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    • THE STORY OF THE HUNT AT ADAMS AND ANOTHER STORY

    May 29th, 2011

    The Story of the Hunt by Thomas Hovenden. (click on image to enlarge) UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR 47,000

    THE Story of the Hunt by Thomas Hovenden at the Adams Irish art sale in Dublin on June 1 is a rare example of work by the Cork born artist at auction.
    Thomas Hovenden was born in Dunmanway in December 1840, son of the town goaler. Orphaned in the Great Famine at the age of 6 he was placed in the Cork Orphanage. Later he was apprenticed to George Tolerton, a carver and gilder in Cork, who noted his skill at draughtsmanship.  Tolerton paid for him to attend the Cork School of Art which promoted ideas of aestheticism and the teachings of John Ruskin. Hovenden advanced his draughtsmanship by sketching the school’s collection of Antonio Canova’s plaster cast statuary and painting plein air watercolours.  A medal winning student he graduated in 1862.
    Hovenden arrived in America at the end of the Civil War and rose to fame painting patriotic scenes in sympathy with the American version of Victorian values, and later  for paintings of African Americans during the Abolitionist movement. Among his works in the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection are The Last Moments of John Brown. His work features in the collections of the Yale University Art Gallery, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the San Francisco Museum of Fine Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
    He studied in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux Arts under Alexandre Cabanel.  He was sent there with funding from the art collector John McCoy and his business partner William Walters.  From there he went to Pont Aven where he met Irish artists and his future wife, Helen Corson.  He returned to America in 1881 and became  a member of the Society of American Artists (1881), the Philadelphia Society of Artists (1883) and an Associate member of the National Academy of Design (1881). He succeeded Thomas Eakins as Professor of Painting and Drawing at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1886-88) and his students included Alexander Calder and the leader of the Ashcan School, Robert Henri. Around the time of his untimely death in 1895  in an accident – he died saving a child on a railway track – academic painting went out of fashion and so he was soon to be forgotten.
    Painted in Brittany in 1880 The Story of the Hunt is estimated at 50,000-70,000.
    UPDATE:  THIS SOLD FOR A HAMMER PRICE OF 47,000.
    See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for May 20, 2011 and September 11, 2010.

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    KEATING SCENES FROM SYNGE’S PLAYBOY AT WHYTES

    May 28th, 2011

    Sean Keating's illustration for The Playboy of the Western World at Whyte's. UPDATE: THIS MADE 41,000

    These illustrations from April 1922 are from five oils by Sean Keating PRHA HRA HRSA (1889-1977) of  scenes from J.M. Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World.  The images feature as lots 33 to 37 in Whyte’s sale of Irish Art in Dublin on May 30.  They feature models of contemporary Irish actors and actresses.
    The artist makes an appearance in the images as Christy Mahon’s father. Keating even posed nude in the image of lot number 37.

    This Sean Keating illustration is estimated at 15,000-20,000. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD.

    An important commission for the artist, they formed part of his own collection.  He exhibited in them in various venues in the late 1920’s.  They were published by George Allen and Unwin, London, in 1927.
    Lot 33 (illustrated on the left), estimated at 30,000-40,000,  featured on a commemorative stamp issued by An Post in 2009 to mark the centenary of the death of Synge.  The five works are variously estimated at between 15,000 and 40,000.
    UPDATE:  Only one of these five oils sold. The auction grossed over 700,000 with a sell rate of 73%.

    See post on antiquesandartireland.com for May 19.

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    LAVERY LEADS IRISH ART AT CHRISTIE’S SALE IN LONDON

    May 27th, 2011

    Paul Henry's West of Ireland Cottages made £79,250 at Christie's on May 26.

    Paul Henry's An Old Man from Connacht made £34,850 at Christies.

    THE leading Irish artwork at Christie’s sale in London was Sir John Lavery’s Played !! which made £657,250. Another Lavery, Mary in Black, sold for £61,250.

