Jack Butler Yeats RHA (1871-1957) Horsemen sold for €400,000
The top four lots at the James Adam sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin last night sold after the auction for a total of €1.3 million. Horsemen and He Reads a Book by Yeats each made a hammer price of €400,000. The other two Yeats’, The Window with a View of the Town and Willie Reilly sold for €250,000 and €100,000 respectively, while Orpen’s Old John’s Cottage sold for €250,000.
Two oils by Paul Henry were sold, Connemara Landscape made €75,000 at hammer and A Bog Road in Kerry made €60,000. Leo Whelan’s Cello Player made €20,000; Louis le Brocquy’s Portrait of Federico Garcia Lorca made €50,000 and Aloysius O’Kelly’s The Christening Party made €26,000. Cathedral by Edward Delaney sold for €24,000.
Jack Butler Yeats RHA (1871-1957) – HORSEMEN (1947). UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD AT THE AUCTION AND CHANGED HANDS LATER FOR A HAMMER PRICE OF €400,000
Viewing gets underway at Adams in Dublin today for four upcoming sales, Fine Jewellery (December 3), Important Irish Art (December 4), Fine Watches (December 5) and Fine Wines and Spirits on December 6. The art sale includes outstanding paintings by Jack B. Yeats from the collection of Vincent and Jacqueline O’Brien, and works from the Hon. Francis D. Murnaghan Jr. Collection and is headed by Horsemen by Yeats with an estimate of €500,000-800,000.
Outstanding paintings by Jack B. Yeats from the collection of legendary horse trainer Vincent O’Brien his wife Jacqueline O’Brien are to be sold by auction on December 4 at Adam’s in Dublin. Amongst the highlights is The Horseman, painted by Yeats in 1947. This stunning depiction of horse riders set against a background of Ben Bulben is estimated at €500,000-€800,000. Adams say that the sale brings together a giant of Irish art and a giant of Irish racing.
Associated most with his stunning success in both National Hunt and flat racing, Vincent O’Brien, the legendary Co. Cork-born horse trainer, and his wife Jacqueline, a celebrated author and photographer, were also discerning art collectors. Their art collection features a captivating range of paintings, including spectacular works that reflect Vincent’s deep connection with the equestrian world.
Thomas McGreevy, a former Director of the National Gallery of Ireland wrote : ‘There are no lovelier horses in all painting than Jack Yeats’s. They have a miraculous elegance, and he always loved to paint them when they looked as though mere existence was sufficiently exhilarating’.
Adams say that the collection offered alongside other important Irish paintings represents a rare opportunity for collectors to acquire artworks with significant cultural and historical provenance. This is an unparalleled opportunity to own a part of the O’Brien legacy.
JACK B YEATS – The Top of the Tide UPDATE: THIS MADE 210,000 AT HAMMER
The two figures depicted by Yeats in The Top of the Tide (1955) seem to contemplate something way out there and way out of reach. The men – one suggestive of the 18th century – are made to seem partly transparent In a vibrant landscape of blues and yellows.
The context of the painting made by Yeats in his ’80’s is the fragility of human existence. The artist declared it ready for exhibition in February 1956 and died a year later in March 1957. In a catalogue note Dr. Roisin Kennedy quotes Beckett on Yeats: “One does not realise how still his pictures are till one looks at others, almost petrified, a sudden suspension of the performance, of the convention of sympathy and antipathy, meeting and parting, joy and sorrow”.
The Top of the Tide will lead Whyte’s sale of Important Irish Art at Freemason’s Hall, Molesworth St., Dublin on the evening of September 30 with an estimate of €250,000-€350,000.
UPDATE: The sale grossed over €1.3 million
PAUL HENRY – The Stony Fields of Kerry UPDATE: THIS MADE 180,000 AT HAMMER
A trio of works by Paul Henry is headed by The Stony Fields of Kerry (€150,000-€200,000) thought to have been painted after a late summer holiday in Glenbeigh in 1934. Killary Bay c1919-1920 and Keel Bay, Achill c1910-1919 by Henry are estimated respectively at €70,000-€90,000 and €60,000-€80,000.
Among a selection of major works in this sale of 149 lots is Water Party, Kilmurry 1891-92 by Mildred Anne Butler (€15,000-€20,000) exhibited at the Watercolour Society of Ireland in 1893. An exhibition of work by the artist – where Butler is lauded as one of Ireland’s first professional women artists – is on view at the National Gallery of Ireland until next January.
There is art by Grace Henry, William Orpen, Sean Keating, Percy French, William Conor, Mary Swanzy, Colin Middleton, Dan O’Neill, Nano Reid, Norah McGuinness, Patrick Hennessy, Donald Teskey, Rowan Gillespie, Rita Duffy in a sale which is on view all weekend and on Monday at Whyte’s in Dublin.
