An “exceptional” painting from Sean Scully’s celebrated series of multipanel work is to be auctioned in New York. Described in catalogue notes as “a lavish configuration of striped forms”, the painting, Red Light, is “a brooding yet resplendent vision that beautifully encapsulates Sean Scully’s career-long investigation of striped forms”. The work will feature in the Contemporary Day auction by Sothebys in New York on May 19th.
Executed in 1999, it was originally purchased in the Taylor Gallery in London, and is from a private European collection, the substantial work by the Irish-American artist is expected to achieve between $900,000 and $1.2m (€812,500-€1.096m). The artist’s multipanel striped works reside in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and the Museum of Modern Art in New York among other esteemed institutions.
Art and Soul
For anyone living in or planning a trip to Cork this month it may well be worth taking a detour to Art and Soul, described as “Ireland’s biggest art and sculpture event”, which will be staged at the Castlemartyr resort from May 27th until June 18th.
Showcasing €7 million worth of art, to include names such as Francis Bacon, Damien Hirst, Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali, the event, hosted by fine art dealer Gormleys, will have 80 large sculptures and installations set throughout the 220-acre grounds of the 17th century manor estate.
With over 200 works, it follows on from the largely successful exhibition the gallery held at the Culloden Hotel in 2021, where Irish sculptors such as Patrick Reilly, Eamonn Ceannt, John FitzGerald, Anthony Scott, Ian Pollock and Orla de Brí showcased their work. That particular event, along with a previous exhibition at Russborough House, attracted over 10,000 visitors in total, and this is the first time the event is being held south of the capital.
Works by international artists will hang in the hotel’s interior, including pieces by Roy Lichtenstein and Banksy, alongside Irish artists Maser, Peter Monaghan, Gordon Harris and Martin Mooney. Prices range from €1,000-€450,000, and the free event will have daily talks and guided tours.
For the birds at Adam’s
A single-owner Meissen aviary collection will be auctioned by Adam’s of St Stephen’s Green on May 24th. The live online sale is the culmination of one person’s love for the porcelain maker after collecting at auction houses all over Euro
pe for his entire adult life.
Meissen is the oldest and most famous porcelain manufacturer in Europe having begun in 1710, and its crossed swords trademark, created in 1720, is one of the oldest in the world. The original expense of Meissen porcelain meant it was the preserve of the wealthy, and families such as the Vanderbilts began their own collections, most of which ended up as part of museum collections. The sale has almost 100 lots mainly in the form of birds, which are the collector’s first love, but there are some non-bird pieces too. Top of the bill is an exceptionally large 19th century figure of a standing heron in bulrushes (€8,000-€10,000).
