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    • SOTHEBY’S CONTEMPORARY ART TOTALS $222,454,500

    November 10th, 2010

    Sotheby’s November 9 evening sale of Contemporary Art in New York totaled $222,454,500, well ahead of the high estimate of $214 million. There were five new artist records. Highlights were Coca-Cola [4] Large Coca-Cola by Andy Warhol, which made $35,362,500 (estimate $20/25 million), and Mark Rothko’s Untitled from 1955, which made $22,482,500. Six works sold for more than $10 million and almost half the works sold achieved prices in excess of the high estimate. This was a very strong result for the market.

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    HONE MINIATURE OF MRS. SIDDONS AT BONHAMS

    November 9th, 2010

    Horace Hone's miniature of Mrs. Siddons

    A portrait miniature by the Irish artist Horace Hone of Sarah Siddons the best known tragedienne of the 18th century will be offered by Bonhams in the Fine Portrait Miniature sale taking place in Knightsbridge on November 24. The portrait miniature by Horace Hone (1756-1825) was painted at the height of her career on Drury Lane. A member of the famous Dublin family of artists Horace Hone received his early training from his father Nathaniel Hone the Elder.

    According to Bonhams this miniature can be compared with another portrait by Hone of the previous year now in the collection of the National Gallery of Ireland. Painted during Siddons’ second visit to Dublin, it is one of the earliest known portraits of the tragic actress and one of the most recognisable, having subsequently been engraved by Francesco Bartolozzi. The Mrs. Siddons portrait is estimated to make £6,000 – 8,000.

    UPDATE:  It sold for £12,600.

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    RENOWNED STAMP COLLECTION AT SOTHEBY’S

    November 8th, 2010

    ONE of the finest postage stamp collections to appear on the market in the last quarter of a century comes up at Sotheby’s in London over three days from November 24-26.

    The sale of the Great Britain Philatelic Collections of Lady Mairi Bury will afford serious collectors the opportunity to acquire sought-after stamps from a renowned collection. Associated throughout her life with Mount Stewart, her ancestral home in Country Down, Northern Ireland, she was the doyenne of female collectors in the Royal Philatelic Society. Lady Mairi Bury died in 2009 aged 88. Comprising 2185 lots, the auction is estimated to bring in excess of £2.6 million.

    UPDATE: THE sale brought in £3,045,924. The top lot was ‘The Balance of Lady Mairi’s collection of King Edward VII’ stamps, mounted on 91 pages to the highest exhibition standard and housed in two exhibition boxes. Comprising an exceptional comprehensive collection arranged by order of value from ½d. to £1, this lot more than tripled the pre-sale low estimate to sell for £66,000. An exceptional unused 1840 Two Pence Blue, Plate 1, sold for £43,200.  A complete sheet of 120 2d. blue stamps, unique in this configuration made £30,000. The Penny Black which achieved the highest price was an Imprimatur from the Second Registration Sheet, known as the ‘VR’ Official Penny Black; it made £36,000. This stamp was prepared for Official use in April 1840 but remained unissued. A Plate 1 Two Shillings Brown, the very finest of the few known pairs, and exceptionally rare, brought £36,000.


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    LIMERICK ANTIQUE FAIR

    November 6th, 2010

    A work by Mark O'Neill from the Treasures Irish Art stand at the Limerick Fair.

    The Limerick Antique Fair takes place at the South Court Hotel on Sunday November 14.  There will be over 60 quality stands with dealers
    from around the country. The largest fair organised by Hibernian Antique Fairs is taking place in a very definite buyers market, with depressed prices at levels
    undreamt of a few years ago.
    Hibernian has been running fairs in almost every county in Ireland for the past 21 years.  The Limerick fair, which takes place on home turf,
    is their most popular annual event.
    Furniture dealers present will include Greenes Antiques Galleries from
    Co. Leitrim, Hector Thompson, Belfast, Tom Linehan, Cork, Roberta
    Cobb, Belfast, Norman Alison of Co. Wicklow, Christine Deene from Co.
    Down and Kerry Mulally from Co. Kilkenny.
    Among the jewellery and silver dealers are Janet Greeves of Belfast,
    Marie Curran, Dublin, Sandra Hogan, Cork, Ignatius Buckley, Cork,
    Chris and Karen Southgate, Cork, Patricia Doyle, Dublin. John
    O’Reilly, Dublin and David Jones from the UK.
    China and porcelain dealers include Kevin McCreesh of Antrim, John
    Vanweensveer of Co. Mayo, Kat Connaire of Co. Tipperary, Anne Hawkins,
    Dublin, Jan Mannerings of Co. Offaly, Sharon O’Keeffe of Co. Cork and
    Joe Sheehan of Limerick.
    Art dealers are Treasures Irish Art, Athlone, Gallery Zozimus, Dublin
    and Paul McGonigle Walsh, Cork.  Coins and banknote dealers are form
    Clare, Kerry, Laois and Cork. Michael Kinnane of Galway will show
    clocks  and book dealers include Gerard Feehan of Cork and the Celtic
    Bookshop, Limerick.
    The fair will run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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    FENIAN FLAG AT WHYTE’S

    November 6th, 2010

    An 1867 Fenian flag from the Galtee Mountain area of East Limerick and North Cork is the feature lot at Whytes History, Literature and Collectibles auction in Dublin on Saturday, November 13 at 1 p.m. It is estimated to make 30,000-50,000.

    Commissioned and used by Willie Condon (1840-1908) from Anglesboro near Mitchelstown it was a feature at skirmishes, raids, meetings and demonstrations from the 1860s right through the Land League campaigns of the 1880s.

