Rowan Gillespie (b.1953) – MAQUETTE FOR W.B. YEATS, SLIGO, 1989. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This maquette for the sculpture of W.B. Yeats erected outside Ulster Bank on Stephen Street, Sligo is at Whyte’s sale of Important Irish Art on December 1 with an estimate of €15,000-€20,000. It was jointly commissioned by the Adhoc Yeats Sculpture Committee, Ulster Bank and the local community. The bronze was placed in position in May 1990 to mark the 50th anniversary of the poet’s death. Viewing for the auction at Whyte’s is now underway at Molesworth St. in Dublin and the catalogue is online.
The Lady of the Decoration by Harry Clarke UPDATE: THIS MADE 110,000 AT HAMMER
The largest and most spectacular ink and watercolour by Harry Clarke highlights a collection of important works on paper by the artist at the James Adam sale of Important Irish Art on the evening of September 24. Commissioned by the Glasgow based paint manufacturers John Duthie and Sons for a wall calendar The Lady of the Decoration was executed in 1914 and carries an estimate of €60,000-€80,000.
It is one of a number of illustrations by Clarke from various collections in the auction. The artist illustrated a number of books for the publisher George Harrap including Geothe’s Faust. An ink and watercolour drawing for the title page, an unpublished illustration for the 1925 edition, is estimated at €40,000-€60,000. An unfinished 1915 drawing for The Playboy of the Western World has an estimate of €20,000-€30,000. There are five original ink illustrations used in Harrap’s Faust (1915), Swinburne’s Selected Poems (1928) and The Fairy Tales of Perrault (1922) along with signed limited edition illustrated books and two stained glass panels by Harry Clarke of Dante and Beatrice.
The sale offers a highly desirable selection by stalwarts of the Irish art scene like Jack B Yeats, Roderic O’Conor, William Scott, Sean Scully, Mainie Jellett, John Doherty and Gerard Dillon.
Love Alloy and Perspex by Rowan Gillespie. UPDATE: THIS MADE 12,000 AT HAMMER
The inspiration for Love, an alloy sculpture by Rowan Gillespie (€12,000-€18,000) is universal. It depicts two figures divided by a sheet of perspex. “One of the first pieces I made after getting married in 1976” the sculptor explained, “when I realised that it wasn’t so easy. All the best intentions, but so often a barrier of misunderstanding separated us”.
The universality and timelessness of art is apparent in the inspiration for Sean Scully’s watercolour Robe (€30,000-€50,000). The source is a medieval manuscript, the Book of Durrow at TCD. The artist was struck by the elaborate geometric chequerboard pattern on the robe worn by St. Matthew the Evangelist resembling nothing so much as an abstract composition transported back through time. The auction is now on view at Adams and the catalogue is online.
The autumn art sale season is well and truly upon us. Whytes sale of Irish and International art in Dublin on September 29 offers many exciting opportunities for collectors and will be on view at Molesworth St. from next Monday. The catalogue cover lot is le Brocquy’s Image of Samuel Beckett from 1980 (€100,000-€150,000).
The catalogue for the Irish Art Auction by de Veres on September 30 is online and the sale of 230 lots is open for bidding. It offers lots by Martin Gale, Barbara Warren, Robert Taylor Carson, Basil Ivan Rakoczi and many more. There will be a sale of Irish and International art by Gormley’s on September 30.
The Vet’s Surgery, Schull by John Doherty. UPDATE: THIS MADE 16,000 AT HAMMER
Rowan Gillespie – Reclining Bodyscape 9/9. UPDATE: THIS MADE 12,000 AT HAMMER
This signed and dated 2023 patinated and polished bronze Reclining Bodyscape by Rowan Gillespie comes up as lot 85 at de Veres Outstanding Irish Art and Sculpture timed sale in Dublin. It is is the final and largest piece from the edition of 9 maquettes for Reclining Bodyscape, first conceived in 1994. Two life-size casts are in private collections. The estimate is €8,000-€12,000. The timed online auction runs until May 28 and there will be viewing at Kildare St. from May 24-28.
Lemon Queen by Genieve Figgis at Whyte’s. UPDATE: THIS MADE 29,000 AT HAMMER
Propelled on to the international stage by the use of Twitter Genieve Figgis has a contemporary rags to riches story that breaks the mould. In just a decade the Dublin born artist has gone from creating art on the kitchen table and working part time in a shop in order to get by to a secondary market (art already sold once) turnover of €2.6 million and a primary market at auction in Hong Kong. The work she posted on the social media platform attracted the attention of renowned American painter and photographer Richard Prince. He bought some and subsequently introduced Figgis to New York where she is now represented by the Helwaser Gallery and has had a number of solo exhibitions. Figgis has been included in landmark exhibitions and is the first Irish artist commissioned by Dior to reinterpret their Lady Dior handbag.
