Adams Important Irish Art 5th December 2018
https://adams.auctioneersvault.com/catalogues/3133/
AUCTION
Wednesday 5th December 2018
at 6pm
VENUE
Adam’s Salerooms,
26 St. Stephen’s Green,
Dublin
D02 X665,
Ireland
SALE VIEWING NOVEMBER 30TH - DECEMBER 5TH
Adam’s, 26 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin D02 X665 Friday 30th November 10.00am - 5.00pm
Saturday 1st November 12.00pm - 6.00pm
Sunday 2nd December 12.00pm - 6.00pm
Monday 3rd December 10.00am - 5.00pm
Tuesday 4th December 10.00am - 4.00pm
Wednesday 5th December 10.t00am - 5.00pm
ADAM’S
Est.1887
26 St. Stephen’s Green
Dublin D02 X665
Tel +353 1 6760261
2. Front cover : Lot 48 F.E. McWilliam
Back cover : Lot 41 Louis le Brocquy
Inside front : Lot 9 Patrick Hennessy
Inside back : Lot 28 Gerard Dillon
Opposite : Lot 44 Augustus John
4. 4
Brian Coyle FSCSI FRICS
CHAIRMAN
James O’Halloran BA FSCSI FRICS
MANAGING DIRECTOR
j.ohalloran@adams.ie
Stuart Cole MSCSI MRICS
DIRECTOR
s.cole@adams.ie
Amy McNamara BA
FINE ART DEPARTMENT
amymcnamara@adams.ie
Eamon O’Connor BA
DIRECTOR
e.oconnor@adams.ie
Adam Pearson BA
FINE ART DEPARTMENT
a.pearson@adams.ie
Helena Carlyle
ADMINISTRATOR
h.carlyle@adams.ie
Niamh Corcoran
ADMINISTRATOR
niamh@adams.ie
Ronan Flanagan
FINE ART DEPARTMENT
r.flanagan@adams.ie
Nick Nicholson
CONSULTANT
n.nicholson@adams.ie
Nicholas Gore Grimes
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
nicholas@adams.ie
Claire-Laurence Mestrallet BA, G.G
HEAD OF JEWELLERY & WATCHES
claire@adams.ie
Katie McGale BCIT, MPHIL, Assoc SCSI
JEWELLERY, SILVER & WATCHES
katie@adams.ie
5. AUCTION
Wednesday 5th December 2018
at 6pm
VENUE
Adam’s Salerooms,
26 St. Stephen’s Green,
Dublin
D02 X665,
Ireland
SALE VIEWING NOVEMBER 30TH
- DECEMBER 5TH
Adam’s, 26 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin D02 X665
Friday 30th
November 10.00am - 5.00pm
Saturday 1st
November 12.00pm - 6.00pm
Sunday 2nd
December 12.00pm - 6.00pm
Monday 3rd
December 10.00am - 5.00pm
Tuesday 4th
December 10.00am - 4.00pm
Wednesday 5th
December 10.t00am - 5.00pm
ADAM’S
Est.1887
26 St. Stephen’s Green
Dublin D02 X665
Tel +353 1 6760261
Important Irish Art
ADAM’S
Est.1887
6. 6
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR PURCHASERS
1. Estimates and Reserves
These are shown below each lot in this sale. All amounts shown are in Euro. The figures shown are provided merely as a guide to
prospective purchasers. They are approximate prices which are expected, are not definitive and are subject to revision. Reserves,
if any, will not be any higher than the lower estimate.
2. Paddle Bidding
All intending purchasers must register for a paddle number before the auction. Please allow time for registration. Potential
purchasers are recommended to register on viewing days.
3. Payment, Delivery and Purchasers Premium
Thursday 6th December 2018. Under no circumstances will delivery of purchases be given whilst the auction is in progress. All
purchases must be paid for and removed from the premises not later than Friday 7th December 2018 at the purchaser’s risk and
expense. After this time all uncollected lots will be removed to commercial storage and additional charges will apply.
Auctioneers commission on purchases is charged at the rate of 20% (exclusive of VAT).