    Sir John Lavery’s Played!! made £657,250.
    (Click on image to enlarge)

    © Christie’s Images Limited 2011

    Paul Henry’s West of Ireland cottages  made £79,250 over an estimate of £30,000-50,000. Other works by Paul Henry, R.H.A. (1876-1958) sold were An Old Man from Connacht which made  £34,850 and An Old Woman which sold for  £34,850.

    Portrait of Dorelia by Augustus John made £15,000 .

    A Still Life by William Scott made £337,250 and Untitled 1961 by William Scott made £12,500.  Portraits of Miss Joanna Yorke and Miss Lisa Yorke by Louis le Brocquy made £16,500.

    The 20th Century British & Irish Art sale realised £17,877,500,  the highest total ever achieved for the category. (See antiquesandartireland.com post for May 26)

    CHRISTIE’S BIENNALE APP

    Christie’s has created the first ever complete app guide to the Venice Art Biennale and are happy to offer it for free to any art lover.  They say Christie’s Biennale App will revolutionise the way visitors experience the Venice Art Biennale this summer.  The 54th International Art Exhibition runs from June 4 to November 27 at the Giardini, the Arsenale  and venues around Venice.
    For your free download go to:
    www.christies.com/on-the-go/mobile/iphone.aspx#biennale

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    NEW WORLD RECORD FOR L.S. LOWRY AT CHRISTIE’S

    May 26th, 2011

    The Football Match by Laurence Stephen Lowry (1949) made a new world record price for the artist at Christies. (Click on image to enlarge)

    There was a new world record for the artist L.S. Lowry at Christie’s in London on May 29. The Football Match, which dates from 1949, made  £5,641,250, against a pre-sale estimate of £3.5million to 4.5 million. This is the highest price ever paid in the 20th Century British Art category. It went to a European private buyer.

    The previous record for the artist was set at Christie’s in 2007 with Good Friday, Daisy Nook , 1946.  It made £3,772,000 and a then record for 20th century British art.
    At the same sale a tennis painting by Sir John Lavery, R.A., R.S.A., R.H.A. (1856-1941) entitled Played!! made £657,250 against an estimate of £600,000-800,000.  It was bought by a UK private bidder.  The painting was last sold at Christie’s Irish Sale in 2001, when it made £575,750.
    A 1951 work by William Scott (1913-1989) entitled Still Life made £337,250 against an estimate of  £300,000 – 500,000.

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    U.S. BEATLEMANIA RE-DISCOVERED

    May 26th, 2011
    Unpublished and never-before-seen photographs of the Beatles’ first visits to America in 1964 are to be sold at Christie’s in New York next July 20.  The Beatles Illuminated: The Discovered Works of Mike Mitchell comprises 50 lots of black and white shots.  They were taken by photographer Mike Mitchell when he was just 18 years old.  Filed away for almost 50 years the complete rediscovered collection is expected to realize in the region of $100,000.
    On February 11, 1964, just two days after their American debut on The Ed Sullivan Show, the Beatles performed their first US concert at the Washington Coliseum. The DC native shot dozens of intimate photographs. Mitchell had exceptional access to the events including their arrival at Union Station, the press conference preceding the performance and unrestricted, stage-front access for  historic Coliseum concert. He took more photographs when they performed their first US concert tour at the Baltimore Civic Center on September 13, 1964.
    The collection will be exhibited at Christie’s, South Kensington, London on June 11-12, at Grosvenor House Hotel in London from June 17-22 and at Christie’s in New York from July 11-20.  (Images courtesy of CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2010 – click on any image to enlarge)
    UPDATE:   THE collection sold for over $360,000 in an auction that had been expected to bring in around $100,000.  Prices ranged from $813 to $68,500.  All lots were sold.

