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Viewing for the summer art auction at Whyte’s on June 14 gets underway at Molesworth St. in Dublin today. Visitors are requested to wear face masks. The timed online auction runs until 6 pm next Monday. This is a sale of over 300 lots with guide estimates from 60 to 5,000. Many famous Irish artists are represented and Whyte’s say that it is an ideal time for newcomers and established collectors to dip their toe into the art world. The catalogue is online.
THIS painting by Jack B Yeats with the intriguing title Muldoon and Rattlesnake, Drumcliffe Strand, Co. Sligo, 1928 comes up at Whyte’s sale of Irish and International Art in Dublin on May 31. Drumcliffe farmer Mike Muldoon was a famous amateur jockey and athlete in Sligo in the late 19th century. His successes at the strand races caught the imagination of many local people and the artist. He and his horse Rattlesnake were the subject of two other works by Yeats and his prowess as an athlete inspired an 1899 watercolour titled In the Foot Race there are many to Compete now in the collection of Ireland’s National Gallery. The races on the strand were a favourite theme of many early works by Yeats and Hilary Pyle speculates that Muldoon may have been the inspiration for one of the jockeys in Before the Start at the National Gallery. Memories of the strand races, the crowds and the excitement obviously resonated deeply with Yeats as this painting was made at least 30 years after he had seen Muldoon in action. It is estimated at €100,000-€150,000. UPDATE: THIS MADE 160,000 AT HAMMER
A letter from Kevin Barry to Kathleen Carney just hours before he was executed is the most expensively estimated lot at Whyte’s annual Eclectic Collector sale next weekend. There are historical artefacts, manuscripts, books, maps, militaria, coins, banknotes, tribal objects and rare whiskies on offer. The auction kicks off with a Bronze Age sword found in Co. Fermanagh 70 years ago and estimated at €4,500-€5,500. At around 3000 years old it is the oldest object on offer. A copy of the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 signed by many of the negotiators (€5,000-€7,000) is in sharp contrast in terms of age. The letter Kevin Barry wrote to his friend Kathleen Carney, who would have been about 20 at the time, is estimated at €60.000-€80,000. In the hours leading up to his hanging the 18 year old medical student mentions visits from two Sisters of Charity, the chaplain Fr. Albert, two Bon Secours Sisters and finishes … “say a little prayer for me when I cash in, your pal, Kevin”. Because Kevin Barry died at such a young age his signature is much prized by collectors. The sale includes four of his schoolbooks, including his French book signed K. Barry, Loyalist.A collection of memorabilia relating to Count John McCormack and his family, including his portable altar and Papal Count uniforms, will arouse much interest. This is a timed online sale with the first session starting at noon on May and the second getting underway at noon on May 16. The online catalogue lists 655 lots.
This etching with aquatint by Georges Braque dates to 1929 and is No. 3 from an edition of 50. It comes up at Whyte’s online sale of Irish and International Art this evening with an estimate of 2,000-3,000. The virtual auction of 153 lots features work by sculptors John Behan and Rowan Gillespie, paintings by Jack B. Yeats, Louis le Brocquy, Paul Henry, Patrick Scott, Camille Souter, William Crozier, James Humbert Craig, Gladys Maccabe, Dan O’Neill and international artists Tracey Emin, Bob Dylan and Damien Hirst.
Jack B. Yeats, Paul Henry, Louis le Brocquy, John Shinnors and Donald Teskey are among the artists represented at Whyte’s evening sale of Irish and International Art online from Dublin on March 22. Among the other artists in the auction are John Behan, Michael Canning, James Humbert Craig, William Crozier, Bob Dylan, Tracey Emin, Rowan Gillespie, Damien Hirst, Graham Knuttel, Arthur Maderson, Gladys Maccabe, Dan O’Neill, Liam O’Neill, Thomas Ryan, Cecil French Salkeld, Patrick Scott and Camille Souter. The catalogue is online and bidding is open.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for March 14, 2021)
Nassau St. and Trinity College, Dublin by Colin Gibson is lot number 23 at Whyte’s timed spring online art sale which gets underway in Dublin at 6 pm today (March 1). The oil on board is estimated at €700-€1,000. More than 260 lots with estimates from 60 to 5,000 are on offer. UPDATE: THIS PAINTING MADE 1,000 AT HAMMER
It is a mark of the healthy state of the Irish art market that just over 400 lots coming under the hammer at evening sales by Whytes, de Veres and Adams next week can be confidently expected to bring in millions. Collectors of Irish art across all price ranges have shown themselves to be not backward about coming forward in this year of pandemic. There will be plenty of stiff competition for the appetising selection at these three major Dublin sales where no less than 11 lots have estimates in excess of €100,000.
