IMAGE OF SAMUEL BECKETT, 1994
Louis le Brocquy HRHA (1916-2012)Le Brocquy was born in 1916 and it was expected that he would go into the business started by his grandfather, the Greenmount Oil Company in Harold’s Cross. His own instincts led him away from petrochemicals, however, and when he was twenty-two he travelled to London and thence to mainland Europe. He taught himself to paint by learning from the techniques of the old masters in the museums. When he returned to Ireland he established himself as a progressive artist on the small Irish art scene.
Ireland at the time was too conservative and constricting, however, and he moved to London following on from an invitation to join the Gimpel Fils Gallery. Throughout the 1950s in London he made his paintings of Human Presences, reflecting the doubts and anxieties of the time. After he and Anne Madden had married, they moved to France. The genesis of his celebrated series of Heads lay in the fact that he became despondent about his work. After destroying almost a year’s worth of paintings, he was in the Musée d’Homme in Paris one day in 1964 when he chanced upon some decorated Polynesian heads: human skulls built up with clay, painted and thought to contain the spirits of the individuals.
He was immediately gripped by this idea. Soon afterwards, in Provence, he was reminded of the Celtic head cult, which depended on the idea that ‘the head was a magic box that held the spirit prisoner’. Portraiture, it seemed to him, was a problematic art form in the mid-twentieth century. Photography, the moving image, Cubism and Surrealism: all these developments and others had made the simple representation of human likeness a much more complicated proposition than before.
Now, these examples from an earlier age suggested a way to access a level of reality beyond the world of outside appearances, a way to visualise the many layers of consciousness and unconsciousness locked within the human mind. He set out to paint a series of Ancestral Heads. At first these were general human ancestors, but in time they became more specific as he attempted images of his own father, and of Anne. The image of a spectral head suspended against and indeed merging with a white void is an emblem of isolation and transience, yet le Brocquy also imbues it with intimations of continuity and community, with immortality of sorts.
In the late 1960s, he also began to make paintings of the head of James Joyce. He was very cautious in his approach, always indicating the partial, fragmentary nature of his endeavour. A painting is always a ‘study towards an image of’; it never claims the absolute authority of being a definitive view of a subject. As le Brocquy has put it, he is aiming towards the person he is painting, and it is as much an imaginative, intuitive journey as a question of dealing with a likeness as such.
He went on to make series of works with W. B. Yeats, Federico Garcia Lorca, Pablo Picasso, Francis Bacon (whom he knew) and even William Shakespeare. He also made many studies of Samuel Beckett. Beckett stands slightly apart from the others in his oeuvre for a couple of reasons. Beckett was an intensely private person, and le Brocquy regarded him as a friend. Yet Beckett’s craggy features are iconic in their own right, and his head was an irresistible subject. In an interview with George Morgan, le Brocquy said that in many ways his images of Beckett meant more to him than those of Yeats or Joyce, because of the links between them, and because of his intense admiration for Beckett’s work, all the greater for the feeling of being so close to it.
Beckett’s features are unmistakable. Le Brocquy conjures them up as if by magic, animating the background space so that the image that emerges is woven from an interlocking mesh of brushwork. It is hard to pin down a single, well defined image: rather the possibility of an image hovers there at the point of visibility. Technically, le Brocquy is a remarkably assured artist, but he is also willing to trust to chance and accident in the production of his painting.
Aidan Dunne
Dublin, October 2006
- Auction Details
- T&Cs
- Bidding
Clause 1
(a) Each lot is put up subject to any reserve price imposed by the vendor
(b) Subject to sub-clause (a) of this clause, the highest bidder for each lot shall be the purchaser thereof
(c) If any dispute arises as to the highest bidder the auctioneer shall have absolute discretion to determine the dispute and may put up again and re-sell the lot in respect of which the dispute arises.
Clause 2
(a) The bidding and advances shall be regulated by and at the absolute discretion of the auctioneer and he shall have the right to refuse any bid or bids. NOTE: Where an agent bids, even on behalf of a disclosed client, the auctioneer nevertheless has the right at his discretion to refuse any such bid.
(b) The purchaser of each lot shall immediately on its sale, if required by the auctioneer, give him the name and address of the purchaser and pay to the auctioneer at his discretion the whole or part of the purchase money. If the purchaser of any lot fails to comply with any such requirement the auctioneer may put up again and re-sell the lot; if upon such re-sale a lower price is obtained than was obtained on the first sale the purchaser in default on the first sale shall make good the difference in price and expenses of re-sale which shall become a debt due from him.
