Yeats and le Brocquy among highlights of private collection
Fresh to market works by Jack B Yeats, Basil Blackshaw and Louis le Brocquy will highlight the de Vere’s sale at the Royal College of Physicians on Kildare St, Dublin, next Tuesday at 6pm.
The first half of this 160-lot sale is devoted to the collection of the late Michael Carroll of AIB, who bought many of his works from the Dawson Gallery and latterly, the Taylor Galleries.
Mr Carroll was a close friend of two great Irish artists, the abstract painter Cecil King, with whom he shared digs in Dundalk in the 1940s, and with Tony O’Malley, who began his working life in the bank.
He was instrumental in the establishment of the AIB art collection in 1979.
In a catalogue note, Frances Ruane, who worked closely with Michael Carroll on the AIB collection, recalls that he was a voracious collector within the constraints of a modest budget.
The sale of his private collection offers contemporary buyers a chance to pick up on artwork lovingly acquired by a buyer with a discriminating eye.
The catalogue cover lot is a 1973 Still Life by William Scott estimated at €60,000-€90,000.
From the Woods Shadow by Yeats depicts a boy in the Phoenix Park. It is estimated at €80,000-€120,000.
Two paintings by Blackshaw, Jack’s House I and II, are estimated at €25,000-€35,000 each. A tapestry by Louis le Brocquy entitled Eden has a similar estimate.
The sale includes work by William Leech, Camille Souter, John Shinnors, Daniel O’Neill, Patrick Scott, Tony O’Malley, Peter Curling and Patrick O’Reilly.
On view at the Taylor Galleries, Kildare St from 11am to 5pm today, noon to 5pm tomorrow, 10am to 6pm on Monday and from 10am to 5pm on Tuesday, until the 6pm sale.
An online sale of affordable Irish art runs at Whyte’s until next Monday evening and Morgan O’Driscoll will hold a sale of Irish and International art at the RDS on Monday week.
Skibereen
CONTENTS from Glebe House, Lisheen, Skibbereen, Co Cork — the former home of departed AIB chief David Duffy — will feature at Hegarty’s sale in Bandon on Sunday week, April 9, at 4pm.
The property, which is believed to have cost in excess of €5 million to purchase and renovate, has been sold to the former Downing Street, adviser to Gordon Brown, Wilf Stevenson.
The British peer acquired Glebe House, on nine acres of land fronting onto the Ilen river estuary, around this time last year for a reputed €2.5 m — a bit of a bargain.
David Duffy’s three year stint on a modest, (by banking standards) salary of just under half a million a year, saw a turnaround in the state-owned, AIB’s fortunes during his tenure.
Mr Duffy then left to take up a similar role at Scotland’ s Clydesdale Bank, which he brought to a €2.1 billion IPO floatation, earning him millions in bonuses.
The contents of Glebe House include a Killarney wood tip up centre table inlaid with a view of Muckross Abbey and decorated with shamrock and other local views. It is estimated at €10,000-20,000.
There is an Irish Regency fold over card table (€2,500-3,500); an Edwardian walnut and ebonised credenza (€1,000-2,000); a Cork Regency Nelson sideboard (€300-500); a French gilt wood pier mirror (€1,500-2,500), and a pair of Art Deco style aviation armchairs (€1,200-1,800).
Among the artists who feature are Arthur Maderson, Peter Copperwhite, Markey Robinson, and Marie Carroll, and collectables include a snuff bottle and a bronze 19th century Tibetan figure.
Around 300 lots will come under the hammer.
Viewing is from 12pm to 5pm next Friday and Saturday and from 12pm to the start of the sale on Sunday week.
A RARE 18th century silver mug by Mark Fallon, Galway, c1730, which was on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum from 1974 to 2003 comes up at Bonham’s in London next Wednesday.
One of only three known secular pieces made by Mark Fallon, the mug is straight sided with a double scroll handle and engraved with two crests.
Jacobite Galway, which supported the Catholic King James II, was besieged and captured during the Williamite Wars in Ireland from 1688-91.
Trade and industry suffered as oppressive laws led to the departure of many families.
Because of this, Galway silver is rare and most surviving pieces were designed for religious use.
The c1730 mug by Mark Fallon is estimated at £12,000-15,000.
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