 |
 |
Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels: Part I at Sotheby’s Geneva is open for bidding until June 24. There is a selection of jewellery from the 19th century to the present day from renowned houses such as Sterlé, Suzanne Belperron, René Boivin and Hemmerle.
Here is a video from about Clyfford Still’s PH144 (1947-Y-No.1) which comes up at Sotheby’s Contemporary Art evening auction on June 29 in New York. The monumental work, with its forceful combination of deep black, bright yellow and crimson red, was selected by the artist for inclusion in his seminal 1959 exhibition. It leads a group from the collection of Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson in the sale and is estimated at $25-35 million. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $28.7 million
On May 18 in the year 2000 the Irish artist Louis le Brocquy made headlines when his Travelling Woman with Newspaper sold for a record £1,158,500 at Sotheby’s. The buyer was Michael Smurfit. He is now selling off some of his collection so the same painting will come up at Sotheby’s in London next September 9, this time with an estimate of £700,000-1,000,000. In pure investment terms this amounts to no appreciation for a fascinating work of art by one of the leading Irish artists of his generation.
Change is gathering pace in the global art market. The restrictions wrought by pandemic has forced the market to adapt in all sorts of inventive ways. ONE: A global sale of the 20th Century is a new auction event at Christie’s on July 10. Using streaming technology Christie’s will hold a relay style auction of Impressionist and Modern, Post War and Contemporary art and design across four time zones. The aim is to create an engaging platform for selling major works of art to a global audience. With $20-30 million works like Picasso’s Les femmes d’Alger Version F, Lichtenstein’s monumental Nude with joyous painting and Ed Ruscha’s Annie all available this amounts to a further blurring of the line between digital and live sales. There will be four consecutive sessions in Hong Kong, Paris, London and New York. It will replace New York’s 20th Century evening sale originally scheduled for June 22.
In this brave new topsy turvy world Oliver Barker, an auctioneer at Sotheby’s, will take to the rostrum in London on June 29 to conduct an auction in New York. This digital auction, live streamed in high definition around the world, will allow bidders participate by phone or online, in a sale of Contemporary Art immediately followed by the Impressionist and Modern Art evening sale. These big ticket sales at Sotheby’s were originally scheduled for New York in May. Works can be viewed online from June 8 or by appointment at Sotheby’s Manhattan galleries. Francis Bacon’s 1981 “Triptych inspired by the Oresteia of Aeschylus” is estimated to make at least $60 million. Bacon’s theme of divine punishment is taken from Aeschylus’s most famous trilogy The Oresteia in which Clytemnestra murders her husband Agamemnon in revenge for the sacrifice of their daugher Iphigenia. When Orestes finds out he kills his mother to avenge his fathers death, provoking the avenging Furies who drive Orestes insane as a punishment. At times like this the highest levels of the art market tend to be best insulated against price drops largely because sellers at these stratified levels can afford to hold back. There was a 5% drop in the global art market last year, representing a $3.3 billion drop in sales over the stellar year of 2018. Digital sales by major auction houses so far this year have been highly successful with many lots going over estimate. Expectations are high.
Works from across Picasso’s entire oeuvre including paintings, drawings, unique ceramics, editions, photographs, and even paint palettes will come under the hammer at an online sale at Sotheby’s from June 8-18. Over sixty lots are from the personal collection of the artist’s granddaughter, Marina Picasso. The sale will be exhibited at Sotheby’s in London with appropriate safety restrictions from June 15-18 and viewing is available by appointment on request prior to those dates.
A Charles I Irish provincial silver chalice dating from 1643 sold for £20,000 over a top estimate of £6,000 at Sotheby’s online sale of decorative and fine art in London yesterday. With an inscription reading ‘This Challice was made for Terlagh O Briene and Ellinorie Brieñe of Comoragh the 26th of 8bre [i.e. October] 1643″ it is from the collection of the late Garech Browne at Luggala in Co. Wicklow. Comoragh Castle was in Co. Waterford.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for May 11, 2020).
A fine Cork clock from the collection of the late Garech Browne at Luggala comes up at Sotheby’s Decorative and Fine art online sale which runs to May 20. The c1780 George III mahogany and Chinoiseries carved fretwork longcase clock by James Aickin is reasonably estimated at just £800-1,200. Several other lots of Irish interest in this sale include an Irish provincial silver chalice from 1643, also from Luggala.Part of Garech Browne’s cellar is scheduled to come up at Fonsie Mealy’s next online sale at the end of June.
A total of 140 works from the collection of London dealer Danny Katz will be offered at a dedicated online sale at Sotheby’s from May 20-27. They span a wide range of collecting disciplines including Antiquities, Old Master and 19th Century paintings and drawings, Modern British art and European sculpture. The Mayfair dealer said: “As I near my 72nd birthday I want to slow down my business and work differently, turning my focus to my interests in philanthropy, academia, music, dance and neurology. This is an opportunity for others to start collecting. An opportunity for people who are spending more time in their homes right now to explore and buy something reasonably priced and beautiful, and when they get them home, to enjoy them as much as I have.”
The Daniel Katz Galery will donate 100% of the sale of ten works to raise vital funds for two national charities, Refuge and Trussell Trust. The funds will be split equally between the two organisations who are providing essential support for those most in need during the pandemic.
This has been an unprecedented year for online sales at Sotheby’s. More than 50 dedicated online sales have totalled over $80 million.
A Charles I Irish provincial silver chalice dating from 1643 is among the lots at Sotheby’s Decorative and Fine Art online sale which runs until May 20. From the collection of the late Garech Browne at Luggala, Co. Wicklow it is estimated at £4,000-6,000. The inscription reads: ‘This Challice was made for Terlagh O Briene and Ellinorie Brieñe of Comoragh the 26th of 8bre [i.e. October] 1643′. Comoragh Castle was in Co. Waterford.
The year 1643 found Ireland in turmoil at the beginning of the Confederate Wars (1641-1652). Hostilities had begun in 1641 when a group of Catholic landowners unsuccessfully challenged the English administration in Ireland under Charles I. Their aim had been to gain concessions for Catholics but their defeat led to widespread unrest when English Protestant settlers suffered attacks by the native Irish population. It is believed that Terlagh and Eleanor O’Brien sought safety in Kilconnell, co. Galway, 110 miles north of the disturbances in the vicinity of their native Comeragh.
Prince’s 1984 custom made blue cloud guitar became part of his iconography after featuring in Purple Rain. It comes up at Julien’s Music Icons sale in Beverly Hills on June 19-20 with an estimate of $100,000-200,000. As well as Prince the sale will feature memorabilia relating to Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Johnny Cash, Jim Morrison, the Rollings Stones, Queen, David Bowie, The Police, Guns N’Roses, Bob Marley, Elton John, Phish, Whitney Houston and many more.
The original Bob Dylan lyrics for his Blond on Blond album are included in Sotheby’s English Literature, History, Childrens Books and Illustrations sale which runs online until May 12. They are estimated at £12,000-15,000.