    The sale (see antiquesandartireland.com post for November 3) includes 571 lots of historic and literary manuscripts, documents, rare books, maps, prints, photographs, flags, medals, militaria, sporting and entertainment memorabilia, stamps, coins and banknotes. A collection of Daniel O’Connell memorabilia and documents includes resolutions from 1828, written in his own hand, estimated at 800 to 1,000. A letter from Charles Stewart Parnell urgently trying to charter a special train to Castlerea for £25 to prevent a riot at Balla is estimated at 300-500. The auction will be broadcast live around the globe, with audio and video feeds from the auction room, on www.whytes.ie.

    UPDATE:   The flag sold for 52,000.  The handwritten letter from Charles Stewart Parnell made 650 and ten lots relating to Daniel O’Connell sold for various prices from 160 for a book of his life and speeches to 850 for his 1828 handwritten resolutions passed after he was elected to Parliament but could not take his seat because he refused to take the Oath of Supremacy.


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    MATISSE BRONZE LEADS AT CHRISTIE’S

    November 4th, 2010

    Matisse’s monumental bronze sculpture of a woman’s back made $48.8 million at Christie’s in New York on November 3 well above its $35 million high estimate.  This was a new record for the artist.

    It was bought by dealer Larry Gagosian for a client he did not name.

    The sale, strongest for quality items, brought $231.4 million against an estimate of $199 million to $287 million. Of the 84 works on offer, 67 sold.

    A 1913 Cublist painting by Juan Gris, “Violin and Guitar.” made $28.6 million, a record auction price.

    See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for October 5 and November 1.


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    SOTHEBY’S MODIGLIANI MAKES RECORD $68.9 MILLION

    November 3rd, 2010

    Modigliani's La Belle Romaine made 68.9 million dollars at Sotheby's, a new record for the artist. (click on image to enlarge)

    Amedeo Modigliani’s Nu assis sur un divan (La Belle Romaine)  made $68,962,500 at Sotheby’s.  This is a new world record.  It was achieved at the sale of Impressionist and Modern Art in New York on November 2. The sale brought in  $227.6 million (€162 million).  This was within the pre-sale estimate of $195/266 million.

    The sale was led by Modigliani’s Nu assis sur un divan. This new record for Modigliani was over over four times the price realized when it was sold at Sotheby’s in 1999 for a then record $16.8 million. There was bidding from all over the world, including Asia, Europe, Russia and the United States.  It was chased by five different bidders and there were multiple bidders on most of the major lots.

    Four works were sold for more than $15 million and 38 sold for over $1 million.

    Le Bassin aux Nymphéa from Claude Monet’s water lilies series made $24,722,500 and Jeanne Hébuterne, one of the first portraits Amedeo Modigliani painted of his great love, sold for $19,122,500.  Both paintings were sold to benefit YoungArts, the Core Program of the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts.

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    WHYTE’S ROOSEVELT LETTER

    November 3rd, 2010

    Whyte’s history, literature and collectibles sale in Dublin on November 13 features an interesting collection of letters and ephemera relating to Frederick Wallingford Whitridge, American envoy to the wedding of King Alfonso and Princess Ena of Battenberg, a niece of King Edward VII of Great Britain, and granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

    It includes an official appointment document signed by President Theodore Roosevelt and dated April 25, 1906.  This nominates him as: “Ambassador Extraordinary of the United States of America on Special Mission as the representative of the United States government on the occasion of the wedding of King Alphonso XIII of Spain in June 1906″.

    Other documents include a letter by Secretary of State Elihu Root, transmitting the commission to Whitridge and referring to a letter from President Roosevelt to be presented to the King of Spain by Whitridge.
    There are two typed letters on White House notepaper dated April 9 and 26, 1906 respectively: a congratulatory letter and the second refers to the enclosure of two letters from Roosevelt to King Edward VII of England and the German Emperor; there is a report of the mission which includes details of an attempt to assassinate King Alfonso when a bomb was thrown as the Royal Carriage passed.  This refers to the numbers killed and wounded.
    The collection of 22 items is estimated at 1,000-1,500 euro.
    UPDATE:  IT WAS LEFT UNSOLD

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    ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM AT MoMA

    November 2nd, 2010

    Abstract Expressionist New York, at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) until April 25, 2011, is drawn  entirely from the Museum’s vast holdings. Abstract Expressionist New York underscores the achievements of a generation that catapulted New York City to the center of the international art world during the 1950s, and left as its legacy some of the twentieth century’s greatest masterpieces. Galleries on the fourth floor present Abstract Expressionist paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, photographs, films, and archival materials in a display subtitled The Big Picture, marking the first time in the history of the new Museum building that a full floor has been devoted to a single theme.  In this video, Ann Temkin, MoMA curator, takes us through the context.

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    TITIAN MASTERWORK AT SOTHEBY’S

    November 2nd, 2010

    Titian, A Sacra Conversazione to be sold at Sotheby's in New York in January 2011. (click on image to enlarge)

    A monumental Titian features at Sotheby’s sale of Important Old Master Paintings in New York on January 27, 2011.  A Sacra Conversazione:  The Madonna and Child with Saints Luke and Catherine of Alexandria is one of only a handful of multi-figured compositions by the Venetian Renaissance master in private hands. Painted circa 1560 this is a mature work from a time when Titian was being courted by monarchs and emperors.

    Historically referred to as ‘The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine’, the present canvas’s subject lies within the more traditional representation of a ‘sacra conversazione’, a holy conversation between the Madonna and Child and the saints.  There is a remarkable provenance.  In nearly 500 years it has only changed hands five times moving from one illustrious private European collection to another and rarely appearing in public at exhibition or at auction. It has not been seen in public since the late 1970’s and Sotheby’s say it is the most important Titian to appear at auction since 1991.
    It is estimated to sell for  $15/20 million.
    UPDATE:  IT sold for $16,882,500

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