Terms: Strictly cash, card, bankers draft or cheque drawn on an Irish bank. Cheques will take a minimum of five workings days
to clear the bank, unless they have been vouched to our satisfaction prior to the sale, or you have a previous cheque payment
history with Adam’s. Purchasers wishing to pay by credit card (Visa & MasterCard) may do so, however, it should be noted that
such payments will be subject to an administrative fee of 1.5% on the invoice total. American Express is subject to a charge of
3.65% on the invoice total. Debit cards including laser card payments are not subject to a surcharge, there are however daily limits
on Laser card payments. Bank Transfer details on request. Please ensure all bank charges are paid in addition to the invoice total,
in order to avoid delays in the release of items. Goods will only be released upon clearance through the bank of all monies due.
Artists Resale Rights (Droit de Suite) is not payable by purchasers.
4. VAT Regulations
All lots are sold within the auctioneers VAT margin scheme. Revenue Regulations require that the buyers premium must be
invoiced at a rate which is inclusive of VAT. This is not recoverable by any VAT registered buyer.
5. Condition
It is up to the bidder to satisfy themselves prior to buying as to the condition of a lot. Whilst we make certain observations on the
lot, which are intended to be as helpful as possible, references in the condition report to damage or restoration are for guidance
only and should be evaluated by personal inspection by the bidder or a knowledgeable representative. The absence of such a ref-
erence does not imply that an item is free from defects or restoration, nor does a reference to particular defects imply the absence
of any others. The condition report is an expression of opinion only and must not be treated as a statement of fact.
Please ensure that condition report requests are submitted before 12 noon on Tuesday 4th Decemberas we cannot guarantee that
they will be dealt with after this time.
6. Absentee Bids
We are happy to execute absentee or written bids for bidders who are unable to attend and can arrange for bidding to be con-
ducted by telephone. However, these services are subject to special conditions (see conditions of sale in this catalogue). All
arrangements for absentee and telephone bidding must be made before 5pm on the day prior to sale. Cancellation of bids must
be confirmed before this time and cannot be guaranteed after the auction as commenced.
Bidding by telephone may be booked on lots with a minimum estimate of €500. Early booking is advisable as availability of lines
cannot be guaranteed.
7. Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge, with thanks, the assistance of Denise Ferran, Karen Reihill, S.B. Kennedy, Niamh Corcoran,
Helena Carlyle, Anne Marie Keaveney and Christopher Rakoczi.
8. All lots are being sold under the Conditions of Sale as printed in this catalogue and on
display in the salerooms.
8. 8
1 JAMES LE JEUNE RHA (1910-1983)
Idyllic Days - Children Playing on a Beach
Oil on canvas, 31 x 46cm (12¼ x 18’’)
Signed
€ 1,000 - 1,500
9. 9
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
2 JOHN DOHERTY (B.1949)
‘Eyeries’, West Cork
Oil on board, 30 x 39cm (11¾ x 15¼’’)
Signed and dated 2016 verso
€ 5,000 - 7,000
10. 10
3 TOM CARR HRHA (1909-1999)
Lake Scene with Heron
Watercolour, 36 x 55cm (14¼ x 21½’’)
Signed
€ 1,500 - 2,500
4 MARK O’NEILL (B.1963)
Oldtown, Terracotta II
Oil on board, 29 x 19cm (11½ x 7½’’)
Signed; also signed and inscribed verso
€ 1,200 - 1,600
11. 11
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
5 MARK O’NEILL (B.1963)
Vibrant Slaney
Oil on board, 41 x 74cm (16 x 29’’)
Signed and dated 2018
€ 4,000 - 6,000
12. 12
6 GEORGE GILLESPIE RUA (1924-1995)
November Evening, Cloghan, Westport Bay
Oil on canvas, 40.5 x 51cm (16 x 20’’)
Signed
€ 1,500 - 2,500
7 PETER COLLIS RHA (1929-2012)
Vico Road Series
Oil on board, 17 x 26cm (6¾ x 10¼’’)
Signed; dated 1980 verso
€ 600 - 800
13. 13
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
8 KENNETH WEBB RWS FRSA RUA (B.1927)
Golden Bog, Roundstone
Oil on canvas, 47 x 36cm (18½ x 14¼’’)
Signed
€ 4,000 - 6,000
14. 14
9 PATRICK HENNESSY RHA (1915-1980)
Interior, Still Life with a Vase of Flowers on a Chair
Oil on canvas, 61 x 51cm (24 x 20’’)
Signed
Cork artist Patrick Hennessy’s painting skills were recognized early in his career, winning a scholarship
to study at Dundee College in Scotland, and a further one which enabled him to travel to Paris and
Rome. During his time at Dundee he met Henry Robertson Craig and both were taught by James McIn-
tosh Patrick RSA. Hennessy also travelled throughout Europe and to Morocco, but returned to Ireland
in 1939, dividing his time between Cork and Dublin, where he exhibited regularly at David Hendriks
Gallery and from 1941 at the RHA. He was elected a member of the Academy in 1949. His works can
be found in major public collections such as the National Gallery of Ireland, Irish Museum of Modern
Art, Dublin City Gallery – The Hugh Lane, the Ulster Museum and the Crawford Gallery.
