Apex, a stegosaurus skeleton discovered in Colorado in 2022 sold for $44.6 million at Sotheby’s in New York last night to become the most valuable fossil ever sold at auction. It was bought by Ken Griffin, the Citadel hedge fund founder. Measuring eleven feet tall and 27 feet long the fossil exceeded its pre-sale estimate of $4 – $6 million by more than eleven times at the Natural History auction. There were seven bidders in the hunt. Apex was discovered by professional fossil hunter Jason Cooper. He named it Apex because it would have been the most formidable predator in its environment. It is virtually complete, with 254 fossil bone elements (of an approximate total of 319), with additional 3D printed and sculpted elements. Evidence of arthritis indicate that it lived to an advanced age.
A gouache and ink on paper by Alexander Calder from a Kildare collection sold for $57,600 at Sotheby’s Contemporary Discoveries sale in New York on July 16. It was from the estates of Dr. John and Mary Esther O’Driscoll of Kildare. Notable art collectors, they acquired it at the Crane Kalman Gallery in London in 1974. Long Painting No. 2 by Tony O’Malley from their collection sold at Sotheby’s Irish Art sale in Paris last year for €5,080.
T.E. Lawrence | Seven Pillars of Wisdom, 1926, Cranwell Edition, Col. Pierce Joyce’s copy. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £33,600
This copy of T.E. Lawrence’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom – an autobiographical account of his participation in the Arab Revolt – comes up at Sotheby’s in London on July 11 with an estimate of £26,000-£35,000. It is accompanied by a letter from Lawrence – subject of the film Lawrence of Arabia – to Galway born Colonel Pierce Joyce, expressing his relief that Joyce’s copy of Seven Pillars had reached him, expressing his own feelings about his book’s success, discussing Joyce’s recent retirement as military advisor to King Faisal of Iraq and move home to Ireland, mentioning his own Irish roots (“…We actually come from Killua, in Meath…”).
Col. Pierce Charles Joyce (1878-1965) had joined the Egyptian Army in 1907 and was a key figure in the British support of the Arab Revolt against the Ottomans from its outbreak in 1916. He was commanding officer of Operation Hedgehog, the British military mission to the new Arab army, meaning that for some time Lawrence was nominally under his command. In reality their work ran parallel, with Lawrence advising Emir Feisal – King of Iraq from 1921 to 1933 – on the Bedouin irregulars, and Joyce on the Arab Regulars. Joyce, like Lawrence, led operations against the Hejaz Railway; he also captured the Crusader Castle at Shobak, was responsible for logistical planning for the Allied advance northwards into Palestine, and commanded the armoured cars and artilllery that supported the Arab army in the second half of 1918.
The watercolour illustration for the first edition of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone has become the most valuable Harry Potter item ever sold. It made $1.9 million at Sotheby’s sale of the library of Dr. Rodney P. Swantko in New York after a four way bidding battle. It had been estimated at $400,000 and $600,000 – the highest pre-sale estimate for a Harry Potter-related work.
The artist Thomas Taylor used concentrated watercolours with black pencil outlines. He was only 23 in 1997 when he made the iconic image of Harry Potter standing in front of the Hogwarts Express and it took him two days.
Barry Flanagan – Lament. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £180,000
Barry Flanagan’s bronze sculpture Lament (2007) at Sotheby’s Modern British and Irish evening auction in London on June 6 is a late exemplar of perhaps the artist’s most celebrated series of works. Cast only two years before Flanagan’s death it combines figuration and abstraction, whimsy and sorrow. The hare becomes anthropomorphic, its arms raised in a theatrical gesture. The hare is captured in a moment of expressive exultation or anguish, as the contorted and twisted body appears to be fluctuating on the verge between the two. Number 1 from the edition of 8, plus four artist’s casts, it is estimated at £150,000-£250,000.
The Allnatt, a fancy vivid yellow diamond of 101.29 carats at Sotheby’s, Geneva. UPDATE: THIS WAS NOT SOLD
Kashmir sapphires, Burmese rubies, Colombian emeralds and lots and lots of diamonds – what’s not to like? Traditionally this is the month for sales which bring a global audience of very rich buyers to Geneva for eye watering jewels with all sorts of exotic provenance and stories histories.
The collections of modern and historic jewellery at sales like these are fascinating. Some lots make millions. But passion for fine jewellery is not the exclusive preserve of the super rich. There will be plenty of pickings for the rest of us at sales on May 14 at both James Adam in Dublin and Matthews in Kells and O’Reilly’s in Dublin on May 15 with no shortage of choices across all price levels.
An exceptional pigeon’s blood ruby and diamond ring at Christie’s. The 5.03 carat ruby originated in Burma (Myanmar). UPDATE: THIS MADE 1 MILLION CHF AT HAMMER (€1.02 MILLION)
On the international scene yellow diamonds are the flavour of the month this month. Christie’s will offer The Yellow Rose in Geneva on May 15, an unmounted rare fancy intense yellow pear modified and brilliant cut diamond of 202.18 carats. Like most intense yellow diamonds it is from South Africa where deposits are rich in nitrogen.
