antiquesandartireland.com

WILLIAM Scott’s Jug made a hammer price of 85,000 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s Irish and International online art sale this evening. It was the top lot in a well chosen sale where many lots far exceeded the top estimate. Among other top hammer prices were: Paul Henry, Maam Valley (66,000); Jack Yeats, Man Hearing and Old Song (60,000); Dan O’Neill, Interior (54,000); John Shinnors, Estuary Forms, Limerick (44,000); William Conor, At Benediction (32,000); John Shinnors, Three Cats, (25,000); Donald Teskey, Pepper Canister Church, Dublin (20,000) and Patrick Scott, Gold Painting (19,000).

There is something teasingly abstract about Jug, this 1979 oil on canvas by William Scott from Morgan O’Driscoll’s Irish and International online art auction which runs until November 23.  It is exactly what the artist intended. Scott wanted his pictures to be about something. In this work he uses a dark background to create an arresting image with the subject matter reduced to the bare minimum. “I am an abstract artist in the sense that I abstract” he explained once.  In the summer of 1953 Scott travelled to the US, met Jackson Pollock, Elaine de Kooning, Franz Kline and Mark Rothko and concluded that their version of abstract expressionism was not for him.  Instead he made his own of the simplest domestic objects, a frying pan, eggs, a plate, a fish, green beans, a bowl, a jug.  Morgan O’Driscoll has another magnificent sale coming up, with work by  Yeats, Henry, Donald Teskey, Dan O’Neill, John Shinnors, Gerard Dillon, Robert Ballagh and others.  Jug, estimated at €80,000-€120,000, is a highlight.

UPDATE: THIS MADE 85,000 AT HAMMER