Artists like William Scott, Walter Osborne, Sean Scully, Jack B. Yeats, Paul Henry, Louis le Brocquy, William Orpen and Gerard Dillon contribute the most expensively estimated lots to the catalogues of these auctions. But never mind if your budget will not stretch that far, there is much to choose from in the lower reaches. At Whytes on December 7 there is no shortage of work in the €1,000-€10,000 range with a wide selection from artists including Donald Teskey, Kenneth Webb, Peter Collis, Arthur Maderson, Maurice MacGonigal, John Kingerlee and Derek Hill. A number of major Paul Henry’s, including The Blue Hills of Connemara (€200,000-€300,000), Killary Bay (€150,000-€200,000) and The Stony Fields of Kerry (€90,000-€150,000) feature. Other top estimated works are: A Tale of the Sea by Walter Osborne (€300,000-€400,000), Sergeant Murphy by Sir William Orpen (€250,000-€350,000), Sculling by Jack Butler Yeats €200,000-€300,000) and The Tinker Family by Gerard Dillon (€80,000-€120,000).
William Scott’s Still Life with Frying Pan at de Veres on December 8 is estimated at €200,000-€300,000. Untitled 3-7-86 by Sean Scully has an estimate of €80,000-€120,000 in a sale which de Veres rightly describe as being of outstanding quality which includes significant works by Paul Henry, Jack B. Yeats, Dan O’Neill, Patrick Scott, Hughie O’Donoghue, Evie Hone, Roderic O’Conor, Norah McGuinness and Louis le Brocquy.
A large colourful oil by Yeats, Sleep by Falling Water (€150,000-€200,000) is the most expensively estimated lot in the sale at Adams on December 9. There is a fine Aubusson tapestry by Louis le Brocquy entitled Mille Tetes B with an estimate of €50,000-€80,000 and a great selection which includes Walter Osborne, Tony O’Malley, Dan O’Neill, Colin Middleton and Norah McGuinness.All catalogues are online.
A timed online fundraising auction of work donated by Irish artists runs at Whyte’s until October 27. The Imogen Stuart Standing Stone fundraiser of 47 lots is for a piece of public sculpture at Otranto Park near Sandycove in Dublin. German by birth Imogen Stuart, now 92, is one of Ireland’s most respected artists and a Saoi of Aosdana (people of the Arts in Ireland). One of her most recent larger projects is a design for a granite sculpture, a ‘standing stone’ twelve feet in height and weighing between seven and eight tonnes. Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council has agreed to contribute to the erection of the sculpture and to maintain it once completed. But such a large piece of stone will be very expensive to quarry and carve, transport and install. A sum of probably more than 50,000 is needed and artists have donated work for the fundraiser for this project.
Hand (1971) is the title of this piece by Louis le Brocquy at Whyte’s autumn online art auction which continues until October 5. The lithograph on handmade paper, number 10 from an edition of 70, was exhibited at Gimpel and Weitzenhoffer, New York in 1971. It is estimated at 1,000-1,500. More than 260 lots are on offer in this timed sale, all at reasonable estimates. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 1,800 AT HAMMKER
Among the works Dublin sculptor John Behan is famous for are his depictions of famine ships in bronze. A rare depiction on canvas of a famine ship by the artist comes up at Whyte’s timed online auction running now. The acrylic on paper has rippling which has led to cracking of the paint. It is estimated at 300-500. According to the auctioneers the sale of over 260 lots with guides from as low €60 to a top estimate of €5,000 will encourage both first-time buyers and seasoned bidders. Many famous Irish artists are represented and the auction runs to October 5.