€ 7,000 - 10,000
16. 16
11 JAMES HUMBERT CRAIG RHA RUA (1877-1944)
In the Glens of Antrim
Oil on canvas, 40.5 x 51cm (16 x 20’’)
Signed
€ 1,500 - 2,500
10 PATRICK LEONARD HRHA (1918-2005)
Crowded Church, Skerries
Oil on board, 72 x 57cm (28¼ x 22½’’)
Signed and dated 1970
€ 2,000 - 3,000
17. 17
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
12 PATRICK HENNESSY RHA (1915-1980)
Connemara Landscape with Rock Pool
Oil on canvas, 63 x 76cm (24¾ x 30’’)
Signed
€ 5,000 - 8,000
18. 18
14 WILLIAM PERCY FRENCH (1854-1920)
A Gleam before the Storm
Watercolour, 19 x 33cm (7½ x 13’’)
Signed and dated 1900
€ 2,000 - 3,000
13 WILLIAM PERCY FRENCH (1854-1920)
On the Road to Falcarragh
Watercolour, 25 x 35cm (9¾ x 13¾’’)
Signed
€ 3,000 - 5,000
19. 19
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
15 WILLIAM PERCY FRENCH (1854-1920)
Extensive River Landscape at Dusk
Watercolour, 28 x 53cm (11 x 20¾’’)
Signed
Watercolour Society of Ireland Exhibition label verso, with the artist’s name and address, given as 35
Mespil Road, Dublin
€ 3,000 - 5,000
20. 20
16 WILLIAM SADLER II (1782-1839)
Farm Labourers Resting in a Wooded Landscape with Dublin Bay in the Distance
Oil on panel, 27 x 37.5cm (10½ x 14¾’’)
Provenance: With Cynthia O’Connor Gallery, Dublin, December 1988, Catalogue No.6.
€ 4,000 - 6,000
21. 21
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
17 JAMES ARTHUR O’CONNOR (1792-1841)
A Landscape with a Waterfall
Oil on panel, 28.5 x 36cm (11¼ x 14¼’’)
Signed and dated 1825
Provenance: With Cynthia O’Connor Gallery, Dublin, August 1989, Catalogue No.25.
€ 5,000 - 7,000
22. 22
19 IRISH SCHOOL (EARLY 19TH CENTURY)
A Wooded Lake and Mountain Landscape with
Cattle Drover and Herd on a Path
Oil on canvas, 45 x 60cm (17¾ x 23½’’)
€ 1,000 - 2,000
18 THOMAS CRESWICK RA (1811-1869)
Figure Resting by a River in an Extensive
Landscape
Oil on board, 25.5 x 30.4cm (10 x 12’’)
Signed
€ 1,000 - 2,000
23. 23
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
20 FRANCIS S. WALKER RHA (1848-1916)
A Woman’s Task
Oil on canvas, 35.5 x 30cm (14 x 11¾’’)
Signed; also signed and inscribed verso ‘Breakfast, dinner and supper / all the year round / near Bunbeg /
some of the islands of Arranmore / F.S. Walker / A Woman’s Task’.