Sotheby’s claim to have one of the world’s most significant fancy vivid yellow diamonds as a highlight of their magnificent jewels sale in Geneva on May 14. The Allnatt – named for its first recorded owner Major Alfred Allnatt, renowned British racehorse owner, philanthropist and patron of the arts – weighs in at 101.29 carats and is celebrated for its richly saturated gold colour, older cutting style and elegant 1950’s mounting by Cartier. It too originates in South Africa and the estimate is 5.6 million – 6.5 million Swiss francs (€5.74 million – €6.67 million).
Both sales are distinguished by one of a kind pieces and historic and modern jewellery from houses like Harry Winston, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Tiffany, JAR and many others.
Turquoise, lapis lazuli and diamond bracelet at Adams. UPDATE: THIS MADE 19,000 AT HAMMER
Meantime in Ireland viewing is underway both in Dublin and in Kells for the jewellery sales on May 14 at Adams and Matthews and the regular monthly jewellery and silver sale at O’Reilly’s of Francis St. in Dublin takes place on Wednesday. Top lots at Adams include a c1960 Serpenti bracelet watch and a ruby and diamond ring both by Bulgari. Each is estimated at €40,000-€60,000. A rare turquoise, lapis lazuli and diamond bracelet by Fred, Paris c1960 is estimated at €20,000-€30,000.
A Trinity bangle by Cartier is estimated at €6,000-€8,000 while a Trinity ring by the same maker (€700-€900) is one of a selection of lots available at under €1,000 in a catalogue with 268 lots in total.
A vintage diamond and enamel ring by David Morris hallmarked London 1975 is the top lot at O’Reilly’s with an estimate of €58,000-€65,000. It comes with a gold rope link and black enamel surround. A total of 234 lots will come under the hammer.
A selection of lots from Matthews
In Kells the auction at Matthews will offer silver and gold from various executor instructions, pawnbrokers unredeemed pledges and lots from private clients. The top lot is a Toi et Moi diamond ring (€12,000-€18,000). There is much to choose from in a wide selection of rings, brooches, bracelets, earrings, pendants and wristwatches. Happy hunting….
The Italian Version of Popeye Has no Pork in His Diet by Jean-Michel Basquiat at Christie’s. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $32 MILLION
The Italian Version of Popeye Has no Pork in His Diet, a lawn being sprinkled, a haunting portrait of a lover and muse, scientific literature and Irish and Mexican myth getting the surreal treatment all feature at the big art sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s in New York this month.
The 20th/21st Century series at Christie’s and masterworks spanning more than a century of production at Sotheby’s underline the glorious diversity of Modern, Contemporary and Post-War Art and the boundary pushing art of now.
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s arresting 1982 work The Italian Version of Popeye has no Pork in His Diet will be a highlight at Christie’s 21st Century evening sale on May 14. Peppered with figures, numbers, shapes and crossed out words it mixes symbols, text and portraiture and is estimated to achieve around $30 million (€28.03 million). It is part of a series featuring tied together wooden supports on which a canvas has been mounted.
In a market that is weaker than latter years Basquiat continues to exert strong pulling power. A highlight at Sotheby’s Contemporary Auction in New York on May 13 is one of the most significant paintings created jointly by Basquiat and Andy Warhol during their famed period of collaboration from 1983 – 1985. “Andy would start one and put something very recognizable on it, or a product logo, and I would sort of deface it” Basquiat said once, while Warhol credited Basquiat with getting him into painting differently. Untitled (1984), a large scale example of this collaborative series, is estimated in the region of $18 million (€16.82 million).
Now aged 86 David Hockney continues to make great art today (he says he does not feel his age when in the studio). Hockney’s mesmerising A Lawn being Sprinkled at Christie’s dates to 1967 and is estimated at $25 million – $35 million (€23.36 million – €32.7 million). It is from the Los Angeles collection of legendary screenwriter, producer and activist Norman Lear and his wife Lyn Davis Lear.
Portrait of George Dyer Crouching by Francis Bacon at Sotheby’s. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $27,735,000
Francis Bacon’s Portrait of George Dyer Crouching at Sotheby’s Contemporary evening auction on May 13 dates to 1966 and is the first of a cycle of ten monumental portraits of Dyer created between 1966 and 1968. It offers a haunting glimpse of Dyer – who died from a drugs and drink overdose in Paris two days before the opening of the Francis Bacon Retrospective at the Grand Palais in 1971 – both as hero and a figure of vulnerability. The estimate is $30 million – $50 million (€28.03 million – €46.72 million).
Les Distractions de Dagobert by Leonora Carrington at Sotheby’s. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $28,485,000
Born in 1917 to an upper class Catholic family in rural north west England Leonora Carrington’s childhood was shaped on one hand by rigid social structures and on the other by magical myths from her Irish grandmother and nanny. She returned often to Irish legends, especially in works like Les Distractions de Dagobert which is rife with Celtic imagery. Following a rebellious youth, a brief sojourn with the Parisian Surrealist group and a harrowing flight from war torn Europe Carrington painted this tour de force at the age of 28. The centrepiece at her first retrospective exhibition at the Pierre Matisse gallery in New York in 1948 it is at Sotheby’s Modern evening auction on May 15 with an estimate of $12 million – $18 million.
