Jack Butler Yeats RHA (1871-1957) – The Duet (1945) SOLD FOR €70,000 AT HAMMER
The Sick Bed and The Duet, both by Yeats, made hammer prices of €160,000 and €70,000 respectively at the James Adam sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin tonight. They had been estimated at €150,000-€200,000 and €70,000-€100,000. Connemara Hills by Paul Henry made €92,000 over a top estimate of €60,000. Fantail, an oil on canvas by Louis le Brocquy made €50,000 (€40,000-€60,000) and The Garlanded Goat, an Aubusson tapestry designed by le Brocquy made €46,000 (40,000-€60,000). Abstract Composition by Evie Hone made €34,000 (€15,000-€25,000) and Lighthouse Man’s twin cats and Washing by John Shinnors made €30,000 (€30,000-€50,000). Children playing in a woodland glade by George Russell made €28,000 over a top estimate of €15,000 and Valley Wind, Jemisa by Tony O’Malley made €24,000 at hammer (€15,000-€25,000).
The auction brought in €1.135m gross and recorded a sold rate of 78%.
The Ballad Singers’ Children by Jack B. Yeats UPDATE: THIS MADE 16,000 AT HAMMER
Among the highlights of a sale with something for everyone by Fonsie Mealy in Castlesomer on November 16 is an artwork by Jack B Yeats which focuses the mind on people with little or nothing. The Ballad Singers’ Children depicts the children of an itinerant singer left to fend for themselves in a makeshift tent while their parent tries to make a living at a race meeting nearby. A barefoot girl, the eldest of the three, looks out at a torrential downpour from a shelter made of tarpaulin spread over branches. The oil on board of a not untypical scene from the west of Ireland in the opening years of the 20th century speaks to our 21st century world with its growing numbers of dispossessed refugees. In this poignant work Yeats sides with the poor and the oppressed. It was exhibited in Dublin in 1902 and at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool in 1903. Acquired in that year by his patron the New York lawyer John Quinn it is now estimated at €10,000-€15,000.
The west of Ireland features in a trio of Aran Island works by Sean Keating. From a private institutional collection they are on the market for the first time. Waiting for the Steamer, Aran Islands is estimated at €50,000-€70,000, Man and Woman collecting Seaweed is estimated at €30,000-€40,000 and Village on the Aran Islands is estimated at €15,000-€20,000, Milking the cows by Maurice MacGonigal dates to around 1934 and is estimated at €7,000-€9,000. An 1880’s portrait of the artist Walter Osborne, who died of pneumonia aged just 43, by his friend and fellow artist August Burke is estimated at €5,000-€7,000. Eruption of Mount Vesuvius by William Sadler c1825 is estimated at €4,000-€6,000.
Lovers, an Aubusson tapestry by the late Pauline Bewick shows a couple locked in a passionate embrace on a seashore beneath the stars with a lighthouse in the background. In a catalogue note Dr. Peter Murray describes it as one of her finest works which sums up her affirmation of life and love. Composition by Evie Hone dates to 1925 and is estimated at €4,000-€6,000. There is more than 400 lots including prints, drawings, sketches, watercolours, oils and sculpture including work by John Behan, Edward Delaney and Brid Ni Rinn. Collectibles include a limited edition of Ulysses by James Joyce signed by Henri Matisse, Sumo by Helmut Newton and The Tain illustrated by Louis le Brocquy. A selection of wines and whiskies includes some rare Midletons.
Lovers, an Aubusson tapestry by Pauline Bewick. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
A Lament (The Funeral of Harry Boland) by Jack B Yeats. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
The auction of outstanding Irish Art and Sculpture which runs until June 14 at de Veres offers significant works by Roderic O’Conor and Jack B Yeats alongside artists from David Godbold, Tony O’Malley and Norah McGuinness to contemporary artists like Hughie O’Donoghue and Elizabeth Magill to the sculptures of Sandra Bell, Patrick O’Reilly and F.E. McWilliam.
A Lament (The Funeral of Harry Boland) by Yeats is, at €250,000-€350,000, the most expensively estimated work closely followed by The Breaking Wave by Roderic O’Conor (€200,000-€300,000). There are estimates from €500 up in this auction of 126 lots including more than 50 works of sculpture. It all adds up to an auction of quality with something for all tastes. The catalogue is online and the sale is now open for bidding.