Literature: Walker & Mathew, ‘Ireland’, Adam & Charles Black, London, 1905, frontispiece illustration. (See
lot 21)
€ 3,000 - 5,000
24. 24
23 FRANCIS WILLIAM TOPHAM (1808-1877)
Gathering Ferns
Watercolour, 65 x 45cm (25½ x 17¾’’)
Signed and dated 1870
€ 1,500 - 2,500
22 FRANCIS S. WALKER RHA (1848-1916) AND
FRANK MATHEW
Ireland
With 79 colour illustrations by F.S Walker and described
by F. Mathew
Published by Adam & Charles Black, Soho Square,
London, 1912
€ 200 - 300
21 FRANCIS S. WALKER RHA (1848-1916)
A Happy Home
Oil on canvas, 28 x 38cm (11 x 15’’)
Signed, dated 1903 and inscribed verso ‘A hap-
py Home / Fintan / Co. Donegal / F.S. Walker’
Literature: Walker & Mathew, ‘Ireland’, Adam &
Charles Black, London, 1905, illustrated facing
page 136.
€ 2,000 - 3,000
22
26. 26
24 EDWIN HAYES RHA RI ROI (1819-1904)
A Merchantman Heaving -To and Calling for a Pilot as She Approaches Harbour
Oil on canvas, 104 x 139cm (41 x 54¾’’)
Signed
Edwin Hayes was born in Bristol in 1820 but brought up in Dublin where his father ran the Bristol and Glasgow Hotel in
Marlborough Street. He studied at the Dublin Society’s Schools and from the very first his ambition was to be a marine
painter. His experiences as a pleasure sailor on the Irish Sea and also as a hand on a trans-Atlantic vessel stood him in
good stead in his future art, as Walter Strickland noted ‘ his experiences enabled him in his pictures to delineate the
sea and shipping with a sincerity and truth born of experience.’ Hayes first exhibited at the Royal Hibernian Academy
in 1842 and continued to exhibit there until his death in 1904, showing hundreds of paintings over that period. He
remained in Dublin for ten years before moving to London. He also exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts, British Insti-
tution, Society of British Artists and the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours, becoming a full member of the latter
in 1863.
Hayes painted the shores and harbours of the British coast, the south coast fishing boats and French and Dutch lug-
gers, and his visits to the coasts of France, Spain and Italy yielded him many subjects, not to mention many of the coasts
around Ireland, particularly in the east. He died as he had wished, standing at his easel, aged eighty five.
€ 8,000 - 12,000
28. 28
26 MAURICE C. WILKS RUA ARHA (1910-1984)
The Harvester
Oil on canvas, 56 x 46cm (22 x 18’’)
Signed
Provenance: With the Eakin Gallery, Belfast, where
purchased by the present owner, 1996.
€ 3,000 - 5,000
25 MAURICE MACGONIGAL PRHA (1900-1979)
Mending the Currach
Oil on board, 80 x 121cm (31½ x 47½”)
Provenance: Commission for Runnymeade House;
Ardbraccan House, Navan, Co Meath
This work was part of an early commission (1926/27)
that MacGonigal received for Runnymeade House
on Shrewsbury Road, illustrating the lifestyle of the
Aran Islanders.
€ 5,000 - 7,000
30. 30
27 DANIEL O’NEILL (1920-1974)
Boy from the North
Oil on board, 40 x 50cm (15¾ x 19¾’’)
Signed; inscribed verso
Belfast painter Daniel O’Neill made the decision to paint full time in 1945 having worked as an elec-
trician in the Belfast shipyards. He first exhibited with Victor Waddington in Dublin in 1946, and later
with the Dawson Gallery in the 1960s. He moved to London in the late 1950s, finally returning to Bel-
fast in 1969, where he continued to paint his highly recognisable portraits and figures in landscapes,
including the present work, Boy from the North. His individual, evocative style and intense colours
make for poignant and expressive pictures. The artist’s sister Maureen O’Neill recalled that when he
was asked what he painted, O’Neill usually gave the cryptic response that, ‘he painted landscapes with
people and people in landscapes’.
In the present work, the use of colour throughout the composition is harmonious, giving unity and a
timeless mood to the piece, while O’Neill’s masterly use of impasto and glaze techniques impart inter-
est to the various elements, inviting the viewer to re-interpret the meaning of the scene. Daniel O’Neill
had created a pictorial world of his own and it was commented by the critic from The Irish Times that it
was ‘as strange and exotic as any Xanadu, rich in colour and sensuous in quality’, while The Irish Inde-
pendent critic remarked: ‘rich with humanity, he makes the unequivocal statement in paint; his colour
glowing yet controlled’.
