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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'BEING (W1428), 1998'
- Price Realised: €12,500
- Sale: 30 September 2013
- watercolour
- 23.5 by 17.5in., 58.75 by 43.75cm.
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'LITHOGRAPHIC BRUSH DRAWINGS FROM THE TAIN (SET OF TWELVE)'
- Price Realised: €12,500
- Sale: 26 April 2005
- boxed set of twelve lithographs
- 53 by 38cm., 21 by 15in.
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'MAN, 1956'
- Price Realised: €12,000
- Sale: 29 May 2023
- oil on canvas
- 14 x 10in. (35.56 x 25.40cm)
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'IMAGE OF W. B. YEATS, 1989'
- Price Realised: €12,000
- Sale: 29 May 2023
- watercolour
- 15½ x 11½in. (39.37 x 29.21cm)
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'SUMMER TREE, WILTSHIRE, 1949'
- Price Realised: €12,000
- Sale: 17 September 2007
- watercolour with crayon and pencil
- 20 by 20cm., 7.75 by 8in.
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'APPLES ON A TABLE'
- Price Realised: €12,000
- Sale: 17 February 2004
- watercolour and gouache on buff-coloured paper
- 14 by 23cm., 5.5 by 9in.
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'GOAT IN THE SNOW, 1950'
- Price Realised: €11,500
- Sale: 26 November 2012
- black ink and wash over pencil with gouache on tinted paper
- 22 by 16in., 55.88 by 40.64cm.
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'RAINSTORM BEARA, 1988'
- Price Realised: €11,500
- Sale: 25 April 2006
- signed and inscribed on reverse, also with exhibition label on reverse
- 18 by 26cm., 7 by 10.2in.
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'TORSO, 1961'
- Price Realised: €11,500
- Sale: 21 February 2006
- watercolour and bodycolour on paper
- 18 by 13cm., 7 by 5in.
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'SUMMER STORM'
- Price Realised: €11,500
- Sale: 26 April 2005
- watercolour, pen and ink on paper
- 13 by 18cm., 5 by 7.25in.
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'THE TÁIN - PORTFOLIO No. 2, 1969 (SET OF TWELVE)'
- Price Realised: €10,500
- Sale: 30 May 2011
- lithographic brush drawings (12); each no. 41 from an edition of 70 (unframed)
- 54 by 37cm., 21.2 5 by 14.7 5in.
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'LEMON, 1984'
- Price Realised: €10,000
- Sale: 04 March 2024
- oil on canvas
- 8¾ x 10½in. (22.23 x 26.67cm)
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'SEASIDE FAIRGROUND, BRAY HEAD, 1949'
- Price Realised: €10,000
- Sale: 26 September 2016
- watercolour on card
- 6½ x 6in. (16.51 x 15.24cm)
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'JAMES JOYCE STUDY 92, 1978'
- Price Realised: €10,000
- Sale: 30 September 2013
- watercolour
- 15.5 by 13.5in., 38.75 by 33.75cm.
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'STUDY OF AUGUST STRINDBERG, 1980'
- Price Realised: €9,500
- Sale: 30 May 2016
- watercolour
- 23¼ x 17½in. (59.06 x 44.45cm)
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'THE TÁIN. CUCHULAINN CONFRONTING FERDIA and HORSEMAN, 1969 (A PAIR)'
- Price Realised: €8,500
- Sale: 25 November 2013
- lithographic brush drawings on Swiftbrook paper; (each no. 12 from an edition of 70)
- 20.75 by 14.5in., 51.875 by 36.25cm.
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'NOISIU - ILLUSTRATION TO THE T¦IN, 1969'
- Price Realised: €8,500
- Sale: 09 December 2006
- lithograph (no. 33 from an edition of 70)
- 54 by 38cm., 21.2 5 by 15in.
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'PICASSO, 1989'
- Price Realised: €8,500
- Sale: 28 November 2006
- lithograph (no. 20 from an edition of 29)
- 67 by 51cm., 26.5 by 20in.
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'THEATRE STUDY FOR RED ROSES FOR ME, 1946'
- Price Realised: €8,250
- Sale: 25 November 2019
- ink and watercolour
- 5½ x 9in. (13.97 x 22.86cm)
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'EIGHT IRISH WRITERS, 1981'
- Price Realised: €8,000
- Sale: 26 November 2012
- collotype lithographs (8); (nos. 97 from an edition of 100); unframed, in the original linen folio case
- 13.25 by 11.25in., 33.655 by 28.575cm.
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'STUDY OF FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA, 1977'
- Price Realised: €8,000
- Sale: 04 October 2010
- watercolour
- 23 by 19cm., 9.25 by 7.5in.
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'PICASSO, 1989'
- Price Realised: €8,000
- Sale: 26 November 2007
- lithograph (no. 23 from an edition of 29)
- 67 by 51cm., 26.5 by 20in.
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'JAMES JOYCE STUDY 1, 1977'
- Price Realised: €8,000
- Sale: 30 November 2004
- charcoal on paper
- 23 by 19cm., 9.25 by 7.5in.
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'JAMES JOYCE, STUDY 21'
- Price Realised: €8,000
- Sale: 17 February 2004
- charcoal on paper
- 23 by 19cm., 9 by 7.5in.
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'SIX MASKS FOR THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD'
- Price Realised: €8,000
- Sale: 17 September 2002
- aquatint on Japanese rice paper laid on handmade rag paper
- 178 by 43cm., 70 by 17in.
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'STUDY TOWARDS AN IMAGE OF W. B. YEATS, 1975'
- Price Realised: €7,700
- Sale: 30 April 2007
- aquatint on Arches paper
- 50 by 44cm., 19.7 5 by 17.2 5i
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'ANNAMOE RIVER, COUNTY WICKLOW'
- Price Realised: €7,700
- Sale: 18 November 2003
- pen and ink with wash
- 12 by 18cm., 4.75 by 7in.
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'THE CURRAGH, 1991'
- Price Realised: €7,500
- Sale: 21 May 2012
- watercolour
- 7 by 10.25in., 17.78 by 26.035cm.