Major art sales before and after Budget

Two big art sales take place in Dublin next week: viewings begin today and tomorrow for Adam’s and de Veres

THE Washington Post’s report about last month’s sale of works of art from the Bank of Ireland collection included this startling observation: “The event highlighted the resiliency and quirkiness of Ireland, where for decades wealth was kept hidden under the mattress – and where savers once again are seeking a haven safer than the countrys crippled banks.” Adam’s sold all but one of the 145 lots.

Anyone still sleeping on an O’Dearest stuffed plump with banknotes might want to consider next week’s big art sales in Dublin which neatly frame a Budget likely to produce a collective scream à la Edvard Munch.

Adam’s is off first, on the eve of Budget day, with a sale at 6pm on Monday evening, December 6th, at the saleroom on St Stephen’s Green.

On Wednesday, December 8th, as people knead the worry-beads while digesting Mr Lenihan’s sorrowful mysteries, de Veres will hold an Irish Art auction at the D4 Berkeley Hotel in Ballsbridge.

Viewing at Adam’s begins this morning where managing director James O’Halloran says the works come from “a variety of private collections and most have not been seen publicly for many years”.

Jack B Yeats features at both ends of the price scale. Entry-level collectors will be delighted to find affordable small drawings and watercolours from a sketchbook he made for his friend and patron, Ernie O’Malley, in 1900. They feature Galway scenes including the races at Ballybrit.

A little watercolour sketch, Tree, Coole Park Demesne, has an estimate of just €200-€400. Meanwhile, the evening’s most expensive picture is Yeats’s large oil-on-canvas, Lingering Sun, OConnell Bridge (1927), a picture once owned by film director John Huston, which has an estimate of €150,000-€200,000.

The sale features a stellar cast and other big names include Daniel O’Neill (Figures on the Beach, Newcastle, 1928 (€60,000-€100,000); Roderic O’Conor (whose French Wooded Landscape, €25,000-€35,000, is especially appealing); Louis le Brocquy (including two early Aubusson tapestries €80,000-€120,000 each); Mary Swanzy (A Hilltop Town in the South of France, €40,000-€60,000); and a reassuringly familiar Paul Henry (Connemara Sunset , €25,000-€35,000).

Collectors of Sir John Lavery will be interested in his portrait of a fur-draped Lady Parmoor (the Rowntree heiress Marian Emily Ellis) guiding €20,000-€30,000.

Two fascinating paintings show strikingly different images of Italian women as seen through the eyes of male Irish artists.

Athlone-born Richard Rothwell’s delightful portrait of a Flower Girl, Piazza Navona, painted in 1844, is estimated at €30,000-€40,000.

Over a century later, artist Gerard Dillon left Roundstone in Connemara and travelled to Italy where he spent time in the little mountain town of Borgotaro in the northern Parma Province.

His output from the trip included Italian Washer Woman, which has an estimate of €40,000-€60,000. But the Latin lovelies face stiff competition from a home-grown colleen in Charles Lamb’s Connemara Girl (€15,000-€25,000).

If you’re keener on equine beauty then Samuel Spode’s 19th century image of Three horses with a man holding a bridle in a Tipperary Mountainscape (for a modest €2,000-€3,000) could be a banker. The sculptures include a bronze bust of Charles J Haughey by Nichola Kyle (€2,000-€4,000).

For further details, viewing arrangements and the catalogue see adams.ie

Meanwhile de Veres commences viewing tomorrow afternoon, Sunday December 4th, at the D4 Berkeley Hotel on Lansdowne Road for its final art auction of the year.

Managing director John de Vere White says “the majority of the works on offer are completely fresh to the market and are realistically priced” and believes the sale “provides an ideal opportunity for the many people who now believe that art is a safe haven for their savings”.

Highlights include two large oil paintings by Co Meath-born artist, Micheál Farrell (born, 1940; died, 2000). Entre ici et Arles, a colourful French landscape, is estimated at €7,000-€10,000, while The Great Fight depicts American heavyweight boxer Jack Dempsey being knocked out of the ring in the 1923 world title fight (€8,000-€12,000).

Mr de Vere White says “Farrell is a neglected figure in Irish art,” and hopes that at least one of these works will find its way into a public collection.

Tony O’Malley’s posh take on fish and chips, Two Trout on a Newspaper, is estimated at €4,000-€6,000.

Racing fans will like Peter Curling’s The Second Last, Down Royal (€7,000-€10,000). A late addition to the sale is a Paul Henry, The Bog Road (€25,000-€35,000) with a label on the reverse, written by the original owner, poignantly recording that it was purchased from the artist “at his house in Bray on Oct 19, 1957. He was then completely blind”.

The Belfast-born painter Daniel O’Neill features prominently with five paintings including Fishermen’s Wives estimated at €20,000-€30,000, which de Veres says shows the artist “at the height of his powers”.

Other artists to feature include Basil Blackshaw, Evie Hone, Colin Middleton, Hughie O’Donoghue and Markey Robinson. Keep an eye too on Liam O’Neill’s The Turf Gatherer (€4,000-€6,000). A bronze bust of his daughter Esther by sculptor Sir Jacob Epstein, is estimated at €7,000-€10,000.

A catalogue is available at the hotel viewing or at 35 Kildare Street. See deveresart.com.

BOTH Mealy’s and Sheppard’s big winter sales were cancelled this week due to weather conditions. Both have been rescheduled. Mealy’s had planned a two-day event but will now hold the entire sale of over 1,100 lots of Fine and Decorative Art on one day, Tuesday, December 7th starting at 10am at its new auction galleries in Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny.

Sheppard’s three-day Dublin and Provincial sale was rescheduled for next week but yesterday the auctioneers decided on a further postponement until Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, December 14th, 15th and 16th. The sale will start at 2pm each day in Durrow, Co Laois. The Carlow collection of Chinese porcelain is included on the afternoon of Thursday, December 16th.

Viewing for both sales continues. For details and catalogues see mealys.com and sheppards.ie.

Auctioneers throughout the country have warned of possible last-minute cancellations because of the unpredictable weather. Anyone planning to attend a viewing or an auction should check in advance before travelling.