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    • Posts Tagged ‘Christie’s’

    LARGEST COUNTRY HOUSE SALE OF THE YEAR IN UK

    Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

    Dunecht House.

    Cowdray Park.

    THE largest country house sale of the year will present about 1,200 lots from both Cowdray Park, home of Lord Cowdray (above right), and from Dunecht House, the Scottish home of Lord Cowdray’s brother, the Hon. Charles Pearson (above left).  The Christie’s sale is expected to realise about £5 million and estimates range from £50 to £500,000.

    The sale takes place at Cowdray Park in west Sussex over three days from September 13-15.

    Andrew Waters, Head of Private Collection and Country House Sales, Christie’s said: “Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray and his wife Annie, Lady Cowdray were among the most prolific and discerning British collectors of the early 20th century, coupling their considerable wealth with a taste for beautiful pictures, objects and works of art”.

    Many of the works were acquired by Weetman Dickinson Pearson (1856-1927) and his son, Weetman Harold Miller Pearson. Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray, developed his family firm, S. Pearson and Son Ltd., from a small company in Bradford into one of the most successful business empires of the 20th century. In 1889 he won the contract to drain Mexico City by means of a Grand Canal and, having gained the friendship of President Porfirio Diàz, Pearson developed vast oil fields in Mexico. He was for ten years Liberal MP for Colchester. Due to regular absences he was often referred to as ‘the Member for Mexico’. When he died in 1927 an American newspaper described him as ‘one of the greatest pioneers ever sent out of Britain. Pearson PLC exists today as a global media and education company and the largest book publisher in the world.

    (See antiquesandartireland.com posts for August 10 and August 6)

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    EXTRAORDINARY ELIZABETHAN REVIVAL FOUR POSTER AT CHRISTIE’S

    Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

    This Elizabethan Revival oak four poster bed c1920 from the Cowdray Park sale. (Click on image to enlarge)

    A.E.D.G. Stirling Brown (British, fl. 1920-1929) “Starshot” – A polo pony in the grounds at Cowdray. (Click on image to enlarge)

    THIS extraordinary Elizabethan Revival four poster bed features at Christie’s three day sale at Cowdray Park in West Sussex from September 13-15 next.  Made around 1920 it is a copy of the original carved oak bed made for Rothamsted Manor, Hertfordshire.  It was almost certainly commissioned by Weetman Harold Miller Pearson, 2nd Viscount Cowdray, for The Silver Bedroom at Cowdray.

    It is estimated at £10,000-£15,000.

    The image on the right shows the polo pony Starshot.  It is by the British artist A.E.D.G. Stirling Brown.  The estimate on this is £1,000-£1,500.

    The three day sale at Cowdray Park will include more than 1,000 lots with estimates from £100 to £250,000.

    (See antiquesandartireland.com post for August 6)

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    VICTORIAN ENGLISH IMAGES AT CHRISTIE’S INTERIORS SALE

    Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

    There is something nostalgic and even retrospective about these two Victorian images created by English artists abroad in the 19th century.  Neither work is expensive.  Each one features at the next Christie’s Interiors sale at South Kensington in London on August 9.

    The work on the left is by Elijah Walton (1832-1880).  No prizes for guessing the title of this pencil watercolour and body colour on paper.  An Alpine Landscape  is estimated at just £400-600.  The other work, which Christie’s have catalogued as English School 1847 is called Cypresses on the Bosphorus, inscribed and dated ‘Cyprepes – on The Bosphorus 1847’ (on the mount).  It is unframed and the lot includes another image of the mouth of the Bosphous at the entrance to the Black Sea by W.B. Urmston.  The estimate is £500-700.  Both images are © Christie’s Images Limited 2011.

    Elijah Walton's Alpine Landscape (click on image to enlarge). UPDATE: THIS MADE £625.

