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  • Posts Tagged ‘sotheby’s’

    SHOW GOES ON IN DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES

    Saturday, March 28th, 2020

    The show must go on but not in all circumstances.  At home and abroad many sales are being postponed and rescheduled.  Among the postponements last week was Sotheby’s much vaunted London sale of the Patrick Kelly Collection from 44 Fitzwilliam Square in Dublin. This was a loss and the sense of disappointment was palpable but the auction will no doubt eventually go ahead.The sale of Important Irish Art at James Adam was postponed last week and among the auctions not going ahead in the coming week are sales at Lynes and Lynes in Carrigtwohill, Mullen’s Collectors Cabinet sale at Laurel Park in Bray and a planned sale of pub memorabilia at Victor Mee’s in Co. Cavan. These auctions are set up and ready to go at a moments notice whenever the all clear is given.  Even where an auction is scheduled to go ahead right now it is advisable to check at the last minute before travelling. All sales at Bonhams are postponed until April 21, there is a revised schedule at Christie’s, Sotheby’s has reduced the schedule, all auctions at James Adam in Dublin are temporarily postponed and Fonsie Mealy is open by appointment only.  Whyte’s offices are closed but business continues behind closed doors and this is the case with many leading auctioneering firms right now.

    STRONG RESULTS AS MADE IN BRITAIN SALE GOES AHEAD

    Thursday, March 19th, 2020

    The Made in Britain auction at Sotheby’s in London went ahead as planned on March 18 and saw strong results. There was an increased number of bids online, rising to more than 50% of the lots sold, with a final result of £2,113,500, significantly above the pre-sale estimate. Sotheby’s say the result demonstrates a buoyant and positive market, as well as the continued appetite for exceptional property delivered to clients with ease, wherever they may be in the world.

    BRIDGET RILEY, OCTOBER 5, REVISION OF AUGUST 11., 1998. SOLD FOR £125,000.

    PATRICK KELLY SALE AT SOTHEBY’S POSTPONED

    Tuesday, March 17th, 2020

    The Patrick Kelly sale scheduled to take place at Sotheby’s in London tomorrow has been postponed at the eleventh hour. The sale 44 Fitzwilliam Square, works from the estate of the late Patrick Kelly, had been widely flagged nationally and internationally over the past six months.

    The late property developer Patrick Kelly furnished his Dublin home with an array of Irish painting from the 18th to the 20th centuries, Georgian and Regency furniture, silver and decorative arts. An exceptional William Scott entitled Deep Blues and five works by Yeats was to highlight an auction which featured  highly desirable pieces such as a pair of Irish mirrors and marquetry tables in the style of the great Dublin maker William Moore.

    In a statement released today Sotheby’s said: “Following conversations with the family, the sale of works from the Estate of the Late Patrick Kelly, due to take place at Sotheby’s in London on 18th March, will be postponed owing to the exceptional circumstances.  Since its announcement in October, the sale has been enthusiastically received by the public and collectors alike, and we look forward to holding the sale at a future date when the collection can be rightfully honoured.

    A new sale date will be communicated in due course.”

    HOMAGE TO MEDIEVAL IRISH CRAFTMANSHIP AT SOTHEBY’S

    Tuesday, March 17th, 2020

    One of the greatest treasures of the early Irish Church the Ardagh Chalice was discovered in the 19th century near Ardagh, Co. Limerick. The form recalls late Roman tableware, the method of construction is Irish with bowl and foot made of spun silver. The outer is decorated with applied gold, silver, glass, amber and enamel ornament. The underside of the foot is highly decorated and contains a polished rock crystal at the centre. It represents a high point in early medieval craftsmanship.

    A Victorian silver gilt replica of this high point in early medieval craftsmanshi comes up at Sotheby’s sale in London on March 18 of 44 Fitzwilliam Square, works from the estate of the late Patrick Kelly. The silver gilt replica two handled rose bowl by Frederick Elkington, London 1879 is inscribed: “Presented to Sir Thomas George Fermor-Hesketh Bart of Rufford. On His Marriage 23. December 1880. By The Tenants on His Lancashire Estates”. It is estimated at £3,000-5,000.

    The Ardagh Chalice replica at Sotheby’s

    GREAT IRISH WORKS AT LONDON AUCTION

    Sunday, March 15th, 2020

    THE global attention Ireland enjoys on St. Patrick’s Day in normal circumstances is set to continue at  Sotheby’s in London on March 18 despite coronavirus. In a statement Sotheby’s ceo Charles Stewart said: “To the best of our ability, we are going to continue doing what we do best, which is to connect people with the world’s greatest treasures”. He added that Sotheby’s is technologically equipped to operate business in a variety of scenarios.

    The London auction of contents from 44 Fitzwilliam Square in Dublin will go ahead.  The late property developer Patrick Kelly furnished his Dublin home with an array of Irish painting from the 18th to the 20th centuries, Georgian and Regency furniture, silver and decorative arts. An exceptional William Scott entitled Deep Blues and five works by Yeats will highlight an auction which features  highly desirable pieces such as a pair of Irish mirrors and marquetry tables in the style of the great Dublin maker William Moore. The catalogue with 126 lots is online.

    One of a pair of c1740 Irish George II pier glasses 

    LARGE FORMAT BACON TO HIGHLIGHT NEW YORK SALE

    Friday, March 6th, 2020
    Francis Bacon – Triptych Inspired by the Oresteia of Aeschylus

    Francis Bacon’s large-format Triptych Inspired by the Oresteia of Aeschylus will highlight the Contemporary Art evening auction at Sotheby’s in New York on May 13. It will be offered with an estimate in excess of $60 million.

