WHYTE’S SEPTEMBER ART AUCTION DELIVERS 150 OUTSTANDING WORKS BY THE MOST DESIRABLE IRISH & INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS
The auction will take place at the Freemasons Hall, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2 and online at bid.whytes.ie. Viewing takes place at Whyte’s Galleries from Wednesday to Friday 21-23 September, 10am to 5pm, Saturday and Sunday 24 & 25 September, 1pm to 5pm and Monday 26 September – day of sale - 10am to 4pm.
Writing after Harry Kernoff's death in 1975, John Nolan hailed the artist as 'the artist of the workers', noting his lifelong 'identification with progressive, radical, working-class ideas.' In his art, one of Kernoff's most manifest displays of sympathy with the political left came through his repeated depiction of Liberty Hall on Eden Quay. Lot 31, Liberty Hall, Dublin (Night), 1931 (illustrated above, €20,000-€30,000) characteristically depicts a cross-section of Dublin's working population, from labourers and dockers to aproned women and busy mothers and is a fine example of the artist’s work. Another Dublin scene, Bend in the Road, Howth, 1937 (lot 34) guiding at €10,000-€15,000, is also filled with characteristic details such as courting couples, running children and a sign for 'Doyle's' tea shop' (along with a glimpse into its interior). Kernoff also masterfully captures the changing gradient of Howth hill, with a jigsaw of sloping roofs, steep paths, and the cliff face, spanning out to the beach beyond. An abstract work, Extension in Time Space, Or, Time Space is Curved, 1941 (lot 30, €5,000-€7,000) is also on offer while Portrait of Ginger (lot 32, €800-€1,200) demonstrates Kernoff’s ability to capture Dublin characters up close.
Pauline Bewick was born in the north of England but was raised primarily in Co Kerry. Mainly self-taught, although she did attend the National College of Art and Design in 1950. She held her first exhibition in the Clog Gallery, Dublin in 1957 and at the Leicester and Piccadilly Galleries in London. Bewick lived and worked in Glenbeigh, Co. Kerry from 1974. The news of her death in July this year prompted a message of condolence from President Higgins also stating ‘Pauline’s life of generosity was exemplified by her gifting of over 500 pieces of her life’s work to the Irish nation on her seventieth birthday.’ Their Cat, 1978 (lot 59, €3,000-€4,000, illustrated above) and India Eating Cherries in Tuscany, 1988 (lot 60, €3,000-€4,000) demonstrate the artist’s skill in watercolour while an early oil, The Orchard, 1963 (lot 61, €4,000-€6,000) is also on offer. Other notable works by female artists in the auction include Norah McGuinness’ Kittiwakes, Dunmore, 1977 (lot 47, €20,000-€30,000) and Black Seaweed, 1969 (lot 50, €10,000-€15,000), while Mainie Jellett is represented with a charming watercolour Babbin and Betty, Fitzwilliam Square, 1918 (lot 25, €3,000-€4,000), depicting her two sisters at the family home in Dublin. Whilst Daniel O’Connell’s baldness is today largely forgotten, in his own time it was a widely known fact thanks to the jibes of satirists and political opponents. Sir Martin Archer Shee’s important and intriguing portrait of Daniel O’Connell (lot 95, €12,000-€18,000) the Liberator, is the only known official portrait to depict him with his natural receding hairline, rather than the recognisable mop of brown hair with which he was usually depicted for posterity. It was previously in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum, NY.