Lemon Queen by Genieve Figgis comes up at Whyte’s in Dublin with an estimate of €25,000-€35,000. It is among an appetising selection at upcoming sales at Adams on September 27 and Whyte’s on October 2.
The Kiss by Rowan Gillespie at James Adam. UPDATE: THIS MADE 22,000 AT HAMMER
The sale of Important Irish Art at Adams offers sculpture, oil paintings, watercolours and tapestries by some of our most admired artists of the 19th and 20th centuries. An atmospheric Yeats – On a Western Quay – is one of a number of lots by the artist. Evening by Paul Henry is a pure landscape dating to 1924/25 and Eden, a late 1940’s Aubusson tapestry designed by Louis le Brocquy are among the main lots. There is striking art by Gerard Dillon and William Conor. 19th century art on offer includes rare works by Sir Thomas Alfred Jones, William John Hennessy and Howard Helmick along with art by James Arthur O’Connor and Thomas Rose Miles. The Kiss by Rowan Gillespie is a 16″ high bronze – number eight from an edition of nine – of a popular public full sized sculpture by Gillespie opposite the National Concert Hall on Earlsfort Terrace in Dublin. It dates to 1990. Torso by the same artist is from 1994. Curiosities of the sale include a limited edition black and white photograph of Michael MacLiammoir by Fergus Bourke, the last ever stage photograph of the dramatist and actor and a leather bound journal by craft student Norah O’Kelly with illustrations by Sir William Orpen and Harry Clarke.
The last ever stage photograph of Micheal MacLiammoir at James Adam. UPDATE: THIS MADE 750 AT HAMMER
The sale by Whyte’s takes place at Freemason’s Hall on Molesworth St. with viewing at Whyte’s galleries. The catalogue cover lot is The Currach, Kilronan by Gerard Dillon. Still Waters by Sean Keating is an Aran Island work exhibited at the RHA in 1947. Another important lot is ‘He won’t bite you” by Sir John Lavery depicting an infant’s cautious encounter with a curious dog in a Scottish garden. The sale offers paintings by Letitia Hamilton, an early work by John Shinnors of Christine Keeler and a watercolour of Nassau St. in Dublin by Rose Barton once in the Mount Juliet collection of racehorse breeder Major Victor McCalmont and included in the Crawford Gallery Retrospective in 1987. Among the artists featured at Whytes are William Orpen, William Leech, Tony O’Malley, Norah McGuinness and Louis le Brocquy. There are small collections of art by Percy French, Charles Lamb and Patrick Leonard, an early portrait of Paul Henry by Robert Ponsonby Staples, and paintings by Arthur Maderson, Cecil Maguire, Ciaran Clear, Mark O’Neill, Graham Knuttel and Markey Robinson.
Nassau St. from outside The Kildare St. Club by Rose Barton at Whyte’s. UPDATE: THIS MADE 13,000 AT HAMMER
Going to the Races by Jack B. Yeats. UPDATE: THIS MADE £226,800
A feast of Irish art will be celebrated at Sotheby’s this month. Jack B Yeats and Gerard Dillon will headline the Irish side of the Modern British and Irish art sale in London on November 23. An online sale of Irish art at Sotheby’s from next Wednesday will run until Tuesday, November 22 and a selection from these sales is on view at the RHA in Dublin this weekend. The introduction of relatively unknown artists to the world and important rediscoveries like The Fisherman’s Cottage by Gerard Dillon combine to offer Irish art an important shot in the arm. The global reach of Sotheby’s, the Irish diaspora, the fact that art lovers everywhere will find these sales relatively affordable compared to the stratospheric prices now achieved at the top, the presence in the catalogue of feted British artists like Barbara Hepworth, L.S. Lowry and William Nicholson and the support of an international marketing campaign make this November a very good month indeed for Irish art and artists.
There is much more than a sense of onwards and upwards at play. The two atmospheric early Yeats oils Going to the Races, 1917 and Sunday Morning, 1921 and the fantastic rediscovery of The Fisherman’s Cottage, a c1950 Dillon from a private collection, have a combined value of £430,000-£670,000 (€495,000-€772,000). Dillon’s first encounter with Connemara in 1939 was a revelatory moment and this painting, set on Inishlacken looking across to Roundstone, ranks among the finest examples of his portrayals of the west of Ireland.
