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
