Irish and international art sales in the frame
Sean Scully's 'Raval 7' (1996) at Morgan O'Driscoll.
The celebrated artists Vincent Van Gogh, Alexander Calder, Tamara de Lempicka, Leonora Carrington and Francis Bacon are among the names whose work will come under the hammer at Christie's and Sotheby's in London over the coming week.
At all levels of the market the offerings locally, nationally and internationally are appetising as the art selling season gets seriously underway.
Featured in no less than 17 international exhibitions Francis Bacon's from 1963 is among the highlights at Christie's 20th/21st century evening sale on Wednesday, March 5. It is at auction for the first time.
An arresting portrait of the bacteriologist Dr Boucard by Tamara de Lempicka is another highlight of an auction with work by Modigliani, Monet, Twombly and Polke and other luminaries.
A small and intricate stabile by Alexander Calder, blending movement, balance and colour, is among the standouts at Sotheby's contemporary day auction on the same day.
Yoshitomo Nara's is a highlight at Sotheby's Modern and Contemporary evening auction on Tuesday.
Nara will be the subject of a retrospective at the Hayward Gallery in London starting in June.
The evening sale features art by Gerhard Richter, Constantin Brancusi, a pen and ink drawing of a public garden in Arles by Van Gogh, a charcoal on paper portrait by Matisse and art by Lucio Fontana, Picasso, Rodin and Roy Lichtenstein.
Magritte, Leonora Carrington, Paul Delvaux, Max Ernst and Giorgio de Chirico are among the artists in the Art of the Surreal sale at Christie's on Wednesday evening. Sacrament at Minos by Carrington testifies to her engagement with a myriad of cultures and their ideologies.
A total of 129 lots of Irish art, headed by a trio of works from Paul Henry, will lead Whyte's sale of Important Irish Art at Freemason's Hall, Molesworth Street, Dublin, this Monday evening. The top lot is (€250,000-€350,000), described by Whyte's as an exceptional example of Henry's later work. It dates to 1933-1936.
West of Ireland Landscape (€150,000-€200,000) is thought to be of Moyteogue and Achill head from the Keel to Dooagh road. The work Cottages Connemara (€80,000-€120,000) is a fine illustration of the harsh reality of life in the locality during the era when Henry was painting.
In the 1920's the celebrated Irish artist Mary Swanzy was fortunate to be not overburdened with financial constraints. She travelled widely to central and eastern Europe, Canada, Hawaii and Samoa, returning to Paris to exhibit.
La Route at Whyte's is similar to other French 1920's scenes by Swanzy. With flattened perspective re-enforced by the road it shows the influence of Cezanne. The work was included in her celebrated 2018-19 retrospective in Ireland and is estimated at €20,000-€30,000.
Colin Middleton's leads Morgan O'Driscoll's online sale which ends at 6.30pm on Tuesday. It is estimated at €10,000-€15,000.
There is art by Liam O'Neill, Felim Egan, Stephen McKenna, Arthur Maderson, Sean Scully, Mark O'Neill, Graham Knuttel, Kenneth Webb, Dan O'Neill and a wide variety of other popular artists.
The auction kicks off with an untitled (1973) gouache on paper by Tony O'Malley. Vividly coloured, it is estimated at €1,000-€1,500. This is followed by a gouache of a Lily Pond by Mainie Jellett (€1,200-€1,800). Together these sales offer collectors an across the board range of choice.