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    BACON ONCE OWNED BY LE BROCQUY COULD MAKE £11 MILLION AT CHRISTIE’S

    May 24th, 2011

    Francis Bacon Study for A Portrait, 1953. (click on image to enlarge)

    A painting by Francis Bacon (1909-1992) once owned by his friend Louis le Brocquy could make £11 million at Christie’s.  Study for a Portrait, 1953 will be a highlight of Christie’s Post War and Contemporary Art sale in London on June 28.

    It has previously been owned by two of Francis Bacon’s contemporaries: Rodrigo Moynihan, a pioneer of abstract painting in the 1930’s who was Professor of Painting at the Royal College of Art and le Brocquy.
    This was one of the last paintings Bacon made in his studio at the Royal College of Art rented from Rodrigo Moynihan from 1951 to 1953.  He created some of his greatest landmark works here including the definitive series of Popes and his first portrait triptych.
    Le Brocquy acquired the painting from Moynihan.  The Irish artist in turn sold it to Marlborough Fine Art.  Never sold at auction, it has been in private hands since. In 1984 it was bought from Marlborough by the Swiss entrepreneur and wine producer Donald M Hess, one of the world’s top art collectors.
    Francis Bacon’s work is among the most popular 20th century art sold at auction. His Three Studies for Self Portrait, 1974 made $25,282,500 / £15,422,325 at Christie’s New York earlier this month.  Another Bacon, Untitled (Crouching Nude on Rail), 1952, made $9,602,500 / £5,857,525 at the same sale.
    UPDATE:  IT made £17,961,250

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    DIARY OF IRISH VICTORIAN SOCIETY FIGURE AT BONHAMS

    May 24th, 2011
    The hand written diary of Irish Victorian society figure Augusta FitzPatrick, later Lady Castletown, will be offered at Bonhams Printed Books and Manuscripts sale in London on June 7.

    The title page of the diary of Augusta, Lady Castletown. UPDATE: IT MADE £1,320

    A clergyman’s daughter she married John Fitzpatrick, the illegitimate son of the 2nd Earl of Upper Ossory.  He was to become 1st Baron Castletown of Upper Ossory and was Liberal MP for Queen’s County (now County Laois).

    At the time the diary opens in 1858 she was at the centre of a scandal about her alleged affair with the well-known preacher F. W. Robertson.

    She had a long affair with the composer Angelo Mariani whose outpourings she translated and copied into her diary. A typical specimen of Mariani’s devotion reads, “”My brain was on fire & people stopped me in the Corso to ask what was the matter, for the first time in my life I broke down at the Opera the other night”.

    She was a friend of the American novelist Washington Irving and marks his death in November 1859 in her diary with sorrow.  There is a portrait of Augusta, Lady Castletown by G F Watts at the Tate Gallery London.  Her diary is estimated at £600-800.

    UPDATE: This was sold for £1,320.

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    HISTORIC AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT BY JANE AUSTEN AT SOTHEBY’S

    May 23rd, 2011

    JANE AUSTEN'S MANUSCRIPT OF ‘THE WATSONS’ (estimate £200,000-300,000). (click on image to enlarge) UPDATE: IT MADE £993,250, triple the pre-sale estimate.

    The historic autograph manuscript of Jane Austen’s unpublished novel ‘The Watsons’ – the only major Austen manuscript remaining in private hands – is due up at Sotheby’s sale of English Literature and History in London on July 14.