(c) Where an agent purchases on behalf of an undisclosed client such agent shall be personally liable for payment of the purchase money to the auctioneer and for safe delivery of the lot to the said client.
Clause 3
(a) The auctioneer reserves the rights to bid on behalf of clients including vendors, but shall not be liable for errors or omissions in executing instructions to bid.
(b) The auctioneer reserves the rights, before or during a sale, to group together lots belonging to the same vendor, to split up and to withdraw any lot or lots at the auctioneer's absolute discretion and without giving any reason in any case.
(c) The auctioneer acts as agent only, and therefore shall not be liable for any default of the purchaser or vendor.
Clause 4
(a) Each lot shall be at the purchaser's risk from the fall of the hammer and shall be paid for in full before delivery and taken away at his expense within one day of the sale. The buyer will be responsible for all removal, storage and insurance charges in respect of any lot which has not been collected within one day of the date of sale.
(b) If any purchaser fails to pay in full for any lot within 21 days of the date of sale such lot may at any time thereafter at the auctioneer's discretion be put up for sale by auction again or sold privately; if upon such re-sale a lower price is obtained than was obtained on the first sale the purchaser in default on the first sale shall make good the difference in price and the expenses of re-sale which shall become debt due from him.
(c) Interest at 2 per cent per month and legal costs (if any) for recovery of monies due shall be payable by the purchaser on any overdue account.
Clause 5
(a) Each buyer, by making a bid, acknowledges that he has satisfied himself as to the physical condition, age and catalogue description of each lot (including but not restricted to whether the lot is damaged or has been repaired or restored).
(b) All lots are sold with all faults and imperfections and errors of description and the Auctioneer and its employees, servants or agents shall not be responsible for any error of description or for the condition or authenticity of any lot, save for Clause 5 (c) below. Written or verbal condition reports may be supplied by the Auctioneer on request but these are merely statements of opinion, and any error or omission in these reports may not be taken as grounds for a cancellation of sale or refund of any part of the purchase price or the cost of any repairs to the lot or lots reported on
(c) A purchaser shall be at liberty to reject any lot if he - (i) gives the auctioneer written notice of intention to question the genuineness of the lot within seven days from the date of sale; AND (ii) proves that the lot is a deliberate forgery and (iii) returns to the auctioneer within 20 days from the date of sale the lot in the same condition as it was at the time of sale; provided that the auctioneer may, at his discretion, on receiving a request in writing from the purchaser, extend for a reasonable period the time for return of the lot to enable it to be submitted to expertisation. NOTE: The onus of proving a lot to be a deliberate forgery is on the purchaser.
(d) Where a lot has been submitted to expertisation, all costs of such expertisation shall be paid by the person who retains the certificate of expertisation and item or items to which the certificate relates.
(e) Where the purchaser of a lot discharges the onus and acts in accordance with sub-clause (b) of this clause, the auctioneer shall rescind the sale and repay to the purchaser the purchase money paid by him in respect of the lot.
(f) No lot shall be rejected if, subsequent to the sale, it has been marked by an expert committee or treated by any other process unless the auctioneer's permission to subject the lot to such treatment has first been obtained in writing.
(g) Any lot listed as a "collection, range, portfolio etc." or stated to comprise or contain a collection or range of items which are not described shall be put up for sale not subject to rejection and shall be taken by the purchaser with all (if any) faults, lack of genuineness and errors of description and numbers of items in the lot, and the purchaser shall have no right to reject the lot; except that, notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this sub-clause, where before a sale a person intending to bid at the sale gives notice in writing to, and satisfies the auctioneer that any such lot contains any item or items undescribed in the sale catalogue and that person specifically describes that item or those items in that notice, then that item or those items shall, as between the auctioneer and that person, to be taken to form part of the description of the lot.
Clause 6
The respective rights and obligations of the parties shall be governed and interpreted by Irish law, and the buyer hereby submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Irish Courts.
Special Conditions
a) The buyer shall pay the Auctioneer a commission at the rate of 20% (Art sales) or 24% (Collectibles sales). The Buyer's Premium is added to the hammer price of all lots and is subject to VAT at the prevailing rate.
(b) The Auctioneer or its employees, servants or agents may, on request organise packing and shipping of lots purchased or may order on the buyer's behalf third parties to pack or ship purchases. Under no circumstances does the Auctioneer accept any liability whatsoever for any loss or damage howsoever occasioned in the course of such service.