    Cypresses on the Bosphorus (click on image to enlarge. UPDATE: THIS MADE £850


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    GLOBAL AUCTION SALES UP 10% AT CHRISTIE’S, ART MARKET HEALTHY AT ALL LEVELS

    Thursday, July 21st, 2011
    Christie’s International today announced worldwide sales for the first half of 2011 of £2.0 billion ($3.2 billion), up 15% by £ on last year’s figure of £1.7 billion. In Continental Europe and the UK, auction sales totalled £803.4 million ($1.3 billion), up 24% in £ on the first half of 2010; sales in the Americas totalled £577.7 million ($941.6 million), down 13% in £; sales in Asia totalled £296 million ($482.5 million), up 48% in £ and sales in the Middle East totalled £6.6 million ($10.8 million), up 10%.
    Global auction sales increased by ten per cent, private sales are up by 57% on the first half of 2010, 19% of clients bid on-line via Christie’s Live and new clients rose by 14 per cent. Record results in Hong Kong reaffirm it as a growing global art hub and Asia as the fastest growing art market in the world. The strength of the European art market was also firmly illustrated.  Christie’s New York saw fewer collections come to the market after the blockbuster year last year but a continuing renewed confidence in the market for fine art, antiques, jewellery and watches and wine driven by increasing participation from private and trade collectors.
    Christie’s report that collectors at the highest levels are increasingly participating in the market across multiple categories. These include the “Medici” collector – or client who pursues the very best works of art across multiple categories, evoking the prosperity and taste of the Renaissance Medici dynasty.

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    A SELECTION OF IRISH PIECES FROM RYAN SALE AT CHRISTIE’S

    Thursday, July 14th, 2011

    Here is a selection from some of the Irish work sold at Christie’s

    James Latham (Tipperary 1696-1747 Dublin) Portrait of a gentleman, made £10,000.

    auction of contents from the Lyons Demesne in Co. Kildare on July 14:

    This Irish parcel gilt and dark green painted side table in the manner of Del Vecchio of Dublin made £6,000.

    Two Irish George II embossed bird pictures by Samuel Dixon c1750 made £1,750.

    This George III giltwood pier glass, probably Irish, made £39,650.

    This Irish George III style low linen press on stand, 19th century, by Butler of Dublin made £4,750.

    Sir Martin Archer Shee, P.R.A. (Dublin 1769-1850 Brighton) Portrait of a lady, full-length, in a white dress made £20,000.

    This Irish George II bureau bookcase c1750 made £5,250.

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    OVER 400 LOTS FROM ESTATE OF RYANAIR FOUNDER AT CHRISTIE’S

    Thursday, July 7th, 2011
    Over 400 lots of European fine and decorative arts from the estate of Dr. Tony Ryan, the founder of Ryanair, will come under the hammer at Christie’s in London on July 14.  Spanning the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries they are from the Lyons Demesne in Co. Kildare. The sale is expected to bring in more than two million sterling.
    Highlights include an important full length portrait in pastel of Arthur Hill, 2nd Marquess of Downshire (1753-1801) by Hugh Douglas Hamilton, R.H.A., 1736-1801  (£200,000-300,000); a pair of George III giltwood and painted satinwood console tables in the manner of Thomas Chippendale the Younger (£50,000-80,000); a Louis XV Gobelins tapestry, by Claude Audran ( £30,000-50,000) and a white marble sculpture of Love Awakened by Giovanni Battista Lombardi, Rome, circa 1870 (£30,000-50,000).
    Dr. Ryan, who died in 2007, was one of Ireland’s biggest philathropists and supporter of the arts. There was a post about the sale on antiquesandartireland.com on April 14.  Here is a further selection of lots on offer:

    One of a pair of Irish George II armchairs c1750 estimated at £20,000-40,000. (Click on image to enlarge). Copyright Christie's Images. UPDATE: THE PAIR MADE £39,650.

