Getting to see Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, Banksy, Julian Opie and Salvador Dale in Kerry – where Jack B Yeats went to study Irish in 1913 – is not an opportunity that arises every day. In latter years Gormley’s have attracted tens of thousands of people to exhibitions of Irish and international art and sculpture in luxurious settings like the K Club, the Culloden Estate and Spa and Castlemartyr Resort.
Set in stunning natural surroundings Sheen Falls Lodge in Kenmare will be added to this list from tomorrow.
There will be a striking collection of outdoor sculpture along with an exhibition of new work by the renowned Kerry artist Liam O’Neill. Art at the Falls runs from tomorrow until October 12, but there are certain days when it will be closed so it is advisable to check before travelling.
The artist Jack B Yeats spent time learning Irish in Kerry in 1913 and produced a series of landscapes from around Mount Brandon, Lough Gill, Castlegregory and Tralee Bay. A small oil on board from that period entitled Hot Weather/A Hot Day will feature at the sale of Important Irish Art at James Adam in Dublin on September 24. The estimate is €40,000-€60,000.
Jack B Yeats – Hot Weather/A Hot Day 1913. UPDATE: THIS MADE 69,OOO AT HAMMER
Pablo Picasso (Spanish 1881-1973) Jeune couple accroupi, l’homme avec un tambourin at Lynes and Lynes. UPDATE: THIS MADE 5,000 AT HAMMER
A marine chronometer, a Picasso etching, a c1730 bureau bookcase or a modern burr poplar and satinwood side cabinet inlaid with mother of pearl? The choice is yours at upcoming sales at James Adam in Dublin on Wednesday August 27 and Lynes and Lynes in Carrigtwohill, Co. Cork next Saturday (August 30).
The etching of a young couple by Picasso is the top lot at Lynes and Lynes. Published by Vollard in Paris in 1939 and signed in pencil from an edition of 260 it is from a private source in Cork. The estimate is €5,000-€8,000. Lynes and Lynes will offer three ships chronometers, one by Whyte Thompson and Co., makers to the admiralty, Glasgow (€900-€1,200), another by Thomas Mercer (€700-€1,000) and a third manufactured by the First Watch Company, Moscow (€300-€500).
A c1730 bureau bookcase at James Adam. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Antique furniture is more difficult to sell nowadays. A c1730 bureau bookcase at the At Home sale at Adams might break the mould. Capable of lending grace and utility to many modern homes it comes with twin mirrored panel doors, a fall front, desk, shelves and drawers and measures just 103 cms wide. The estimate is €1,500-€3,000. By way of contrast an inlaid demi lune side cabinet by Restall Brown & Clennell at Adams is a modern piece with an estimate of €2,000-€3,000.
With nearly 900 lots in total each sale offers a wide variety of lots at affordable price points, online catalogues and in person viewing.
Marine chronometers at Lynes and Lynes. UPDATE: THESE MADE 1,300, 850 AND 260
Lynes and Lynes will include contents from the recently sold Montenotte House and lots from the estate of late surgeon Tom Burke and his wife Kay of Blackrock, Cork. There are tables to choose from including a large 19th century dining table, a Cork Regency tea table and a Georgian wine table. There are Cork 9-bar chairs and Arts and Crafts dining chairs, a Cork Regency linen press and a fine painted cabinet. The sale offers silver and jewellery, a specialist collection of antique continental dolls and old advertising signs including one for the Metropole Hotel in Cork. Viewing gets underway in Carrigtwohill today and continues all next week.
A pair of red ground 19th century Chinese silk scroll wall hangings and a George V silver epergne feature among the lots adding interest to the At Home sale by James Adam in Dublin. The auction offers silver, furniture, a longcase clock, paintings, a 19th century gilt surround continental headboard, sofas, rugs, lamps, mirrors and an Irish silver Art Deco style three piece coffee service.
A c1960 Louis Vuitton train vanity case at James Adam. UPDATE: THIS MADE 460 at hammer
Or how about a Louis Vuitton c1960 train vanity case identified as reference model M23820 (€500-€800), a 20th century Aubusson style needlepoint tapestry, an Anglo-Indian carved ebony side chair or a brass dinner gong?
Auctions like these offer endless variety and objects to suit all tastes. Go on. Be inspired….
NEVILLE BATH – The County of Cork surveyed. UPDATE: THIS MADE €1,600 AT HAMMER
A linen backed map of The County of Cork in 1811 by the land surveyor Neville Bath leads the timed online books and works on paper auction by James Adam in Dublin. The sale runs until July 17. The survey, carried out by order of The Grand Jury of the County, is estimated at €2,000-€3,000.
