DUBLIN.- Whyte’s premier autumn auction will offer this sizeable, newly discovered work titled On The Hill of Howth, Co. Dublin, c.1912-14 by William Orpen as lot 35 [estimate €30,000-€50,000]. The drawing comes from the Estate of Dublin Judge, Desmond Windle, to whom it was gifted by his collector aunt, Mary “Molly” Matthews, on the occasion of his wedding. The girl lies before the viewer holding a knot of tiny flowers that have survived the fierce winds of Howth hill and stretches her right arm skywards expressing a sense of bohemian youth and abandon. Expertly drafted, it forms part of a highly desirable body of work executed in delicate lines and washes of colour and is thought to depict Orpen’s daughter Mary (known as ‘Bunnie’) . A number of other works in the sale come from this estate of the distinguished lawyer and art lover Desmond Windle (1933-2014) who was a collector for over sixty years. Among the other artists from his collection in this sale are: Patrick Collins, John Behan, Michael Kane, Charles Brady, Charles Harper, George Campbell and Seán McSweeney. For Orpen aficionados with a smaller budget, a cartoon of Wexford born politician John Redmond from 1903 comes in at €1,000-€1,500 [lot 31].
STANDING THE TEST OF TIME AND TASTE: PAUL HENRY & JACK B. YEATS
For today’s collector the acquisition of one of Paul Henry’s master works remains a bold statement on taste and means. West of Ireland Bog [lot 21, estimate €80,000-€100,000] is a tour de force example by the artist whose quintessential depictions of the Connemara landscape continue to attract huge attention in the saleroom. Jack Butler Yeats is represented in the sale by two lots - an oil and a watercolour - [lot 29, Against The Stream, 1945, €60,000-€80,000, illustrated below] and Sea Fog, 1909 [lot 22, €8,000-€10,000]. Both works represent a major theme in Yeats’ ouevre. The sea and rivers and the people and livelihoods connected to them. Profound questions about the purpose of an individual life set against the bigger forces of the natural world are posed in these integral works both of which will draw collectors. The latter was originally owned by the famous Irish American collector John Quinn. For Yeats archivists, letters from 1949-1957 will be of interest, these guide €1,000-€1,500 appearing as lot 30.
Other landscapes such as Maurice Canning Wilks’ Men of the West [lot 20, Windle Coll.] come in at a comparitively modest sum of €5,000-€7,000. While Dublin scenes by Harry Kernoff [lots 1 & 3, estimates from €2,000] and Walter Osborne [lot 36, €25,000-€35,000] demonstrate varying artistic styles from the late 1890s to the 1950s.
CONTINENTAL INFLUENCES & INFLUENCERS
Lot 34, Roderic O’Conor, Nude Bathing c.1897-1898 guides €15,000-€20,000 and shows the influence of Norwegian artist Edvard Munch’s painting Madonna of 1893-1894. O’Conor’s oil is executed in a heavily textured style that was re-worked several times before completion.
Sir John Lavery who was heavily influenced by Whistler and North Africa is represented with a large portrait of a lady, Mary Barron Tottie [lot 41, €30,000-€40,000] and a small oil sketch for his celebrated Moorish Dance [lot 42, €8,000-€12,000]. Both are expertly described in the catalogue by Lavery author Prof. Kenneth McConkey. Lot 11, William Leech The Gardens, Maida Vale, London, €15,000-€20,000 shows the impact of France on the artist’s palette and technique and shows his wife May Bottrell near where he lived and worked in London.
Other famous artists represented in the auction are Gerard Dillon, Colin Middleton, Norah McGuinness, Basil Blackshaw, Louis le Brocquy, George Campbell, Daniel O’Neill, Patrick Collins, Diana Copperwhite, Gwen O’Dowd and sculpture from John Behan, F.E. McWilliam among others. All the artworks are on display with full descriptions and many interesting notes from art experts at www.whytes.ie
This fabulous auction – comprising over 180 works of art – will be on view at the RDS Anglesea Road entrance, Ballsbridge, Saturday to Monday, 30 September to 2 October 2017, 10am to 6pm daily; admission and parking is free. The auction will be broadcast live on the internet at whytes.ie, invaluable.com, auctionzip.com, encheres.lefigaro.fr and the-saleroom.com; collectors around the world can bid live from their computers, smart TV’s, mobile phones or android devices.