Graham Sutherland – Surviving study for a portrait of Churchill commissioned by Parliament
One of the best surviving portraits of Winston Churchill by Graham Sutherland – an 80th birthday present commissioned by parliament – comes up at Sotheby’s in London on June 6. The Houses of Parliament commissioned the portrait thus setting up a new chapter in Churchill’s life story which ended with the painting being burned in an episode immortalised in popular culture by The Crown. On offer is an intimate painted study created in preparation for the final work. Winston Churchill was one of the most reproduced characters, described by curators of the National Portrait Gallery in London as “the most famous face of the 20th century”. The legacy that he left rests in no small part on the extraordinary care he took to cultivate his public image: from the ‘V for Victory’ to his cigars and bowler hats. Over the course of his life, he was painted by William Orpen, John Singer Sargent, Walter Sickert, William Nicholson and Oswald Birley, among others. Churchill was extraordinarily concerned by how he was represented, and often gave withering assessments to those who dared portray him. The portrait painted by Graham Sutherland in 1954 proved to be the most objectionable. Sutherland was at the very forefront of modern British art at the time, eclipsing Francis Bacon with whom he shared a gallery. It was Churchill’s intention to be painted in his Garter robes but Sutherland insisted that he was to be painted in the clothes which Parliament and the public knew him. Sutherland did ultimately produce a painting of him in his garter robes, now in the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton. Churchill was keen to inspect the portrait as the project went along, but Sutherland insisted that he mustn’t. It was Clementine who first viewed the work at Sutherland’s studio once it was complete, and she was so pleased with it that she cried tears of joy and took a photograph home with her. Sadly, this celebration was short lived. On seeing the work, Churchill wrote to his personal doctor Lord Moran describing the work as “filthy and malignant”, followed by a letter to Sutherland and his wife that it was not suitable as a presentation from the Houses of Parliament and so he did not want to be part of the ceremony. In the end, Churchill attended the ceremony but uncharitably derided the work as a “striking example of Modern art”, to a peal of laughter from the audience. The press were in the large part unforgiving, the Telegraph and the Daily Express calling for the work to be thrown away or even burnt. The Spectator went against the pack and described the work as “by far the best record of the Prime Minister which we shall bequeath to posterity”. However, this vision was not to be realised. Within two years, such was the rancour with which the painting was viewed at Chartwell, that Churchill’s loyal secretary Grace Hamblin employed her brother to take it away and burn it (a move that received Clementine’s approval, who despite her original enthusiasm had gradually turned against it too, feeling betrayed).
The most valuable Sir Arthur Conan Doyle manuscript ever at auction comes up at Sotheby’s in New York next June. The autograph manuscript of the Sherlock Holmes novel The Sign of the Four, signed twice and with edits to Americanize the text is estimated at $800,000-$1.2 million. It is offered with a collection of autograph letters between Doyle and J. M Stoddart, the American businessman and editor of Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine, who commissioned The Sign of Four. The letters chronicle the progress of the book, including discussion on the title as well as Doyle’s happiness with the printing, in particular the illustration.
Sotheby’s Book Week sale on June 26 will feature as its centerpiece the Library of Dr. Rodney P. Swantko, a significant collection of modern literature encompassing rare examples of the most famous volumes in English and American literature from the past two centuries. The sale offers a remarkable array of over forty rare books and manuscripts encompassing iconic works by, Charles Dickens, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), Vladimir Nabokov, Edgar Allan Poe, John Steinbeck, and Walt Whitman. The Swantko collection also features two extraordinary literary artworks including Sidney Paget’s original drawing for the illustration “The Death of Sherlock Holmes” for the Conan Doyle short story “The Final Problem.”
This pair of fossilised Irish elk antlers will come up at Sotheby’s in London on April 11 with an estimate of £20,000-£30,000. One has four points, the other eight and there are restorations. Although the elk inhabited a vast expanse of central Europe and Asia, the largest concentration of its remains have been found mainly in the marl underlying bogland of Ireland, giving rise to the popular nomenclature of this species. The high calcium carbonate content of the marl is conducive to the preservation of bones, and examples of these ancient antler specimens have been discovered in Counties Waterford, Clare and Cork, many of them in caves. Many have featured in Irish banqueting halls following a centuries-old tradition, particularly during the 19th century, when it was fashionable for such antiquarian relics to be displayed in baronial halls. An instance of this is recorded in an 1850s interior drawing of the new manor at Adare, Co. Limerick. The antlers are part of a sale of Classic Design and are listed in the catalogue as property from Ollerton Grange, a lavish Cheshire mansion. The sale includes a set of 12 Irish George III silver dinner plates from the Drogheda Service by Robert Calderwood (£8,000-£12,000) and a pair of Irish silver soup tureens by Calderwood (£10,000-£15,000). UPDATE: THE ANTLERS WERE UNSOLD