West of Ireland Bog by Paul Henry at Whyte’s. UPDATE: THIS MADE 125,000 AT HAMMER
An array of exciting choices will come up at major sales of Irish art in Dublin by Whyte’s, de Veres and James Adam on May 26, 27 and 28 respectively.
Art worth a couple million euro is set to change hands at sales headed by Paul Henry (Whyte’s), Gerard Dillon (de Veres) and Roderic O’Conor (Adams). All are on view this weekend.
Achill Horses by Mainie Jellett at Whyte’s. UPDATE: THIS MADE 210,000 AT HAMMER
A spectacular 1933 oil of Achill Horses (€70,000-€100,000) by Mainie Jellett will create interest among serious collectors. This modern abstract style was in marked contrast to the prevailing realist mode of her contemporaries like Paul Henry and Charles Lamb. Jellett was chosen to create murals of the life and people of Ireland for the Free State Pavilion at the Glasgow Empire Exhibition of 1938. Another version of Achill Horses is included in the Mainie Jellett and Evie Hone exhibition at the National Gallery until August 10.
The most expensively estimated work at all three sales is West of Ireland Bog by Paul Henry (€120,000-180,000). It is one of three works by the artist at Whyte’s where Cottages, West of Ireland (€60,000-€80,000) and Keel Bay, Achill (€50,000-€70,000) also feature. In Hill Fair at Achill Island by Letitia Hamilton (€15,000-€20,000) the viewer joins the busy scene through an uneven path between two large limestone rocks.
There is international art by John Atkinson Grimshaw, Ferdinand Roybet, Paula Rego, Bridget Riley and Maurice Poirson as well as a sketch of James Joyce by his close friend Frank Budgen. The auction offers major works by William Leech, Dan O’Neill, Colin Middleton and George Russell, Dublin scenes by Flora Mitchell, prints by Patrick Scott, William Scott and Louis le Brocquy, sculpture by Rowan Gillespie and John Behan and work by popular artists like Kenneth Webb, Graham Knuttel, Cecil Maguire and Arthur Maderson.
Little Girl’s Wonder by Gerard Dillon is the top lot at the art and sculpture sale by de Veres next Tuesday. In tune with the naive style and strong use of colour for which Dillon is known it was shown at The Irish Exhibition of Living Art in Dublin – set in 1943 up to promote modernism in Ireland – in 1955. This work is estimated at €50,000-€80,000.
Little Girl’s Wonder by Gerard Dillon at de Veres. UPDATE: THIS MADE 55,000 AT HAMMER
The sale at de Veres offers art by Louis le Brocquy, Colin Middleton, Daniel O’Neill, Patrick Collins, John Shinnors, Peter Curling, Lillian Davidson, George Russell (AE), May Guinness and Mainie Jellett. The sculpture in the auction, on view in the garden of the Merrion Hotel, includes work by Rowan Gillespie, F. E. McWilliam, Patrick O’Reilly, Jason Ellis and Michael Warren.
A reclining nude and a night scene of a boat in a storm, both by Roderic O’Conor and estimated respectively at €40,000-€60,000 and €15,000-€25,000, lead the sale of Important Irish Art at James Adam next Wednesday evening. A dreamlike image by Hughie O’Donoghue, The Sea, The Sea from 2003 is estimated at €15,000-€20,000. Among 100 lots on offer is The Path of the Lamb (1966), an oil on canvas commissioned by The Dominican Order for St. Saviour’s Church on Dominick St. in Dublin (€10,000-€15,000). Figures Asleep by Mary Swanzy from the 1940’s (€10,000-€15,000) shows a makeshift arrangement that possibly depicts neighbours sheltering during air raids. Two arresting and contrasting works by renowned artists are the dense and restrained Black and White Scarecrows by John Shinnors (€5,000-€8,000) and Silent Gardens, a colourful piece from 1985 by Tony O’Malley (€12,000-€15,000).
Convict Woman, a bronze by Rowan Gillespie (€8,000-€12,000) is based on one of the life size figures by the artist unveiled in Hobart, Tasmania in 2017 known as the footsteps toward freedom statues. It represents the 13,000 convict women and 2,000 of their children who were transported to Van Diemen’s Land. A selection of sculpture by John Behan and Oisin Kelly is also on offer. Viewing is underway and all catalogues are online.
Black and White Scarecrows by John Shinnors at Adams. UPDATE: THIS MADE 5,000 AT HAMMER
Roderic O’Conor (1860-1940) – Reclining Nude (1921). UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Reclining Nude by Roderic O’Conor leads the evening sale of Important Irish Art at James Adam in Dublin on May 28. Painted in 1921 the oil on canvas is estimated at €40,000-€60,000. A total of 100 lots will come under the hammer including work by Tony O’Malley, Basil Blackshaw, John Shinnors, Letitia Marion Hamilton, Barrie Cooke, Oisin Kelly, John Behan and Nathaniel Hone will come under the hammer. The catalogue is online.
