As two of Dublin’s biggest auction rooms get ready to sell about 300 works by Irish artists and sculptors in the next 10 days, dealers are keen to point out that the demand for Irish art is strong.
“The Irish art market across all the various styles and eras is strong and consistent at the moment,” says James O’Halloran of Adams, whose Important Irish Art auction will be held at its St Stephen’s Green showrooms on Wednesday, September 25th.
“The market is very strong,” says Ian Whyte. “There is great demand for works of quality, and prices are back at the same level as they were between 2000 and 2007 for most artists.” Whyte’s Important Irish art auction will be held in the Freemason’s Hall on Molesworth Street, Dublin, on Monday, September 30th.
As usual, works by many of Ireland’s most famous and most sought after artists – Jack Butler Yeats, Paul Henry, William Orpen, and Louis le Brocquy – are attracting the most attention in both auctions.
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Also as usual, estimates for many of the pieces by female artists are significantly lower than those of male artists – so new collectors could perhaps start building their collections of female Irish artists more easily.
Take for example Irish artist Paul Henry’s Keel Bay, Achill, which has a guide of €60,000-€80,000. This compares with Cottages, Achill by his wife, Scottish artist Grace Henry, which has a guide of €8,000-€12,000. The couple lived on Achill island from 1912 to 1919 and then returned to Dublin to become founding members of the Society of Dublin Painters.
One artist of note in Whyte’s auction is Mildred Anne Butler. Her painting Sheep in a Meadow has an estimate of €1,500-€2,000; Poppies has a guide of €6,000-€8,000, while Water Party has a guide of €15,000-€20,000.
The National Gallery will highlight Mildred Anne Butler (1858-1941) in the exhibition At Home in Nature, September 14th-January 5th. Butler lived in Kilmurry House, an 18th-century manor house outside Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, for most of her life. With a studio in the orangery of her family home, she drew inspiration from the gardens. In a catalogue essay, Adelle Hughes writes how, after spending time in Cornwall, Butler’s painting, Morning Bath, was shown in the Royal Academy in London in 1896, later acquired by the trustees of the Chantry Bequest and presented to the Tate Gallery, where it remains today.
Work by Belfast-born artist, Frank McKelvey (1895-1974), features in Whyte’s auction and also in Adam’s auction. McKelvey, who studied in the Belfast School of Art, was deemed to be one of the leading landscape painters in Northern Ireland in the first half of the 20th century. His piece, A Donegal Farmyard (estimate €20,000), in Adam’s auction is an example of how landscape painters of the time were drawn to scenes from rural country life in a move away from paintings of more formal country house landscapes.
The works of Gerard Dillon (1916-1971), another Northern Irish painter, also features in the Adam’s sale. His piece Man and Dog (€8,000-€12,000) was one of a series he made in memory of his musician brother, Joe, following his premature death in 1962. His portrait of the pianist Thomas Davidson (The Music Teacher, with a guide of €20,000) is thought to have been painted when both men lived in the London home of Dillon’s sister.
Another striking work in the Adam’s sale is a large 2008 oil painting, No 37 Stuttgart 7 Hours, 20 Minutes, 24.7.44 by Hughie O’Donoghue (estimate €30,000-€50,000). O’Donoghue, who divides his time between Mayo and London and whose parents emigrated to England from Ireland before his birth, created several series of works drawn from his father’s experience in the British army during the second World War.
In a catalogue essay, Aidan Dunne describes the work as having “an epic, ominous sweep”, as the unwieldy Lancaster aircraft sets the absolute darkness of night ablaze, like some mythical vessel at the edge of eternity. The painting, one of a series of paintings referring to the experiences of crews of the pathfinder bomber aircraft operating from England during the second World War, also captures the destructive nature of war.
The works of many contemporary Irish sculptors, including Edward Delaney, Melanie Le Brocquy, Oisín Kelly, John Behan and others, also features in both auctions.
Meanwhile, works by Banksy, Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, Andy Warhol and others will be shown alongside works by Irish artists in the recently developed Charlemont Square in Dublin, from September 26th to October 17th. The exhibition, hosted by Gormleys, will be open from 11am-6pm, Tuesday to Saturday, and noon to 5pm on Sundays.
adams.ie, whytes.ie, gormleys.ie
What did it sell for?
Fiona McDonald print, Electrolyte Field
Estimate €200-€400
Hammer price €300
Auction house Adams
Patricia Douthwaite pastel, Under the Deep Blue Sea
Estimate €600-€800
Hammer price €900
Auction house Adams
Silverio Rivas, Abstract Form bronze
Estimate €800-€1,200
Hammer price €1,500
Auction house Adams
Cecil King, Untitled, oil on paper
Estimate €300-€400
Hammer price €300
Auction house Adams
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