"Since the beginning of 2015 the Irish art market has experienced a resurgence and there is a palpable confidence in the saleroom with collectors willing to bid competitively again on the lots they desire," according to auctioneer Ian Whyte.
Well, the proof of the, Christmas, pudding will be revealed this week when all three of the big Dublin art auctioneers hold their winter auctions on consecutive evenings.
Whyte’s
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First up is Whyte’s, at the RDS where viewing is underway ahead of the auction on Monday (November 30th ) at 6pm.
The highest estimate in the sale (€80,000-€100,000) has been assigned to Lot 70, an abstract painting, described as "ethereal", titled Being by Louis le Brocquy whose prices have plummeted since the economic crash.
The Irish public has never really taken to "modern" art and there's likely to be much more interest in Lot 22, a traditional, comforting image of Connemara by Paul Henry (€40,000-€60,000) which, Whyte's notes, "with its dominating sky and lush foreground of turf stacks and bog pools will not disappoint buyers".
The cover of the catalogue features Lot 38, Gerard Dillon's Portrait of Dan O'Neill (€20,000-€30,000) by the artist of his fellow Northern Ireland painter.
Lot 57 is a 1991 painting by Tony O'Malley, titled Harvest Light (€20,000- €30,0000, which "dazzles with Bahamian light from the artist's most popular series, inspired by his time spent in the Caribbean".
Lot 18 is an intriguing painting, Airman Of Inisheer, by Margaret Clarke (artist and wife of stained-glass maestro Harry Clarke) which depicts an airman encountering traditionally dressed colleens on the Aran island.
Whyte’s said although they landed at Clifden, and not the island, the painting may have been inspired by Alcock and Brown, the pioneering British aviators who made the first trans-Atlantic flight in 1919.
Among a big selection of more affordable art are paintings by Liam O’Neill, Mark O’Neill, Arthur Maderson, Percy French, Maurice MacGonigal, Frank McKelvey and others.
De Veres
On Tuesday evening (December 1st) de Veres auction, with 131 lots, takes place at The Royal Hibernian Academy, Ely Place at 6pm.
The highest estimate – €200,000-€300,000 – is for Lot 38, Man In A Train, Thinking, by Jack B Yeats. Other highlights include Lot 15, Les Enfants et les Ombres by William John Leech (€40,000-€60,000), that depicts children playing in a wood in sun-drenched French countryside near Concarneau, Brittany.
Another image of Brittany by an Irish artist is Lot 13, A Sunny Morning in the Fields, Pont-Aven by Walter Frederick Osborne, which is estimated at €20,000-€30,000 – four years after it sold at Adam's for €22,000.
Sculpture includes a bronze Bear Carrying a Painting (€3,000-€5,000) by Patrick O'Reilly (Lot 63).
Adam’s
Wrapping up the series, Adam’s will hold its auction on Wednesday evening (December 2nd) at 6pm. Viewing is
in the saleroom (26 St Stephen’s Green) at 2pm tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon.
The highest estimate in the sale, of €30,000-€50,000, is for Lot 71, Still Life Study with Fruit and Pottery on a Mahogany Table by Roderic O'Conor.
There are two small works by Jack B Yeats: Lot 64, The Creole (€30,000-€40,000) depicts a ship of that name and, according to the catalogue "there were two famous ships called The Creole that Yeats would have known about. One was the ship on which the famous slave mutiny took place off the Bahamas in 1841, known as the Creole Mutiny. The other was a ship that was chartered to take people from Roscommon to New York via Liverpool in October 1847, at the height of the Great Famine." The second Yeats, Top of the Fall (€25,000-€35,000), "was inspired by his memories of Sligo and Glencar Waterfall".
There's likely to be plenty of interest from England in Lot 78, a pastel Portrait of Pamela Mitford by French artist Paul César Helleu (€20,000-€30,000).
David Britton of Adam's said that, despite the strength of sterling, clients from Northern Ireland were still consigning to Adam's "where they feel the currency differential is more than compensated by the higher prices achieved in Dublin compared to Belfast or London".
Among such lots in the sale are paintings by William Conor, Frank Mc Kelvey, James Humbert Craig, Cecil Maguire and Maurice C Wilks.
Galway artist Grace Cunningham specialises in oil paintings of dogs and proceeds from the sale of Lot 178, More Treats Please – estimated at €2,000-€4,000 – will go to the animal-rescue charity Paws and from Lot 179, Best Friends (€2,000-€3,000), to Focus Ireland and the Peter McVerry Trust.
Among other highlights are two paintings by John Doherty including Lot 210, Metal Fatigue (€3,000-€5,000) and three by Patrick Hennessy including Lot 50, A Horse Alone (€7,000-€9,000).
After the recent record price for one of his sculptures achieved at Sotheby's Irish Sale in London, Adam's is expecting strong interest in Lot 153, Pillar by Rowan Gillespie (€15,000-€20,000) which is constructed of bronze and boulders and stands at over 5ft tall.