    Nathaniel Hone, R.A. (Dublin 1718-1784 London) Portrait of Miss Gardner. (£10,000-15,000). (Click on image to enlarge). Copyright Christie's Images. UPDATE: THIS MADE £17,500

    Thomas Roberts (Waterford 1748-1778 Lisbon) A wooded landscape with a waterfall possibly at Powerscourt. (£40,000-60,000). Click to enlarge. Copyright Christie's Images. UPDATE: THIS MADE £73,250

    William John Leech (1881-1968) A self-portrait, seated in a garden. (£25,000-35,000). Click to enlarge. Copyright Christie's Images. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

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    WORLDWIDE TOUR OF ELIZABETH TAYLOR’S JEWELLERY, FASHION AND ART FROM SEPTEMBER

    Wednesday, June 29th, 2011

    A worldwide tour of Elizabeth Taylor’s jewellery, fashion and art is to start in September.  Christie’s, which is co-ordinating the event, will organise a ten day exhibition at the Rockefeller Center in New York from December 3.  This will be followed by four consecutive days of auctions from December 13-16.  In the interim there will be stops  in Moscow, London, Los Angeles, Dubai, Geneva, Paris, and Hong Kong.

    Marc Porter, Chairman and President of Christie’s Americas, said: “The global tour and exhibition of her collection at Christie’s will be a window into the world of a true icon, a rare woman who was at once an international film and fashion star, loving mother, successful businesswoman, and generous humanitarian”. A portion of the monies generated by exhibition admissions, events and publications related to the sales will be donated to The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF).
    Christie’s will open the series with an evening sale of her most magnificent jewels on December 13, followed by two additional jewellery sessions on December 14.  Elizabeth Taylor’s vast collection of haute couture – the designers Valentino, Gianni Versace and Gianfranco Ferré were among her friends – as well as ready-to-wear fashion, handbags and accessories will be offered over two days. A final session on December 16 will be devoted to important furniture, 20th century decorative arts, and film memorabilia from her Bel Air home.
    Elizabeth Taylor’s collection of Impressionist & Modern Art will be offered at Christie’s London in February 2012.

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    BACON TOPS CHRISTIE’S POST WAR AND CONTEMPORARY EVENING SALE

    Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

    Francis Bacon (1909-1992) Study for a Portrait made £17,961,250. (Click on image to enlarge). Copyright Christie's.

    Study for a Portrait by Irish born Francis Bacon was the top lot at Christie’s Post War and Contemporary Art evening auction on June 28.  It made £17,961,250.  Bought by an anonymous telephone bidder it had been estimated to make around £11 million.

    The work was previously owned by Rodrigo Moynihan, a pioneer of abstract painting in the 1930’s, and the Irish artist Louis Le Brocquy.

    An untitled work by Damien Hirst executed in 1996 of butterflies and household gloss paint on canvas sold for £601,250.

    Damien Hirst (b. 1965) Untitled made £601,250 at Christie's. (Click on image to enlarge), Copyright Christie's Images.

    The sale realised £78,817,050. This was the second highest total for the category. A total of 19 lots sold for over £1 million (25 over $1 million). Buyers came from 16 different countries and the breakdown was 59% Europe including UK, 26% Americas and 15% Asia.  Artist records were set for Juan Muñoz, Ron Mueck, Paula Rego, Domenico Gnoli and Miquel Barceló, who set a record for any living Spanish artist.

    Red Boat (Imaginary Boys), 2003-04, by Peter Doig (b.1959) sold for £6,201,250; Faena de muleta, 1990, by Miquel Barceló (b.1957) sold for £3,961,250 and seven works from the collection of Kay Saatchi sold for a total of £3,992,750.

    See antiquesandartireland.com posts for June 27, May 24 and March 31.

