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Mark O’Neill (b.1963) – Sunlight in the Old Town, Nice (2010). UPDATE: THIS MADE 8,000 AT HAMMER
This oil on board by Mark O’Neill is at Morgan O’Driscoll’s current Irish art online auction which runs until September 15. The estimate is €4,000-6,000. The auction offers a wide variety of artists, from Graham Knuttel and Mr. Brainwash to Sir William Orpen and Sean Scully. The catalogue is online.
Self Portrait – Baked Bean Boy by Paul Hewson (Bono) at Whyte’s. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,050 AT HAMMER
The Irish art market reflects global trends and right now these trends are particularly favourable to online sales of the type that Whyte’s will hold on June 30 and Morgan O’Driscoll on July 1.
Auctions of affordable art by popular Irish and international artists are where the market is at. The value of art sold last year went down but the number of transactions grew because of greater activity at lower levels. Even as the market remains in a state of flux the interest in acquiring art is on the up. In Ireland and around the world more and more people are prepared to buy online at lower prices even as global uncertainty contributes to a situation where fewer records are being broken at the top.
Celebrity sells and Whyte’s will have offerings by Bono (a self portrait though not one that you recognise him in) and Damien Hirst among their offerings. The screenprint by Bono – Self Portrait – Baked Bean Boy – is estimated at just €300-€400. Heart Spin, the acrylic by Damien Hirst, is among the most expensive offerings in the auction with an estimate of €2,500-€3,500.
Seaside Day by Brian MacMahon at Morgan O’Driscoll. UPDATE: THIS MADE 850 AT HAMMER
Among the art at the Morgan O’Driscoll sale is a poster by Tracey Emin and a preparatory design by Mainie Jellett for The Stations of the Cross. The latter artist is currently on show at the National Gallery where The Art of Friendship exhibition featuring paintings, stained glass and preparatory drawings by Mainie Jellett and Evie Hone continues until August 10.
With estimates from €80 and €100 up at both Whyte’s and Morgan O’Driscoll there should be more than enough to tempt newcomers to the exciting world of Irish art auctions. They will join a growing band of seasoned collectors.
One of a set of six prints from the Irish animal series by Pauline Bewick at Whyte’s. UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,200 AT HAMMER
Choices from 286 lots at Whytes include work by Gerard Byrne, Cecil Maguire, Desmond Carrick, Susan Webb, Peter Curling, Banksy, Pauline Bewick, John B Yeats, Tom Nisbet, Harry Kernoff and Joseph Sloan.
The were will be 430 lots at Morgan O’Driscoll’s sale with work by Graham Knuttel, Donald Teskey, Brian MacMahon, Gretta O’Brien, Ken Hamilton, Bridget Flannery, Ivan Sutton, Annemarie Bourke, Louis le Brocquy, Arthur Armstrong, Maria Simonds-Gooding and Maurice Desmond.
On Watch by Graham Knuttel at Morgan O’Driscoll. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,500 AT HAMMER
Maria Spilsbury – Portrait of Jane Bryan of Cong at Adams. UPDATE: THIS MADE 8,000 AT HAMMER
Art from Irish old masters to the contemporary will take centre stage at auctions by Morgan O’Driscoll on May 12, Sheppards on May 14 and Adams on May 15.
The catalogue cover lot for the Irish Old Masters evening sale at Adams is an arresting portrait of Jane Bryan of Cong by Maria Spilsbury (€8,000-€10,000). The London born artist relocated to Ireland in 1813. Her work is represented in major institutional collections like the National Gallery of Ireland, the British Museum, Tate Britain and the Museum of Methodism in London. Spilsbury painted portraits, genre scenes and religious work. Her depiction of Patron’s Day at the Seven Churches, Glendalough c1816 at the National Gallery is regarded as one of the most significant visual records of early 19th century devotional life in Ireland.
The most expensively estimated painting in the sale is Figures by the Temple in the Park at Mount Merrion by William Ashford (€50,000-€80,000). The auction offers a choice of Irish landscapes by artists like James Arthur O’Connor, Thomas Roberts, George Mullins, William Sadler and George Barret. There are portraits by Hugh Douglas Hamilton, Nathanial Hone, Robert Hunter and others along with seascapes by Edwin Hayes, Richard Brydges Beechey and John Thomas Serres. The sale kicks off with six etchings and engravings by James Barry, offers a set of Malton’s Views of Dublin and a preparatory scheme for the mythological murals at Lyons, Co. Kildare by Gaspare Gabrielli among 66 lots.
