Spring by Henry Morgan is estimated at 400-500. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 400.

Blue Bottle and Flowers by Brian Ballard RUA estimated at 1,100-1,200. UPDATE: THIS MADE 950.

Japanese Anenomes by Geraldine O'Brien estimated at 500-700. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD.

Flotilla by Tom Greaney is estimated at 850-950. UPDATE: THIS MADE 850.

Warhol's Double Elvis. UPDATE: IT sold for $37,042,500

A Warhol portrait of Elvis Presley could make up to $50 million at Sotheby’s, New York, in May. According to the auction house Double Elvis (Ferus Type) epitomises Warhol’s obsessions with fame, stardom and the public image. The 1963 work is a seminal piece from the iconic series devoted to the singer and actor that was first seen at the Ferus gallery in Los Angeles that same year. It is estimated to fetch $30/50 million.

Like the Campbell’s Soup Can exhibition at the same gallery the previous year the Double Elvis show was built around a single unified theme. The paintings were to be displayed as a continuous surround, rather like the flickering images of an early film. The serial imagery seen in the work adds a sense of motion and gives the paintings a cinematic quality.

Coupled with his experimentation with film it marks a turning point in the artist’s career. He made the transition from a viewer of movies to a maker of them in his own right. The celebrities in Warhol’s portraits, Jackie Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis among others, were presented as glamourous and powerful icons whose image was imprinted on the public consciousness.

On the Courthouse Steps by Jack B. Yeats.

On the Courthouse Steps, a 1946 oil by Jack B. Yeats, was the top lot at Whyte’s art auction in Dublin on March 12.  It sold for 88,000 against an estimate of 90,000-120,000. The painting shows a vagrant resting on the steps of Naas courthouse in Co. Kildare, his casual appearance in marked contrast to the classical facade of the building. A strutting cockerel on the steps of the courthouse leaves the viewer free to make his own interpretation of the scene.

Lovers in a Garden by Charles Edward Perugini.

Lovers in a Garden by Charles Edward Perugini made 48,000.  It was estimated at 50,000-70,000.  Perugini married Charles Dickens’ daughter Kate in 1873.  An artist, she was muse to members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

More than 70 per cent of the lots on offer were sold.  The sale total came to 650,000.

(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for March 2)