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    Exceptional 18th Century Chinese Vases at Christie’s

    Tuesday, June 28th, 2011
    18th century Daoist vases at Christie’s. (Click on image to enlarge). Copyright Christie’s Images.  UPDATE: THE SELLING PRICE FOR THESE WAS

    £7,993,250

    THIS set of four 18th century Chinese porcelain vases, mounted in the early 19th century with French ormolu, feature at Christie’s on July 7. Over four feet tall they were acquired by either the 3rd Duchess of Buccleuch or her grandson, the 5th Duke.  The only known parallels in form, scale, magnificence and style are the vases acquired around the same time by the Prince Regent, later George IV, now at Buckingham Palace, London. The ‘Daoist vases’ are an example of the Chinese taste for auspicious imagery. The presence of numerous bats in flight conveys happiness and prosperity – bats being a homophone in Chinese for a word meaning ‘happiness’, whilst the Eight Buddhist and Daoist Emblems, which take a central importance on these vases, are believed to bring blessings and harmony. The vases are expected to realise between £600,000 and £1 million.

    They form part of the Exceptional Sale.  This comprises just 52 works and is expected to realise £18 million.
    UPDATE:  THE SALE REALISED £28,781,000.  The four vases were bought by US casino owner Steve Wynn for his Macau Resort Hotel.
    This silver chandelier is a masterpiece of Palladian design. (Click on image to enlarge). Copyright, Christie’s Images.  UPDATE: THIS MADE

    £5,753,250

    The Givenchy Royal Hanover Chandelier is a masterpiece of 18th century Palladian design.  The  German silver eight-light chandelier was conceived by the celebrated architect and designer William Kent for King George II of Great Britain as Elector of Hanover (r.1727-1760). Kent’s inspired design was realised by the Hanover court goldsmith Balthasar Friedrich Behrens and was delivered to the Hanover palace on September 13, 1736. It later graced Windsor Castle and was most recently sold from the collection of the renowned designer Hubert de Givenchy in Christie’s Monaco in 1994. The estimate is £2.6 million to £3.6 million.

    Robert Copley, international head of furniture and decorative art at Christie’s said:  “For The Exceptional Sale 2011 we have extended the parameters to include pieces from all of the decorative arts which will give the market the opportunity to bid for some of the rarest and finest works of art to come to auction, many of which are offered for the first time.”

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    ANDY WARHOL’S MAO A HIGHLIGHT AT CHRISTIE’S

    Monday, June 27th, 2011

    Andy Warhol (1928-1987) Mao, signed and dated 'Andy Warhol 73', is estimated at £6-8 million. (Click on image to enlarge). Copyright Christie's Images. UPDATE: IT MADE £6,985,250

    Andy Warhol’s Mao is one of a number of highlights of Christie’s Post War and Contemporary art evening auction in London on June 28.  The sale of 67 works is expected to realised a combined total of £55.8-77.6 milion.

    The iconic large scale Mao (1973) was shown at the first exhibition of Mao paintings at Musée Galliera, Paris in 1974.  Other highlights are Warhol’s vivid emerald green Little Electric Chair (1964), Miquel Barceló’s Faena de muleta (1990), the largest and most important example of the artist’s celebrated bullfight paintings ever to come to auction and Juan Muñoz’s Esquina positiva (1992), first unveiled to great acclaim at the landmark Documenta IV in Kassel in 1992, which launched the artist’s international career.
    Francis Outred, European Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art, said: “At a time when the global art world unites to celebrate the Venice Biennale, Christie’s is delighted to bring together works from 14 countries for this June’s Post War and Contemporary Art auction. At the heart of the forthcoming season is one of the finest groups of British Art ever to be assembled at auction, spanning from the early 1940s to the present day. Looking across the generations, one begins to see continuities between the inky-blue washes of paint in Francis Bacon’s landmark Study for a Portrait (1953) and Peter Doig’s liquid application of the medium in Red Boat (Imaginary Boys) (2003-04), undoubtedly one of his best paintings this century. Indeed the drive to depict real, physical presence is equally apparent in Lucian Freud’s pivotal painting Woman Smiling (1958-59) as in Ron Mueck’s mesmerising, hyper-real Big Baby (1996). Assembled from a variety of collections including that of Kay Saatchi, we are delighted to have brought together such a cohesive group of masterworks.”
    UPDATE: IT MADE £6,985,250
    See antiquesandartireland.com post for March 31.

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