This c1955 diamond and ruby necklace with 107 Burmese rubies is at Adams in Dublin (€90,000-€110,000). UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
A total of 259 lots headed by a diamond ring with three old cut stones (€26,000-€29,000) will come under the hammer at the Design sale by O’Reilly’s of Francis St. in Dublin at noon on May 14. The auction of fine watches at James Adam is at 6 pm on the same day. The top lot is a Patek Philippe perpetual calendar c1980 watch (€30,000-€50,000). The sale of fine jewellery and ladies watches at Adams at 2 pm on May 13 is now on view in Dublin.
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
A carved marble head of a philosopher made €32,000 at hammer over an estimate of €1,000-€1,500 at the Library Collection sale at James Adam in Dublin today. It was described in the catalogue as possibly Roman period. The proportion is life size. It has been in a private collection in Ireland since the 1940’s. A carve marble stele on a shallow stepped based and with Latin text from the same collection made €20,000 at hammer. A 19th century Carrara marble carved bust of Julius Caesar on a pink marbled column made €9,500.
Mahogany and brass mounted country house letter box at Adams. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,700 AT HAMMER
Lots and lots of all types of lot will come under the hammer in Ireland next week with rare collectibles leading the charge.
With everything from a mahogany and brass mounted country house letter box that would not be out of place at Downton Abbey to a vintage alligator Gladstone bag the annual library collection sale at James Adam in Dublin on April 29 offers a selection of 344 lots with something of interest to most of us.
An old AA road sign at Victor Mee. UPDATE: THIS MADE 330 AT HAMMER
Vintage road signs are popular collectibles and feature at several sales. There is bound to be local interest in an old AA mileage sign for Blarney and Cork at Victor Mee’s sale at Belturbet on April 29 and 30. The online only auction offers advertising materials and a mix of nostalgic items. Among them are enough Irish carnival and fairground pieces from Warrenpoint in Co. Down and Buncrana in Co. Donegal to keep any keen restorer busy for months.
A vintage Italian bar at de Veres. UPDATE: THIS MADE €1,800 at hammer
A 1970’s vintage chrome and gilt Italian bar is not something you come across everyday. This one, complete with tinted mirror front and stainless steel counter, is at de Veres timed online design auction which runs until April 29. The auction is a mix of classic design pieces by Eileen Gray, Arne Jacobsen, Gianfranco Frattini and Gianni Versace and art by John Shinnors, Albert Irvin, Cecil King, Tony O’Malley, Felim Egan and Mark Francis.
A full length portrait photograph of Michael Collins with moustache on a balcony in London will create interest at Fonsie Mealy’s rare book and collectors sale in Castlecomer on April 30 and May 1. More than 700 widely varied lots will come under the hammer here over two days. These range from rare sporting memorabilia like Kerry’s first All Ireland football championship winners medal from 1903 to a limited edition illustrated volume of The Vatican Frescoes of Michelangelo and a scarce limited edition copy of Squarings, Twelve Poems by Seamus Heaney with four lithographic prints by Felim Egan signed by both author and artist.
There are all sorts of highlights at these sales. The Dedication of the Temple of Solomon by Franz Ludwig Hermann at Adams is monumental and depicts a fantastical view of the temple. Sacrifices to mark the dedication are said to have included 22,000 bulls and 120,000 sheep. A painting by George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson depicts a crowded harbour with paddle steamers.
A child’s carousel ride at Victor Mee will evoke many memories along with several antique puppets and a 1970’s tinplate fairground motorcycle.
A full length portrait photograph of Michael Collins in London by La Fayette at Fonsie Mealy. UPDATE: THIS MADE €600 AT HAMMER
A prototype of the Liam McCarthy cup, by tradition the sample maker Edmund Johnston of Grafton St. in Dublin presented to the committee for the Liam McCarthy, is at Fonsie Mealy. In the event a variant was chosen. Choices here include is a first (1955) edition of Moonraker, the third James Bond novel by Ian Fleming; a painting of George Best in action by the British artist Tom Croft, approved by Best and originally intended to be made into a limited edition print run, a plan that was abandoned when Best fell ill; five volumes of The Georgian Society records of 18th century domestic architecture in Dublin and an official Adidas Argentina team jersey signed by Diego Maradonna. Treasures abound everywhere….
Sine MacKinnon (1902-1996) – Surreal Landscape. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This pastel and crayon by Sine McKinnon is lot 9 at the timed online James Adam picture auction which runs until January 22. The estimate is 300-500. There is art by Cecil King, Richard Gorman, Jane O’Malley, Markey Robinson, Patrick Scott, Catherine Delaney, William Conor, Anne Madden, Elizabeth Rivers and many more artists on offer.
