Viewing gets underway in Newry tomorrow (June 5) for Victor Mee’s three day online sale of interiors and decorative arts on June 9, 10 and 11. The auction of contents from the Convent of Mercy at Catherine St. in Newry, other Mercy convents and some other clients features more than 1700 lots. Among them are six harps made by the Belfast craftsman James McFall in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The McFall harp is closely associated with the Irish cultural revival. The Armagh harp pictured here is lot 386 and estimated at€2,000-€4,000. It is decorated with carved and painted Irish Celtic motifs and complete with a McFall brass plaque which dates it to 1903. The sale also offers a good selection of quality Killarney furniture.
This oil on canvas of the Wexford waterfront by Kenneth Webb, framed by the David Hendricks Gallery in Dublin, is lot 20 at Sheppards sale of Irish and International Art on June 10. The estimate is €3,500-€5,500. The sale includes art by John Constable, Louis Le Brocquy, Jacques Francois Carabain, James Humbert Craig, Evie Hone, David Hockney, Sean Scully, Cecil Maguire, Kenneth Webb, Pauline Bewick, William Percy French, Mildred Anne Butler, Felim Egan, Charles Lamb, John Behan, Anthony Scott, Elizabeth Le Jeune, Rory Breslin, and many more. There are 436 lots in total and viewing is now underway in Durrow. The catalogue is online.
Georgian Irish silver buttons. UPDATE: THESE MADE €1,420 at hammer
A set of seven c1760 Georgian Irish silver buttons, inscribed ‘Armagh Hunt’ and with an engraving of a hare is one of the more unusual lots at the online sale by O’Donovan’s of Newcastlewest on June 3. The estimate is €300-350. The evening auction offers 439 lots of period furniture, hallmarked silver, shop and pub clearances, enamel signs and collectibles. The catalogue is online.
Sir William Orpen N.E.A.C., R.A., H.R.H.A. (Irish, 1878-1931) – The Swinton Family
This 1901 portrait by Sir William Orpen of the Swinton family is among the highlights at Bonhams Modern British and Irish art sale in London on June 24. Painted at their home in Pont St., London shortly after Orpen had begun to exhibit at the New English Art Club it shows Captain George Sitwell Campbell-Swinton (1859-1937), of Kimmerghame House, near Duns in the Scottish Borders, his wife Elsie (1874-1966) standing and her children, Mary (1899-1984) and Alan (1896-1972), with the family terrier. Alan, grandfather of the Scottish film actress, Tilda Swinton, has his head framed by an ancient armorial chest. He would eventually inherit the title of sixth Laird of Kimmerghame. Orpen with his easel is reflected in the mirror. The estimate is £120,000-180,000 (€140,000-210,000).
One of Ireland’s most popular and visually striking arts events returns to Cork in June. Open to everyone and with free admission the international art and sculpture exhibition Art + Soul is at Castlemartyr Resort from June 1 – 28. More than 350 artworks will be on display including more than 100 life size sculptures.
Highlights this year include a rare presentation of sculptural works by Salvador Dali complemented by a selection of smaller works by the Spanish surrealist known for striking and bizarre images like the Unicorn, laden with sensual meaning. In his autobiography Dali paints his wife Gala riding a unicorn and writes: “Gala, mounted on the Unicorn of my Fate”.
This exhibition with large sculptural open air pieces in the beautiful surroundings of Castlemartyr Resort and paintings exhibited within the hotel drew 10,000 visitors last year. It is now in its fourth year.
Liam O’Neill – Footing the Turf
Work by international artists like Andy Warhol, Banksy and Tracey Emin is shown alongside Irish contemporary artists and sculptors like renowned West Kerry artist Liam O’Neill who has latterly expanded his practice into sculpture.
Deeply rooted in Irish history and culture and renowned for paintings that capture the spirit and beauty of his native region the show offers new works in bronze by O’Neill. His collaboration with Bronzesmith Fine Art Foundry has led to the discovery of a distinctive new artistic voice, while remaining true to his own style as the art continues to evolve.
Eamonn Ceannt – Dance Dance Dance
Irish sculpture is strongly represented. There is, for instance, a new body of work by Eamonn Ceannt that distils the human figure into expressive forms. Ian Pollock’s bronze sculptures explore themes of time, transformation and the human condition.
Further sculptural highlights include works by Sophie Ryder, known for her monumental, myth-inspired figures, and Philip Jackson whose distinctive Venetian figures are inspired by the traditions of Venice, bringing a sense of theatre, mystery and historical resonance.
The variety of artistic expression at Art + Soul with its wide spectrum of styles, disciplines and perspectives is enough to take the breath away. The exhibition is open daily from 11 am to 7 pm. Free guided tours at noon, 2 pm and 4 pm will offer a deeper insight into the artworks and the ideas behind them. This not to be missed show invites the viewer to experience and engage directly with contemporary art in an open and accessible way. The beautiful setting of an 18th century manor estate is an added bonus.
