Louis le Brocquy
Louis le Brocquy was born in Dublin in 1916. Leaving Ireland in 1938 to study the major European art collections in London, Paris, Venice and Geneva, he returned in the 1940s where he participated in the Irish Exhibition of Living Art, departing for London in 1946 where he soon became prominent on the contemporary art scene. Later he began to exhibit internationally and - representing Ireland - won a major prize at the Venice Biennale in 1956. In 1958 he married fellow artist Anne Madden and left London to work in France.
He received an invitation, in December 1966, to collaborate with publisher Liam Miller on a new translation of Ireland's oldest saga, An Táin Bó Cúailnge. Accepting, le Brocquy spent much of the next three years visualising the project, before its publication in 1969. His lithographic brush drawings for The Táin were celebrated by critics, and would endure as one of the crowning achievements, and culturally significant artworks, of his career.
The artist would enjoy continuous acclaim throughout his long career, which spanned over six decades and can be broken up roughly into ten, sometimes overlapping, periods; the ‘Tinker’ (1945-1948), ‘Grey’ (1951-54) and ‘White’ (1956-66) periods, the ‘Ancestral’ (1964-75) and ‘Portrait’ (1975-2000) Heads, his series of Still Lifes (1981-1998), ‘Processions’ (1984-92) and ‘Irish Landscapes’ (1987-94), before his ‘Human Image’ (1996-05) and, finally, the ‘Homage’ (2005-06) series towards the end of his career and life.
Le Brocquy is recognised by many as one of the greatest Irish artists of the twentieth century, and one of the greatest of any era of Irish art. He was made Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur in 1975 and received the Freedom of the City of Dublin in 2007. The realisation of over £1.7 million for his 1951 painting A Family at auction in 2000 was a record at the time for an Irish artist’s work, placing him among a very select group of British and Irish artists whose works have commanded in excess of £1 million in their lifetime, an acknowledgement of his illustrious profile in the art community internationally as well as at home. Le Brocquy died on 25 April 2012. Before his passing, he was the only artist to have received the distinctive honour of being included during his lifetime in the Permanent Irish Collection of the National Gallery of Ireland. His works can be found in some of the world’s most important public collections including the Guggenheim Museum, New York and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
He received an invitation, in December 1966, to collaborate with publisher Liam Miller on a new translation of Ireland's oldest saga, An Táin Bó Cúailnge. Accepting, le Brocquy spent much of the next three years visualising the project, before its publication in 1969. His lithographic brush drawings for The Táin were celebrated by critics, and would endure as one of the crowning achievements, and culturally significant artworks, of his career.
The artist would enjoy continuous acclaim throughout his long career, which spanned over six decades and can be broken up roughly into ten, sometimes overlapping, periods; the ‘Tinker’ (1945-1948), ‘Grey’ (1951-54) and ‘White’ (1956-66) periods, the ‘Ancestral’ (1964-75) and ‘Portrait’ (1975-2000) Heads, his series of Still Lifes (1981-1998), ‘Processions’ (1984-92) and ‘Irish Landscapes’ (1987-94), before his ‘Human Image’ (1996-05) and, finally, the ‘Homage’ (2005-06) series towards the end of his career and life.
Le Brocquy is recognised by many as one of the greatest Irish artists of the twentieth century, and one of the greatest of any era of Irish art. He was made Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur in 1975 and received the Freedom of the City of Dublin in 2007. The realisation of over £1.7 million for his 1951 painting A Family at auction in 2000 was a record at the time for an Irish artist’s work, placing him among a very select group of British and Irish artists whose works have commanded in excess of £1 million in their lifetime, an acknowledgement of his illustrious profile in the art community internationally as well as at home. Le Brocquy died on 25 April 2012. Before his passing, he was the only artist to have received the distinctive honour of being included during his lifetime in the Permanent Irish Collection of the National Gallery of Ireland. His works can be found in some of the world’s most important public collections including the Guggenheim Museum, New York and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
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'YOUNG WOMAN, 1961'
- Price Realised: €23,000
- Sale: 01 October 2018
- oil on board
- 20 x 12¾in. (50.80 x 32.39cm)
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'BEING, 1998'
- Price Realised: €23,000
- Sale: 31 May 2010
- watercolour
- 50 by 34cm., 19.5 by 13.5in.
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'IMAGE OF SAMUEL BECKETT, 1992'
- Price Realised: €22,000
- Sale: 22 March 2021
- watercolour on tissue paper
- 17¼ x 13in. (43.82 x 33.02cm)
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'CHERUB, 1952'
- Price Realised: €21,000
- Sale: 02 October 2017
- Aubusson tapestry, Atelier Tabard Frères et Souers, France; (no. 8 from an edition of 10)
- 43½ x 52in. (110.49 x 132.08cm)
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'EIGHT IRISH WRITERS, 1981'
- Price Realised: €20,000
- Sale: 19 September 2006
- collotype lithographs on Rives paper (no. 12 from an edition of 100); unframed
- 33 by 28cm., 13 by 11in.