    The heavily corrected draft, the most important Jane Austen item to come to the market in over 20 years, was probably written in 1804. It is the earliest surviving manuscript for a novel by Jane Austen. The work remains incomplete.  None of the manuscripts of her completed novels survive, with the exception of two draft chapters of ‘Persuasion’ (at the British Library), Austen’s juvenile work ‘Lady Susan’ (at the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York) and the fragment ‘Sanditon’ (at King’s College, Cambridge), the only other autograph novel manuscript of comparable length.
    ‘The Watsons’ centres on a family of four sisters – the daughters of a widowed clergyman. Its heroine is Emma, the youngest, who has been brought up by a wealthy aunt. When her aunt contracts a foolish second marriage, Emma is obliged to return to her father’s house and endure the crude husband-hunting of her two twenty-something sisters. She has, however, a close relationship with her eldest and most responsible sister Elizabeth. ‘The Watsons’ contains many of Austen’s perennial themes and her genius for shrewd social observation:
    Emma Watson to Lord Osborne: “Your Lordship thinks we always have our own way. That is a point on which ladies and gentlemen have long disagreed. But without pretending to decide it, I may say that there are some circumstances which even women cannot control. Female economy will do a great deal my Lord, but it cannot turn a small income into a large one.”
    The novel is considered to be around a quarter completed. The manuscript, comprising 68 hand-trimmed pages, is estimated at £200,000-300.000. Well known to scholars, it was her  only literary composition between the completion of ‘Northanger Abbey’ in 1799 and the commencement of ‘Mansfield Park’ in 1811.

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    A Parisian Café by Ilya Repin and Fabergé at Christie’s

    May 22nd, 2011
    A Parisian Café by Ilya Repin will lead Christie’s Russian sale on June 6 in London. Painted in 1875, the work depicts a lively French café scene and represents a daring deviation from Repin’s celebrated Russian subjects. The picture was exhibited at the 1875 Parisian salon and is extensively recorded in the literature on the artist. It was acquired in 1916 by the present owner’s grandfather, who knew Repin.  On the market for the first time in almost a century it is estimated at £3-5 million.
    The afternoon session of the sale is devoted to Russian works of art.  It features more than 40 works by Fabergé, many with Russian Imperial provenance. Leading the selection is a three-colour gold and guilloché enamel Imperial presentation snuff-box by Fabergé (estimate £300,000-500,000).  This was given to Charles Robert Carrington in 1894 to commemorate his attendance at the funeral of Emperor Alexander III and the wedding of Emperor Nicholas II.
    UPDATE: Christie’s achieved the highest price for a painting ever sold in a Russian sale by an international auction house with Repin’s A Parisian Café . The picture session was 92% sold by value. Fabergé was sold 96% by value.  Christie’s say their strategy continues to prioritise quality over quantity; “with this in mind we look forward to our next sale in November.”

    A Parisian Café by Ilya Repin. UPDATE: THIS WAS SOLD FOR £4.5 MILLION, A NEW WORLD RECORD FOR THE ARTIST.

    Imperial presentation snuff-box by Fabergé. UPDATE: THIS WAS ACQUIRED BY AN AMERICAN PRIVATE COLLECTOR FOR £385,250.

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    SHARKEY NO RESERVE STUDIO SALE IN CORK

    May 22nd, 2011

    Kevin Sharkey 'Emeralds' estimated at 2,500-3,500. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 1,100

    Kevin Sharkey 'All Saints Night' (estimated at 600-1,000) UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 180

    A no reserve studio sale of 125 lots by artist Kevin Sharkey will be conducted by auctioneer Morgan O’Driscoll in Cork on May 29.
    Sharkey, a self taught artist, was born in Dublin in 1962. He spent his formative years in Donegal and this is where he calls home. He began painting fifteen years ago. After a diverse career as a fisherman, television presenter, photographer and song-writer he now paints full time. Sharkey divides his time between Ireland and Spain.
    The artist has accumulated paintings of the past 15 years for this sale.  The work is in differing scales and estimates vary from a low of 600 to a high of 12,000.
    The sale will be held at CIT Wandesford Quay Gallery, Wandesford Quay (formerly the Fenton Gallery) in Cork city centre at 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 29.
    UPDATE:  All lots sold in an auction that brought in 80,000.

    Kevin Sharkey 'Dream Scape' (Estimate 1,600-2,400) UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 480

    Kevin Sharkey 'Happy Days' (estimate 8,000-12,000) UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 1,000

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