    Inspired by Aeschylus’s trilogy of Greek tragedies dating to the 5th century B.C. this dates to 1981. The artist revisits the same classical text that inspired Three Studies for Figures at the Base of the Crucifixion at the Tate Collection, London. It is one of the 28 large-format triptychs Bacon created between 1962 and 1991 and reveals in a single work the entire range of an iconography developed over three decades of painting. Sotheby’s describe it as one of his most ambitious, enigmatic, and important works.

    Acquired in 1984 by the Norwegian Collector Hans Rasmus Astrup the triptych has been in the care of Astrup Fearnley Museet in Oslo since 1993. Hans Rasmus Astrup explained that the museum; “is meant to be a lasting resource for the public, as it builds on the existing collection and grows beyond it. With this single sale we can ensure that the museum and collection are here in perpetuity.”

    Bacon’s theme of divine punishment is found in Aeschylus’ most famous trilogy, The Oresteia, in which Clytemnestra murders her husband Agamemnon in revenge for the sacrifice of their daughter, Iphigenia. When the son Orestes finds out, he kills his mother to avenge his father’s death, provoking the avenging Furies, also called the Eumenides, who determine to drive Orestes insane as punishment.

    WARHOL’S BEETHOVEN SCREENPRINTS AT SOTHEBY’S

    Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020

    A rare complete set of Beethoven screenprints by Andy Warhol comes up at Sotheby’s sale of prints and multiples in London on March 19. This year marks the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth. Warhol spared no effort in transforming the idealised and iconic portrait of the composer by Karl Stieler, into the rock star persona portrayed within this set of four screenprints. Created shortly before Warhol’s death in 1987 they are estimated at £200,000-300,000.

    LANDSCAPE BY JOHN BUTTS AT SOTHEBY’S

    Saturday, February 29th, 2020

    A Mountainous Wooded Landscape with figures gathering wood by Cork artist John Butts comes up at Sotheby’s sale of 44 Fitzwilliam Square, works from the estate of the late Patrick Kelly in London on March 18. It is estimated at £20,000-30,000. The talented artist, who died aged only 37 in 1764, worked as a teacher in Cork where his pupils included James Barry and Nathanial Grogan. He moved to Dublin around 1757 and worked predominantly as a scene painter. A comparable painting by the artist, Poachers: View in the Dargle, is at Tate Britain.  In a letter written after his death James Barry described him as … “an unfortunate man, who with all his merit never met with any thing but cares and misery, which I may say hunted him into the very grave. His cast of genius was very much that of Claude’s, whom he resembles without any imitation more than anybody that I know of”.  His View of Cork is one of the most popular works in the collection of the Crawford Gallery. 

    JOHN BUTTS – A Mountainous Wooded Landscape with figures gathering wood

    SEAN SCULLY AT SOTHEBY’S CONTEMPORARY SALE

    Tuesday, February 11th, 2020

    The Contemporary Art day sale at Sotheby’s in London on February 12 will feature two works by Sean Scully, Pink Three (£200,000-300,000) and 8.20.89 (£50,000-70,000). UPDATE: PINK THREE WAS UNSOLD, 8.20.89 MADE £62,500.

    Sean Scully B. 1945 PINK THREE

    BIG CONTEMPORARY ART SALES IN LONDON NEXT WEEK

    Saturday, February 8th, 2020

    Hockney, Klein, Bacon, Warhol  and Basquiat are among the artists whose work will loom large at major contemporary art evening sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s in London next week.At this moment of uncertainty and unease about the future there is no shortage of rich pickings for wealthy and institutional collectors. Sotheby’s has Hockney’s The Splash and one of Yves Klein’s first performance paintings, Christie’s has Andy Warhol’s Athletes.The Splash, featured on these pages two weeks ago, is the standout work at Sotheby’s evening sale of 47 works next Tuesday evening.  Estimated at £20-30 million it is the second in a series of three splash paintings that secured Hockey’s international reputation. Like Hockney’s splash Turning Figure by Francis Bacon, estimated at £6-8 million, contrasts an explosion of movement with a background that is utterly still.There is a similar estimate on Yves Klein’s Untitled Anthropometry, a work created during one of Klein’s first art performances at his Paris studio in 1960.  During the show Klein instructed nude female models coated in his patented blue IKB pigment to press their bodies against large sheets of paper.  Transforming the human figure into a living brush this work is considered rare for its grand scale and the inclusion of two full figures.  There are notable works on offer from artists like Jean Michel Basquiat, Cecily Brown, Damien Hirst, KAWS, Roy Lichtenstein, Kerry James Marshall, Grayson Perry, Gerhard Richter, Bridget Riley and others.At Christie’s on Wednesday evening a Warhol of Mohammed Ali is estimated at £3-5 million. From the collection of Richard L. Weisman Warhol’s Athletes is comprised of ten multicoloured portraits of stars like Pele, Chris Evert, O.J. Simpson and Jack Nicklaus. Ali dates to 1977.  The series is presented at Christie’s alongside Flowers from 1964 (£1-1.5 million), Warhol’s Knives (£2.5-3.5 million) and Brillo Soap Pads Box (£300,000-500,000).Jean Dubuffet’s Panorama, 1978 (£2-3 million) is an example of his theatres of memory, a reflective series created in the last decade of the artist’s life.  It is one of three works by Dubuffet in the sale. Albert Oehlen’s Mission Rohrfrei (£1.8-2.5 million) from 1996 is among the most abstract and explosive of his Remixes derived from Oehlen’s obsession with an obscure painting by John Grahama largely forgotten figure who played an important role in Surrealist and Abstract Expressionist circles in mid-century America.

    Untitled Anthropometry by Yves Klein at Sotheby’s . UPDATE: THIS MADE £6.1 MILLION
    Panorama by Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985) at Christie’s . UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £2.1 MILLION