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'IMAGE OF SAMUEL BECKETT, 1992'
- Price Realised: €19,000
- Sale: 09 March 2020
- watercolour on tissue paper
- 15¼ x 12½in. (38.74 x 31¾cm)
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'IMAGE OF JAMES JOYCE, 1990'
- Price Realised: €19,000
- Sale: 26 November 2018
- watercolour
- 24 x 18½in. (60.96 x 46.99cm)
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'PORTRAIT OF JAMES JOYCE, 1982'
- Price Realised: €19,000
- Sale: 28 May 2018
- watercolour
- 24 x 18in. (60.96 x 45.72cm)
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'A YOUNG TINKER WOMAN, 1945'
- Price Realised: €18,000
- Sale: 25 November 2019
- watercolour and pen
- 12 x 7in. (30.48 x 17.78cm)
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'IMAGE OF W.B. YEATS , 1991'
- Price Realised: €18,000
- Sale: 04 March 2019
- watercolour
- 24¼ x 18¼in. (61.60 x 46.36cm)
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'JAMES JOYCE STUDY 91'
- Price Realised: €18,000
- Sale: 30 November 2004
- watercolour on paper
- 39 by 36cm., 15.5 by 14in.
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'A STUDY TOWARDS AN IMAGE OF JAMES JOYCE, 1982'
- Price Realised: €17,000
- Sale: 26 September 2022
- watercolour and crayon
- 24 x 18in. (60.96 x 45.72cm)
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'STUDY OF JAMES JOYCE, 1983'
- Price Realised: €17,000
- Sale: 06 June 2022
- watercolour
- 23½ x 17½in. (59.69 x 44.45cm)
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'STUDY TOWARDS AN IMAGE OF JAMES JOYCE, 1983/84'
- Price Realised: €17,000
- Sale: 07 December 2020
- watercolour
- 23 x 17in. (58.42 x 43.18cm)
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'STUDY TOWARDS AN IMAGE OF JAMES JOYCE, 1983/84'
- Price Realised: €17,000
- Sale: 07 December 2020
- watercolour
- 23 x 17in. (58.42 x 43.18cm)
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'STUDY TOWARDS AN IMAGE OF JAMES JOYCE, 1983/84'
- Price Realised: €17,000
- Sale: 07 December 2020
- watercolour
- 23 x 17in. (58.42 x 43.18cm)
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'STUDY TOWARDS AN IMAGE OF JAMES JOYCE, 1983/84'
- Price Realised: €17,000
- Sale: 07 December 2020
- watercolour
- 23 x 17in. (58.42 x 43.18cm)
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'STUDY OF JAMES JOYCE, 1983'
- Price Realised: €17,000
- Sale: 26 November 2012
- watercolour
- 23.75 by 17.75in., 60.325 by 45.085cm.
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'BEING, 1998'
- Price Realised: €17,000
- Sale: 21 May 2012
- watercolour and gouache
- 19.75 by 14in., 50.165 by 35.56cm.
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'JAMES JOYCE STUDY I, 1977'
- Price Realised: €17,000
- Sale: 25 April 2006
- signed and dated lower right; original exhibition label on reverse
- 23 by 18cm., 9.25 by 7.25in.
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'EIGHT IRISH WRITERS'
- Price Realised: €16,000
- Sale: 17 September 2002
- 0 by 0cm., by in.
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'IMAGE OF SEAMUS HEANEY, 1992'
- Price Realised: €15,000
- Sale: 06 March 2023
- watercolour on tissue paper
- 17¾ x 13½in. (45.09 x 34.29cm)
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'THE TÁIN. MAGIC CHARIOT, 1991'
- Price Realised: €15,000
- Sale: 26 November 2012
- Aubusson tapestry; Atelier René Duché; (no. 2 from an edition of 9)
- 72.5 by 50.7in., 184.15 by 128.778cm.
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'EIGHT IRISH WRITERS, 1981'
- Price Realised: €15,000
- Sale: 17 September 2007
- eight collotype lithographs (no. 49 from an edition of 100), unframed, in the original linen folio case
- 33 by 28cm., 13 by 11in.
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'STUDY 21 (HEAD OF W.B. YEATS)'
- Price Realised: €14,000
- Sale: 16 September 2003
- charcoal on paper
- 23 by 18cm., 9 by 7in.
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'THE BRIGHT FIELD, 1990'
- Price Realised: €13,500
- Sale: 21 February 2006
- watercolour on paper
- 18 by 26cm., 7.25 by 10.25in.
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'STUDY FOR THE HUMAN CHILD'
- Price Realised: €13,000
- Sale: 20 September 2005
- monotype - oil on card
- 20 by 25cm., 8 by 10in.
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'The Táin'
- Price Realised: €13,000
- Sale: 17 September 2002
- 0 by 0cm., by in.