Harry Kernoff – At the Railway Station UPDATE: THIS MADE €20,000 AT HAMMER
At the Railway Station by Harry Kernoff and Mercury’s Orbit by Mary Swanzy are two utterly different 1920’s paintings at Morgan O’Driscoll’s Irish art online auction which runs until the evening of June 2. The young Kernoff’s theme is downright Victorian, Swanzy’s semi abstract study demonstrates her skillful grasp of the Modernist movement. At 21 Kernoff became the first night student at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art to win the Taylor scholarship with this watercolour featuring a woman and child and an older woman on the spiral staircase of a railway station. It depicts popular Victorian and Edwardian themes of childhood, adulthood and old age.
Mercury’s Orbit by Swanzy stands in sharp contrast, depicting as it does the eccentric route of a planet which orbits the sun every 88 days and rotates on its axis every 59 days. Einstein explained it all with his Theory of Relativity and the painting is inspired by advances in astronomy and physics in the 20th century. There are 239 lots in a sale with an estimate range of €25- €40,0000. The catalogue is online.
Mary Swanzy – Mercury’s Orbit UPDATE: THIS MADE €42,000 AT HAMMER
Katherine Boucher Beug – Topple (2020-2026) from her exhibition in Lismore.
Flowers and Sound is the title of an exhibition by Katherine Boucher Beug at Lot 100, Chapel St., Lismore this weekend. The exhibition brings together for the first time the artist’s large-scale works, revealing the weave between abstraction and representation. Her deep study of colour and drawing underpins this fluid movement between genres. Smaller works on paper, including written pieces, offer insight into her process. Coinciding with Blackwater Valley Opera Festival it is open from 11 am to 4 pm until Bank Holiday Monday on June 1. The Lismore antiques, art and vintage fair is at the GAA Community Hall on May 31. The one day fair gets underway at 11 am.
JOHN CONSTABLE RA (EAST BERGHOLT 1776 – 1837 HAMPSTEAD) – Sketch – Cottage in the Wood (1832)
This sketch by John Constable is the leading lot at Sheppards Irish and international art sale in Durrow on June 10. It is one of only five known examples painted on envelop by the artist. The oil on paper is painted en plein air with the pinhole for pinning to the paintbox still visible. According to art historian Dr Peter Murray: ‘the scene is most likely Dedham Vale’ and the cottage ‘May well be Willy Lott’s Cottage on the banks of the Stour, near Flatford Mill’. This is the cottage that features in Constable’s most famous work The Hay Wain. The estimate is €30,000-50,000.
An oil on board by Gerard Dillon soared above its estimate to sell for a record €1.1 million hammer at Adam’s sale of Important Irish Art on May 27. It had been estimated at €150,000-€200,000. The signed and inscribed work from 1955 was purchased by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland from the Dawson Gallery in Dublin. It was subsequently sold at Sotheby’s in 1993 to Reeta and Frank Hughes of Warrenpoint. Exhibited at the Irish Exhibition of Living Art in 1955 it has since appeared in numerous exhibitions. It is understood that the work will remain in Ireland.
Among other top hammer prices were four works by Jack B Yeats as follows: The Dancer (Rosses Point) €280,000, The Paddock, Naas (€210,000), The Courthouse Steps (€115,000) and Through the Streets to the Hills (€110,000). Study for Riverrun, Procession with Lillies by Louis le Brocquy made €150,000 and Cuchulain IX by le Brocquy made €65,000, The Fair Day, Camlough, Co. Armagh by Frank McKelvey made €42,000, Sheep in a Field by Walter Osborne made €34,000 and The Princess by Colin Middleton made €32,000.
A rare smaller scale version of Sir John Lavery’s celebrated Belfast “Madonna of the Lakes” triptych discovered in the former Sisters of Mercy Convent in Newry will be auctioned in June by Victor Mee. A copy or study for Lavery’s triptych in St. Patrick’s Church, Belfast, is believed to have been presented by the artist to Fr. John O’Neill.
The provenance has been significantly strengthened by a report published in the Belfast Gazette on June 17 , 1960, following the death of Fr. O’Neill, which records among charitable legacies a bequest of “Sir John Lavery’s presentation copy of ‘The Madonna of the Lakes’ to the Sisters of Mercy, Crumlin Road, Belfast. A dedication along the lower edge of the work reads: “To Fr. O’Neill. From John Lavery, 1919,” while an inscription on the reverse reads: “Received Oct 21 st , 1919. J. O’Neill.” It is estimated at €5,000-€10,000.
Victor Mee will conduct a three day convent sale in Newry on June 9, 10 and 11. Believed to be one of the largest such sales ever held in Ireland it will include contents sourced from several former Convent of Mercy properties together with a substantial selection of fine furniture, decorative arts, silver, sculpture and garden pieces. The sale will be on view at the historic convent location on Catherine St., Newry from June 5-8.
