THE NEW ORLEANS ARMCHAIR (1999), Pigmented polyester, gel coat and fiberglass
Ron Arad first constructed the Big Easy chair in 1988. “I was thinking about an overstuffed club chair”. he said. It was among the first pieces of contemporary design added to NOMA’s decorative arts collection.” Arad later released this moulded-polyester version called NEW ORLEANS where he daubs colour inside a mould before pouring in the polyester, imprinting the chair with the element of painting, the effect combining art and sculpture to create something unique. This version comes up as lot 30 at de Veres International Art and Design Auction in Dublin on April 30. The chair is a powerful statement on volume and illusion and fully blurs the distinction between furniture and sculpture.
In Dublin viewings get underway on March 22 for upcoming sales of important Irish art at both James Adam and de Veres. The sale at James Adam on March 27 features some of Ireland’s best loved artists with estimates of from €500 to over €60,000 for The Bog by Paul Henry (€60,000-€80,000).A number of paintings by Patrick Hennessy and Harry Roberston Craig from the collection of Pamela and George Fegan, a Dublin couple who were friends of both artists and bought directly from them, will feature. The catalogue cover lot is a 1951 painting by Patrick Hennessy, The Rebuilding of Monte Cassino, located about 130 kilometres south east of Rome and site of a major Second World War battle in 1944. This work, which has not been on the market before, is estimated at €10,000-€15,000.
Eliza Doolittle in Dublin by Sean Keating (€50,000-€70,000) is the most expensively estimated lot at de Veres sale on March 26. Based on Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw the 1965 work depicts a daffodil seller against a background of Georgian buildings and thunderous clouds. Sean Keating, along with many others, was vociferous in his condemnation of the destruction of Georgian Dublin which got underway in the 1950’s. Among the other highlights at de Veres are John B Vallely’s Heading for the Final Sprint with a pack of cyclists in full flight and Letitia Hamilton’s Wind Blown Tree, Killary. There is a collection of works on paper by Mainie Jellett. All catalogues are online now.
Designed in 1930 this Barcelona day bed by Mies van der Rohe comes up as lot 6 at de Veres art and design auction on October 24 in Dublin. The sale features around 200 lots of classic design Danish and Italian furniture and lighting by some of the major names of the 20th Century including Mies van Der Rohe, Ingmar Relling, Marcel Breuer, Charles & Ray Eames, Rolf Benz and Ligne Roset. The Barcelona day bed shares the same simple elegance as the iconic lounge chair of the same name and is estimated at €4,000-€6,000.
Here it comes by Kieran Crowley is lot 19 at de Veres online art and design auction which runs until July 12. This is an online only affordable sale of 146 lots, ideal for those starting a collection. The oil on board illustrated here is estimated at €300-500.
Landscape with Trees by Roderic O’Conor was the top lot at de Veres auction of art and sculpture in Dublin on May 14. It made a hammer price of €300,000. The Breaking Wave by Roderic O’Conor sold for €230,000 and Sea and Rocks made €70,000. Among the other hammer prices were: Moorland Water by Patrick Collins (€38,000); Rhapsody on a theme of Bird Houses and Ash Tree by Tony O’Malley (€36,000); The Catalan Mousetrap by Colin Middleton (€34,000); High Street, Rye by Walter Osborne (€30,000); Reclining Nude by Dan O’Neill (€28,500); River Sanctuary by Donald Teskey (€23,000) and Roadside Grasses, Donegal by Norah McGuinness (€20,000). There was plenty of interest in sculpture. Dialogue by Sonja Landweer made €15,000, Birdwatcher by F E McWilliam and Two Horses by Anthony Scott each made €14,500 and Surfer by Patrick O’Reilly made €10,500.
A rare 1970’s ‘Non Stop’ sofa by Ueli Berger, Eleanore Peduzzi-Riva and Hans Ulrich for De Sede, Switzerland made a hammer price of 15,500 at de Veres Art and Design auction in Dublin today. This iconic piece of 20th century design is upholstered in black leather and felt composed of 20 individual pieces that zip together. It can configure into a number of different positions and broken down into smaller sofas if needed. It earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s largest sofa with an example that boasted more than 400 connected sections. This version has 20 sections and measures 5m in a straight length.
Here is a video on After the Ball by Sir William Orpen, one of the highlights at de Veres sale of Outstanding Irish Art in Dublin on November 23. UPDATE: THIS MADE 310,000
The gracious neo-classical mansion that is Townley Hall near Drogheda offers a fitting backdrop this weekend for viewing the annual James Adam country house collections sale. Irish Georgian furniture is a strong point of this auction along with classical Irish art, silver and collectibles like a 19th century cold painted model of a tiger by Bergman of Vienna. Fine English furniture including a pair of giltwood console tables in the manner of William Kent will also feature strongly in this sale.Ahead of a busy upcoming week of auctions there is viewing at Townley today and tomorrow. If you can’t make it to Townley Hall the catalogue is online. Adams sale is online from Dublin on Monday and Tuesday.
The sale of Irish art and design at de Veres on October 20 – highlighted by an iconic egg chair by Arne Jacobsen from 1958 – caters to a different taste. No matter. The eclectic style now in vogue allows much mixing and matching in any interior. Classical pieces from different eras sit comfortably side by side in many stylish contemporary homes. At de Veres there are chairs by Jacobsen, Mies van der Rohe, le Corbusier and the Norwegian Sigurd Ressell and a gilt metal table identical to one at Chanel’s apartment at 31 Rue Cambon. There are some highly collectible art pieces headed by Donald Teskey’s Cork Landscape (€20,000-€30,000) with work by Louis le Brocquy, Sean McSweeney, Martin Gales and 30 works from the studio of Reginald Grey, a portrait artist who was best man at Brendan Behan’s wedding.
This untitled mixed media work by Felim Egan, dated 1981, comes up as lot 27 at de Veres art and furniture online auction which runs to September 14. It is estimated at just 200-400. Felim Egan, who died last December, was one of Ireland’s leading contemporary artists. He exhibited in Ireland and Europe and represented Ireland at the Paris Biennale of 1981 and the Sao Paolo Biennale of 1985. His work hangs in numerous public and private collections. There are 132 lots in the sale. UPDATE: THIS MADE 340 AT HAMMER
ADAM and Eve in the Garden, a colour inverted Aubusson tapestry by Louis le Brocquy, made a hammer price of 130,000 over a top estimate of 90,000 at de Veres in Dublin this evening. This has been a highly successful sale of high quality art billed as Outstanding Irish Art and Sculpture. A Still Life by Roderic O’Conor made 75,000; The Little Horse at Play by Jack B. Yeats made 240,000; A Sunny Day, Connemara by Paul Henry made 105,000; The Good Grey Morning by Yeats made 220,000: Scarecrow Portraits by John Shinnors made 125,000; a sculpture entitled Nunca Sobremos by Ana Duncan made 21,000; two works by F.E. McWilliam made 15,000 and 14,000 respectively; Bitch in a birch by Orla de Bri made 5,000, as did Frozen Fountain by Killian Schurmann and Ecce Homo by Catherine Greene made 7,000.
(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for June 18 and June 12, 2021)