Ya Tsai Chiu (1949-2013) – Female Profile at Morgan O’Driscoll. UPDATE: THIS MADE 32,000 AT HAMMER
Two names from the east stand out in Morgan O’Driscoll’s current online auction. Ya Tsai Chiu paints gracefully elongated figures that, though different, somehow recall Modigliani while the sensitive female subjects of Zhao Kailin are endowed with a wistful, enigmatic quality. Both artists have wide appeal and thriving market records.
The auction offers highly collectible work by Peter Curling, Donald Teskey, Michael Flatley, Evie Hone, Mr Brainwash, Dan O’Neill, Conor Fallon, Sean Scully and many other artists. A study of The Grey Mare, Renvyle was painted in 1933 by Harry Kernoff. A le Brocquy tapestry titled Shimmering Light was woven by Donegal Carpets in 1956 and George Campbell’s affectionate study of flamenco performers has all the elan of a man who could play the guitar and well as wield the brush.
Graham Knuttel – Still Life Table Top at Sheppards. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
An Aubusson tapestry, Garlanded Goat by le Brocquy, leads the Irish and International art auction at Sheppards with an estimate of €80,000-€120,000. Emer, a unique life sized bronze horse by Anthony Scott, is a significant example of Irish contemporary bronze sculpture. Scott’s sculpture dedicated to the champion racehorse Sea the Stars was unveiled at the National Stud by the late Queen Elizabeth during her State visit to Ireland. Sheppards estimate this one at €30,000-€50,000.
Among 166 lots In Memory by Daniel O’Neill was last at auction at The Irish Sale at Christie’s in 2007. It is now estimated at €20,000-€30,000. A rare Still Life with Jug and Shapes by William Crozier, painted in oil on a tin metal tray, is estimated at €2,000-€3,000. There is a similar estimate on a Taurus watercolour by Pauline Bewick. With art by Markey Robinson, Arthur Maderson, Evie Hone, Fr. Jack Hanlon, Mark O’Neill, Henry Healy, Roderic O’Conor, Melanie le Brocquy, Michael Mulcahy, John Doherty, Michael Hales, Hughie O’Donoghue, John Luke and many more renowned Irish artists this sale has much to hold the interest.
Howard Helmick – Whiskey by the Hearth at Adams. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
GRAHAM KNUTTEL (1954-2023) – KEEP IT COOL. UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,600 AT HAMMER
Viewing for the Graham Knuttel Auction gets underway at James Adam in Dublin today. The timed sale of 132 lots ends on February 11. Keep it Cool is estimated at €1,500-2,000 and the estimate range is from under €100 to €10,000. The catalogue is online and there auction is on view at Adams over the weekend and on Monday, February 10.
A Still Life by Graham Knuttel at the Purple Onion gallery at Lismore Antiques Fair.
There is everything from antique furniture, art and jewellery to porcelain, vintage fashion and collectibles at the two day Bank Holiday weekend Lismore Opera Festival antiques and vintage fair today and tomorrow (June 1 and 2). Fairs are for browsing and discovering new areas of interest and this one offers much to hold the attention of all sorts of collectors. Choices range from Knocknagow by Charles Kickham at Jim Hyde books, a still life by Graham Knuttel at The Purple Onion Gallery, exotic hats at Eily Henry’s vintage collection, a c1830 William IV Irish work table by Butlers, beautiful porcelain at Brian Hurley’s stand, coins and banknotes and even a Christian Dior plaster mannequin from 1946 at Le Belle Epoque.
Brian Hurley will bring this decorated Booths china dish to the Lismore Antiques Fair.
A colourful and distinctive Bird of Paradise by the artist Graham Knuttel, who died aged 69 in May, comes up as lot 12 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s off the wall online art auction which runs until the evening of July 3. Playfully displayed as a bird, not a flower, and complete with an instantly recognisable Knuttel eye it is estimated at €2,000-€3,000. The art of Graham Knuttel tends to be more popular with punters than the art establishment. His distinctive designs, including a Bird of Paradise mug, feature on a range of household items by Tipperary Crystal. The sale includes a selection of affordable artworks from a wide range of artists. Among them are Arthur Maderson, Cecil Maguire, Steve Burgess and John Morris. It is on view in Skibbereen on Monday and the catalogue is online.
