Evoking Montmartre and Joyce at Sotheby’s Irish Art sale in Paris

One of the standout pieces at an upcoming pre-sale exhibition of Irish art is La Place du Tertre, Montmartre by Harry Kernoff.

Taking place at 29 Molesworth Street from April 3rd to 5th, the pre-sale exhibition of Sotheby’s Irish Art is being held in advance of its sale in Paris opening on May 4th.

Listed with an estimate of €40,000-€60,000, La Place du Tertre, Montmartre is a lovely evocation of a sunny July morning as Paris comes to life, and features the artist in his customary trilby hat.

At Sotheby’s inaugural sale in Paris in 2022, which was held to coincide with the centenary anniversary of the World Congress of the Irish Race, another of Kernoff’s Parisian scenes, Place du Combat, fared well. It was purchased by the National Gallery of Ireland, where it is currently on display, and now forms part of the State collection. The €94,500 paid (inclusive of fees) represents the highest price for a work by Kernoff since the financial crash of 2008, and is the sixth-highest price ever paid for a work by the artist, who was a great chronicler of daily life.

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The scene of Montmartre, under the shadow of Sacre Coeur, has long appealed to artists including great modern painters such as Picasso, Modigliani and Utrillo, who had a home in the area. Today, La Place du Tertre remains a hub for painters who set up and display their works.

Strong international bidding in Paris last May also saw a world record for a work on paper by Mainie Jellett. Pièta, which was expected to fetch between €15,000 and €25,000, saw the winning bidder pay €88,200, inclusive of fees.

This year’s offerings include works by William Leech, Roderic O’Conor, Louis le Brocquy, Sean Scully and Rowan Gillespie.

Gillespie’s Ripples of Ulysses, Study, 1999 (€10,000-€15,000) relates to the artist’s most recognisable sculptures: the life-size James Joyce, situated in the Merrion Hotel in Dublin, with a second in Regis University in Denver. Here Gillespie places Joyce in the centre of his masterpiece Ulysses – where the words ripple outwards from him and each letter is individually inscribed by the artist. It features 18 concentric circles for the 18 episodes of Ulysses. This example is number five from the edition of nine (plus one artist’s proof).

Medusa III by Hughie O’Donoghue (€15,000-€20,000), a large, imposing canvas, comes from a series based on O’Donoghue’s father Daniel’s experience of the second World War, through letters his father wrote to his mother. The image portrays an abandoned ship, and tonally is rust on rust through a palette of burnt umber, sienna and ochre. The artist “uses the vessel as a symbol for maritime disasters and the tragedy of ordinary people caught up in historical events”, according to the Crawford Art Gallery in Cork.

A work by Beirut-born, Irish-raised Richard Hearns also features after his inaugural sale in the Paris auction last year. Described in catalogue notes as “one of the most exciting abstract painters working in Ireland today”, Hearns paints the wild landscape of The Burren in Co Clare (€8,000-€12,000).

sothebys.com