There is a quiet fascination among the public about how painters and sculptors work, and what they surround themselves with. Although many contemporary artists might say that the chaotic contents of the London studio of Dublin-born artist Francis Bacon – which were transported and reinstalled in the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin in 1998 – aren’t a fair representation of an artist’s studio, the Bacon studio nonetheless attracts a lot of attention.
Most artists are collectors of sorts and while works in progress will be prominent in their studios, their working spaces are also repositories of various inspirational objects and images, as well as art materials and tools.
So, there is great excitement among aficionados of Irish artist Jack B Yeats (1871-1957) about the forthcoming Gormley’s online auction of contents from his studio in 18 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin 2. The collection is expected to make in excess of €50,000.
Niall Mullen, the long-time Francis Street antiques dealer, is working with Gormley’s Auction rooms on Francis Street to promote the collection.
“Yeats was a remarkable character and to see the tools of his life’s work together in one place is undeniably moving,” says Mullen. The youngest child of artist John Butler Yeats and Susan Yeats (née Pollexfen), Jack B Yeats spent his early years between London, Dublin and Sligo. He studied art at the South Kensington School of Art and Chiswick School of Art, where he met his future wife and fellow artist, Mary Cottenham White. The couple lived in Devon before returning to Ireland in 1910 – first to Greystones, Co Wicklow, and then Donnybrook, and lastly to Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin.
“According to those who knew him, no one ever saw him paint. He was reclusive and frugal. He never threw anything out,” says Mullen. The items now for sale were inherited by his niece, Anne Yeats – daughter of the artist’s brother, the poet WB Yeats – when he died. Brought to an antique dealer when Anne Yeats’s Dalkey home was cleared out for sale in 2006, they were subsequently sold to the current owner.
Anne Yeats (1919-2001) had donated more than 200 Jack B Yeats sketchbooks to the National Gallery in 1996. Held in the Yeats archives of the gallery, they can be viewed by appointment.
The collection now for auction includes paintbrushes, paints, pencils, chalks, palettes, blank sketchbooks and lots of vintage office ephemera. Examples include a Cornish Wafers tin with the handwritten initials JB and paint tubes (€800-€1,200), and a paintbox with extendable tripod legs which serves as an easel (€2,000-€4,000). Christmas and new year cards, with watercolours by Jack B Yeats, and published by his sister Elizabeth Yeats’s Cuala Press, are other collectables of interest.
Hold Me Hat Till I Tear ‘Un (Let me at him) by Jack B Yeats (€8,000-€12,000) at Gormley’s auction
A limited edition of the complete three volumes of Jack B Yeats, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Oil Paintings, by Hilary Pyle and published by André Deutsch in 1992, will also be of interest (€500-€1,000). Handwritten letters, bills, newspaper cuttings and an invoice for a bottle of whiskey from the day before he died are also on show.
[ I tried to stare at this painting for three hours. And something odd happenedOpens in new window ]
Bidding at Gormley’s auction – which also has plenty of work by contemporary Irish artists – will close on Tuesday, March 10th, and viewing continues daily in the Francis Street gallery until then.
A quirky Jack B Yeats pen-and-ink drawing, Our Railway System (And a Very Bad One Too), with an estimate of €6,000-€8,000 is for sale at Whyte’s Irish and International Art auction on Monday, March 9th in the Freemasons Hall, Molesworth St, Dublin 2.
Our Railway System (And a Very Bad One Too) by Jack B Yeats, at Whyte’s Irish and International Art auction (€6,000-€8,000)
The top lot in this auction is Roderic O’Conor’s Le Loing at Sundown (€150,000-€200,000), with its mysterious half-light. The painting is believed to have been painted in Montigny, a small town on the edge of the Fontainebleau forest, south of Paris.
Art historian Jonathan Benington said O’Conor’s radical technique would have shocked many at the time, but was influenced by earlier works by both Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin. Benington will give a talk entitled Irish Artists on the River Loing: Friendships and Experimentation, 1890-1932, in the National Gallery on March 12th at 6.30pm. His talk will focus on the work and friendship of artists O’Conor and Katherine McCausland, who lived in France at the time.
Roderic O’Conor’s Le Loing at Sundown (€150,000-€200,000) is the top lot in Whyte’s auction on March 9th
The Queen Signing the Visitors’ Book at Áras an Uachtaráin (€1,000-€1,500) by Michael Hanrahan is another interesting painting for sale. Hanrahan was the only official accredited artist during the historic visit to Ireland by Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Phillip in 2011. He later gifted a painting to the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace to commemorate her state visit.
Pool Made with Paper and Blue Ink for Book, 1980 (€25,000-€35,000) by English artist David Hockney, is one of the works by international artists for sale at Whyte’s.
David Hockney’s Pool Made with Paper and Blue Ink for Book, 1980 (€25,000-€35,000), for sale at Whyte’s
Finally, collectors of Irish and European decorative objects will be interested in historical items in Sheppard’s auction in Durrow, Co Laois, on March 10th, 11th and 12th. The three-day, in-person and online auction of about 1,800 lots includes about 150 lots – including portrait miniatures – linked to the Blandin family of the Château de Chalain in eastern France. Also of interest in the auction is a collection of antique Daum Nancy glass objects. The Art Nouveau crystal glass studio was set up by Jean Daum in the city of Nancy, also in eastern France, in the late 19th century, and continued by his sons Auguste and Antonin.
Gormleysartauctions.com; nationalgallery.ie; whytes.ie; sheppards.ie
What did it sell for?
A 24-place-setting, silver thread pattern canteen of Sheffield cutlery weighing almost 450 troy ounces Sheffield cutlery canteenEstimate: €10,000-€15,000Hammer price: €18,000Auction house: Adam’s
Swiss rosewood floral marquetry ‘eight airs’ music box Swiss rosewood music boxEstimate: €600-€1,000Hammer price: €2,800Auction house: Adam’s
William IV mahogany and button-back navy leather upholstered chair William IV upholstered library chairEstimate: €400-€600Hammer price: €460Auction house: Adam’s
A Victorian oak twin-pedestal writing desk Victorian oak pedestal writing deskEstimate: €300-€500Hammer price: €190Auction house: Adam’s
1969 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe trophy, which was won by the Irish-bred and trained Levmoss 1969 Prix de l’Arc de TriompheEstimate: €8,000-€12,000Hammer price: €12,000Auction house: John Weldon