MILDRED ANNE BUTLER – Water Party, Kilmurry. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Paul Henry RHA RUA (1876-1958) – Mountain Landscape with Cottages c.1926-30
Paul Henry’s Mountain Landscape with Cottages and Early Morning in the Markets, Quimperlé (1883) by Walter Osborne shared top honours at the sale of Important Irish Art at James Adam in Dublin on May 29. Each made €110,000 at hammer. The Water Steps by Jack Yeats made €100,000 and Crossing the Canal Bridge, from the Tram Top (1927) by Yeats made €90,000.
Louis le Brocquy HRHA, 1916-2012 – Milles Tetes Gris Noir Blanc
This Aubusson tapestry by Louis le Brocquy, hand made by Tabard Freres & Soeurs, was the top lot at de Veres outstanding Irish art a sculpture auction in Dublin this evening. It made a hammer price of 155,000. A portrait entitled Edith, Gypsy Girl by Sir William Orpen made 100,000, The Overflow of the Canal by Jack B Yeats and an Image of W B Yeats by Le Brocquy each made 70,000, a Still Life by Roderic O’Conor made 60,000, a landscape by John George Mulvany (1766-1838) and Game of Chance by Colin Middleton from the Wilderness series each made 40,000. The auction brought in €1.6 million and was 85% sold.
Jack Butler Yeats RHA (1871 – 1957) – Crossing the Canal Bridge, from the Tram Top (1927). UPDATE: THIS MADE 90,000 AT HAMMER
This unusual night oil on panel by Yeats shows a view from the top of a double decker tram as it crosses the Grand Canal at Portobello in Dublin. The No. 15 tram ran from Nelson’s Pillar via Rathmines to Terenure. It comes up at Adams sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin on May 29 with an estimate of 70,000-100,000. Viewing for the sale gets underway in Dublin today and continues until May 29. The catalogue is online.
Jack Butler Yeats RHA (1871-1957) – The Captain (1948)
The Captain by Jack B Yeats was the top lot at the James Adam sale of important Irish Art in Dublin tonight. It made €95,000 at hammer. Near Leenane by Paul Henry made €80,000, Aran Harbour by Sean Keating made €75,000, The Colloquy of Monus and Una, a pencil, ink and watercolour by Harry Clarke made €70,000, Keem Bay by Paul Henry made €65,000 and Paysage Sinistre by Henry made €60,000.
Harry Clarke RHA (1889 – 1931) – The Colloquy of Monos and Una (1923)
Jack B. Yeats’ – The Trotter. UPDATE: THIS MADE £88,900
Sotheby’s annual Irish Art sale in London on November 21 and 22 will be part of a newly created flagship sales series of Modern British & Irish Art. Evening and Day sales will comprise 54 lots of Irish art and feature the most beloved and esteemed names of the genre with works from the descendants of Sir John Lavery along with art by Jack Butler Yeats, F.E. McWilliam and Gerard Dillon. Together, they are estimated to bring in the region of £2 million. The sales will headline Sotheby’s British & Irish Art week – a dedicated week celebrating the artistic landscape of Britain and Ireland from the 19th to the 21st century.
Two works by Lavery, a Moorish Hareem and Ariadne, are each estimated at £300,000-500,000 / €343,830-573,050. They are from direct descendants of the artist. The Donkey Show and The Trotter by Yeats are estimated respectively at £400,000-600,000 / €458,440-687,660 and £80,000- 120,000 / €91,688 – 137,532.
The Day sale will comprise a dedicated 49 lot portion of Irish art, featuring classical Irish artists like Yeats and Dillon as well as a strong selection of works by contemporary artists including Hughie O’Donoghue, Linda Brunker, Orla de Bri, Richard Hearns, Melissa O’Donnell, Jack Coulter, Rowan Gillespie and Nick Miller. Works will be on view at Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin between November 9-12 and in Sotheby’s New Bond Street galleries in London from November 17- 21.
Sir John Lavery – A Moorish Hareem. UPDATE: THIS MADE £381,000
JACK BUTLER YEATS RHA (1871-1957) NEAR THE DOCKS (1945)
Near the Docks, a small oil on panel by Jack B. Yeats, made a hammer price of €110,000 at the James Adam sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin this evening. An oil on board by Gerard Dillon, Norah and Johnny Conneely restirng, made €95,000 on the hammer, Girl with a Ruff Collar by Dan O’Neill made €40,000, Morning by John Shinnors made €38,000, Portrait of Paddy Moloney by Edward McGuire made €35,000, Gantries on a Sunday, Belfast by Harry Kernoff made €28,000, Peace II by Rowan Gillespie made €28,000, Sleeper in Spare Room by Gerard Dillon made €24,000, Dargle, Moonlight and Ruin by James Arthur O’Connor made €22,000 and Valley Walk II by Donald Teskey made €17,000.