Jack B. Yeats- Market Day, Mayo / The Long Car Executed in 1920 Exhibited Paris, Galeries Barbazanges, l’Exposition d’Art Irlandais, 1922,
This Yeats painting is again on show in Paris this week. Sotheby’s has included it in their exhibition and viewing of lots for Ireland / France: Art and Literature sale which is open online for bidding until May 16. The sale includes a strong group of paintings, drawings, photographs and sculptures by Ireland’s leading artists from the 19th century to the present day, including Roderic O’Conor, John Lavery, Jack B. Yeats, Mainie Jellett, William Scott and Rowan Gillespie. In addition are a select group of books by Ireland’s celebrated writers including Joyce, Beckett and Yeats.
The auction coincides with the centenary anniversary of the 1922 World Congress of the Irish Race – a significant event in modern Irish history in which the newly founded Irish State participated in a week-long international conference in Paris to promote the country’s national identity. In attendance were Irish politicians, diaspora delegates, writers, artists and musicians. It is on view in Paris until May 14.
A hammer price of €160,000 for a small oil by Jack B Yeats at the James Adam sale in Dublin last week is testament to the health of the Irish art market as 2021 draws to a close. Through the Streets to the Hills measures just 9″ x 14″ and easily sailed past the top estimate of €150,000. Bogland Connemara by Paul Henry made €100,000 and an Aubusson tapestry by Louis le Brocquy made €80,000 at hammer. A Western Lake and Mountain Landscape by Henry made €75,000 and Composition by Evie Hone sold for €46,000. A Cubist Landscape by Mary Swanzy made €38,000 and Looking Westward by Dan O’Neill made €40,000.At least €12 million euro worth of Irish art changed hands in the winter selling season at Sotheby’s, de Veres, Bonhams, Whyte’s, Morgan O’Driscoll and Adams. The market is rock solid, rather than frenzied in the way it was before the 2008 crash. At Adams three works by Colin Middleton made hammer prices respectively of €29,000, €25,000 and €23,000. A Bahamas painting by Tony O’Malley made €22,000 and Bird in Blue by Breon O’Casey made €20,000 over a top estimate of €12,000.Art by Basil Blackshaw, William Leech, George Campbell, Donald Teskey, Edwin Hayes, Edward McGuire, F E McWilliam and John Shinnors all sold well at Adams last week. Little Blue Piece, an etched, stained and blown cut glass work by the Cork based Maud Cotter made a hammer price of €2,400 over a top estimate of €1,600.
Maud Cotter (b.1954) Little Blue Piece. Etched, stained and painted antique mouth blown glass panel,
Jack Butler Yeats, A Nor’ Western Town £350,000-550,000. UPDATE: THIS WAS BID TO £340,000 A REMAINED UNSOLD
A Nor’ Western Town by Yeats is the most expensively estimated Irish artwork at Sotheby’s upcoming sales of Irish art. The sales are being presented in two formats formats, ‘Modern British & Irish Art’ and ‘Irish Art’, as part of British and Irish Art sale week, uniting the best of Modern British, Scottish and Irish art.
The Irish works are highlighted by an important group of 17 paintings from The Collection of Sir Michael Smurfit, formed over the course of thirty years. This offering forms the second instalment of Irish works from Sir Michael’s collection to be presented at auction by Sotheby’s, following the sale of a group of pictures in the September 2020 Irish Art sale. The 17 works carry a combined pre-sale estimate of £1.1 – 1.7 million / €1.3 – 2 million.
In total, across both sales, over 70 Irish lots will be offered, spanning the 19th century to the present day and across media from paintings to sculpture to ceramics. The sales feature many of Ireland’s most famous painters, including Jack B. Yeats, John Lavery, William Orpen, Paul Henry, Louis le Brocquy and Gerard Dillon, alongside a diverse selection of works by exciting contemporary artists, such as Heaven is a Place on Earth by Jack Coulter, recently featured in Forbes’ ‘30 Under 30 Europe 2021/ Arts & Culture’. The majority of works on offer are emerging onto the market from long-held private collections, and many of them are making their first appearance at auction.
Modern British and Irish art, with nine Irish artworks, will feature at a live auction at Sotheby’s on November 23. An online auction of Irish art with 66 lots runs from November 17-23. They will be on display at the RHA in Dublin from November 18 – 23.
Coinciding with the 150th anniversary of his birth a landmark exhibition entitled Jack B. Yeats, Painting & Memory opens at the National Gallery of Ireland on September 4. The show of 84 works is drawn from public and private collections in Ireland and abroad and celebrates the work of one of Ireland’s pre-eminent artists. Memories of childhood in Sligo, observations of humanity and his reflections on life and loss feature in many of Yeats’ oil paintings.
Meantime the gallery announced today that a new online appreciation course – Yeats: An Artistic Family begins on October 7. Tickets will go on sale on September 1. The eight-week online course with art historian Jessica Fahy explores the artistic production of three generations of the Yeats family. It will take place on Thursday evenings and is suitable for beginners and experts.
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)