(c) The buyer authorises the Auctioneer to use any photographs or illustrations of any lot purchased for any or all purposes as the Auctioneer may require. The placing of a bid will be taken as full agreement to all the above conditions.
WHYTE AND SONS AUCTIONEERS LIMITED, 2022
We hold two types of auction - TIMED and LIVE SALEROOM
1. TIMED AUCTIONS
WHAT IS A TIMED AUCTION?Timed auctions do not have an auctioneer calling the bids – there’s just a bidding time frame and whoever bids highest during the time frame wins. Each lot can be bid on for a defined time period. At the end of this period, the bidder who has submitted the highest bid wins the lot, provided the bid exceeds the reserve price. You tell us the most you’re willing to pay – and we’ll bid intelligently for you, only bidding enough for you to meet the reserve or stay in the lead. Don’t worry, your maximum bid is not disclosed, and is held in confidence on our bidding system.
WHEN ONLINE BIDDING STARTS - YOU CAN LEAVE BIDS online and your bid will start at one step above the previous bid or at the start price if no other bid. You will be notified by email if you get outbid before the auction starts.
ONCE THE AUCTION BEGINS TO FINISH, ON THE DATE AND TIME SPECIFIED, THE EMAIL NOTIFICATIONS CEASE and you should follow the auction on-line to see how your bids are doing. Make sure you have logged in if you wish to bid.
WHEN THE AUCTION BEGINS TO FINISH ON THE DATE AND TIME SPECIFIED,THE BIDDING FOR EACH LOT REMAINS OPEN FOR 45 SECONDS at a start price determined by the reserve or bids already received. Each lot will be open and remain open for bidding until its end time is reached; the end time will be extended by 45 seconds if another bid is received. At the end time, if there are no further bids and the highest bid received equals or exceeds the reserve price the lot is sold to highest bidder.
The Buyers Premium for Art sales is 20% plus VAT ( 24.6% gross). The Buyers Premium for Collectibles sales is 24% plus VAT (29.52% gross). The Buyers Premium will be added to your winning bid amount. Your invoice will detail all the payment, collection and shipping particulars.
2. LIVE SALEROOM AUCTION:
If you can't attend the auction in the saleroom you can email or post or telephone bids to us, or you can book a telephone line to bid during the sale. Contact us on +353 16762888 or bids@whytes.ie
To bid on-line at a Live Saleroom Auction:
• Log in or register bid.whytes.ie
• Visit the online auction catalogue
• Find the lot number you are interested in.
· The current highest bid will be displayed
• The minimum bid required to beat the highest bid will also be shown.
· You can place your bid. The screen will show the new highest bid and will indicate if that bid is yours. Note: if a previous bidder has left a bid that equals yours the previous bidder will win the lot unless you outbid them. If the screen doesn’t confirm that your bid is winning you will need to bid again if you wish to buy the lot. Don’t worry -the system will not allow you to bid against yourself.
• The live auction will begin at the announced date and time and will be sold in lot number order by the auctioneer.
• Invoices will be issued to successful bidders on the next working day after the sale has ended.
BIDDING STEPS:
Up to €300 x€10
Up to €700 x €20
Up to €1,300 x €50
Up to €3,000 x €100
Up to €7,000 x €200
Up to €13,000 x €500
Up to €30,000 x €1,000
Up to €40,000 x €2,000
Up to €70,000 x €2,000
Up to €130,000 x €5,000
Up to €500,000 x €10,000
A FEW TIPS FOR ABSENTEE BIDDERS:
Bid the maximum price you would pay for the lot; we will try and secure the lot for you at the lowest possible price. For instance if you bid €2,000 on a lot and the highest other bid we receive is €1,200 you get it for €1,250. Most people tend to bid in round numbers, e.g. €500. It’s often a good idea to bid an odd number, e.g. €520, or €540 which will outbid an even number. Check the results the day after the sale: these are published on our website www.whytes.ie at about 10am on the day after the sale. Successful bidders are also notified of results by mail.
TIE BIDS: if two or more equal bids are received the lot will be sold to the first received.
The Buyers Premium for Art sales is 20% plus VAT ( 24.6% gross). The Buyers Premium for Collectibles sales is 24% plus VAT (29.52% gross). The Buyers Premium will be added to your winning bid amount. Your invoice will detail all the payment, collection and shipping particulars.