The Settlers by Rowan Gillespie at Sotheby’s online sale. UPDATE: THIS MADE £47,880
It is impossible not to be enthusiastic about the 74 diverse lots in an online sale with a range of paintings, drawings and sculpture from the 19th century to the present day. The combined estimate is €816,500-€1,231,600. There is a Gerard Dillon – Village on the Hill, a lively Paul Henry – The Entrance to Killary Bay – John Lavery’s last painting – Gypsies in Ireland and Last Bastion of the Old Theatre Royal by Harry Kernoff. This second Theatre Royal closed its doors in 1934 and was demolished soon after. There are 18 works from the collection of the late Irish American Brian P Burns, who amassed one of the greatest collections of Irish art in private hands. Contemporary artists and sculptors represented include Rowan Gillespie, Linda Brunker, John Behan, Patrick O’Reilly, Maser, Joy Gerrard, Diana Copperwhite, Richard Hearn, Blaise Smith and Melissa O’Flaherty and there are early works by Erskine Nicol and James Arthur O’Connor. There will be artists talks at the RHA at noon today by John Behan, Melissa O’Flaherty and Maser and at noon tomorrow by Diana Copperwhite, Richard Hearn and Blaise Smith.
Glengariff from the Kenmare Road, Evening, 1862 by William McEvoy from the Brian P Burns Collection at Sotheby’s. UPDATE: THIS MADE £6,300
Green Predominating (Summer Suite) (1976) by William Scott is lot 36 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s online sale of Important Irish Art which runs to June 28. The signed limited edition lithograph (27/40) is estimated at 5,000-6,000. There is work by artists ranging from George Barret, Evie Hone, Daniel MacLise and Jack B. Yeats to Mainie Jellett, Louis le Brocquy, Donald Teskey, Hughie O’Donoghue, Tony O’Malley and Sean Scully and sculpture by John Behan, Rowan Gillespie, Orla de Bri, Patrick O’Reilly and more. The catalogue is online. UPDATE: THIS MADE 9,000 AT HAMMER
This patinated gold bronze of Galatea by Rowan Gillespie comes up at Bonham’s Modern British and Irish art sale in Knightsbridge, London on September 16. Cast in 1982 it is just over 29 inches high. It is signed, numbered and dated ROWAN 2/9/1982 on the base. It is actually from an edition of three and not nine as described on the base. The original mould was destroyed after the third casting. From a private collection in Norway it is estimated at £8,000-12,000.
Bacchus by Rowan Gillespie made an above estimate £45,000 at Bonhams Modern British and Irish art sale in London today. Conceived in 1984 and cast in 1985 the top estimate for the 51″ tall polished bronze piece was £25,000. It was a good day for Irish art at Bonhams. Still Life with Fish by William Scott sold for £81,000, Bog Pool by Paul Henry made £63,000, Achill Cottage, Lough Corrib and Turf Stacks with Mountains both by Paul Henry sold for £35,000 and £19,000.
Two Forms by William Scott made £16,000; Ardglass by Colin Middleton made £15,000 and The Smooth Red Rock by Daniel O’Neill made £10,000.
Paul Henry’s Cottages in a Landscape was the top lot at the James Adam sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin last night. It made a hammer price of 115,000. Other top hammer prices included Sean Keating’s Homeward Bound (76,000), Louis le Brocquy’s Aubusson wool tapestry Cuchulainn VIII 1999 (70,000), Gerald Leslie Brockhurst’s Portrait of Florence Forsyth (50,000), South of France Landscape by Mary Swanzy (32,000), A Lament for Art O’Leary, a set of six illustrations from 1940 by Jack Butler Yeats (19,000) and Girl in Stripy Jumper by Basil Blackshaw (18,000).
Paul Henry RHA (1877-1958) Cottages in a Landscape (1930-1940)
Top prices for Irish art at Bonhams in London yesterday included Looking at the Moon by Rowan Gillespie (£56,313); Londonderry by L.S. Lowry (£37,562); River scene, Londonderry by L.S. Lowry (£30,062) and November Evening, Bangor Pier by Colin Middleton (£22,562).
Upcoming at de Veres art and sculpture sale in Dublin on June 11 is Rowan Gillespie’s Portrait of a Dreamer 1982 (Homage to John Lennon) with an estimate of 40,000-60,000. Other works in this sale include a complex gold painting by Patrick Scott and a Horse with Rider by Michael Quane. Louis le Brocquy is represented by three tapestries including ‘Allegory’ from 1950. Among the artists in the sale are Patrick Scott, Mainie Jellet, Hughie O’Donoghue, Tony O’Malley, Robert Ballagh, Stephen McKenna and Sean McSweeney. Viewing of the sculpture in this auction is to take place in the garden of The Merrion Hotel. The catalogue is online.
Portrait of a Dreamer by Rowan Gillespie UPDATE: THIS MADE 67,500 AT HAMMER