We are grateful to Anne Marie Keaveney, whose writings have formed the basis of this entry
€ 10,000 - 15,000
32. 32
28 GERARD DILLON (1916-1971)
Near Moyard
Oil on board, 30 x 45cm (11¾ x 17¾’’)
Signed
Dawson Gallery Exhibition label verso
Exhibited: ‘Gerard Dillon, Early Paintings of The West’ The Dawson Gallery, March, 1971, Ex Catalogue
Dillon stayed in Moyard in Connemara in 1950 and 1953 but the style of this painting would suggest it was
painted from a sketch at a later date. In the late 1950’s Dillon rented a cottage from an English couple in the
area of Dawrosmore near Letterfrack and scenes from this period indicate he visited a number of locations
between Clifden and Letterfrack. On his annual holidays to Connemara, the locals allowed him into their
homes to paint portraits, or study them working outside in their fields cutting turf, thatching roofs, fishing,
repairing currachs or planting vegetables. In this composition, a male figure is in the act of carrying fodder
to his pony which is grazing in an enclosed field. The blue sky, washing line and cottage evoke an idyllic
summers day from another era when people lived off the land. In the 1950’s, before modern transport,
ponies and carts carried loads of hay, turf and wrack to small farms which were sparsely located in isolated
areas in the West of Ireland.
In March, 1971 Gerard Dillon was in the Adelaide hospital in Dublin recovering from a stroke when an exhi-
bition of his ‘Early Paintings of The West’ was opened at Leo Smith’s Dawson Gallery. Twenty-nine oil paint-
ings were listed in the catalogue but six oils were also exhibited but did not appear in the catalogue. This
painting ‘Near Moyard’ was one of those paintings which was ex-catalogue. Leo Smith made regular visits
to the hospital to give Dillon news of his exhibition and Dillon shared his feelings of pleasure with his family
in Belfast. In a letter to his nephew, Dillon commented:
‘Leo [Smith] was here today - I’ve sold 32 paintings altogether - there were some that weren’t in the catalogue. So,
the show has been a great success from a selling point of view.’ (undated letter addressed to Gerard and Maureen[-
Dillon])
The reports in the Press and the success of the exhibition at the Dawson Gallery gave Dillon the stimulus
and confidence to remain strong throughout his illness. After the exhibition ended, he wrote to his Belfast
friend, Patrick Kelly in London from his hospital bed, ‘My show in the Dawson of early work of the West of Ire-
land sold 35 and that is unbelievable…God isn’t it a good thing…’ Dillon did make a recovery from his illness
and arrangements were being made for him to travel to London where he was expected to stay at a rehabil-
itation treatment center. Tragically, he had another stroke and died at the age of fifty-five on 14th June, 1971.
Karen Reihill
November, 2018
€ 30,000 - 40,000
34. 34
29 GERARD DILLON (1916-1971)
Clown Thinking
Oil on board, 50 x 76cm (19¾ x 30’’)
Signed; inscribed verso
Provenance: With Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast.
A mostly self taught artist, Belfast born Gerard Dillon began painting full time in the late 1930s, having left
school at the age of fourteen to pursue a career as a painter and decorator and studying at the Belfast Tech-
nical School before moving to London in 1934. In the following decade Dillon spent bouts in both London and
Dublin, having exhibitions there and in Northern Ireland. His first solo exhibition was at the Country Shop in
Dublin in 1942 and was opened by Mainie Jellett. He exhibited at the first IELA exhibition in 1943, joining the
Committee in 1950, a position he held until his death.
However the place that significantly impacted the subject matter of his painting was the West of Ireland, where
he was intrigued by the locals and the landscape. Dillon received international recognition in 1958 when he
had the double honour of representing Ireland at the Guggenheim International Show in New York and Great
Britain at the Pittsburgh International Exhibition. During his career he continually exhibited at the Victor Wad-
dington Gallery, the Dawson Gallery and with at the RHA.
From the mid 1960s following a series of traumatic events in Dillons life, a clown and later a pierrot figure ap-
peared in his works that lasted till his death in 1971. In 1962, the first of his brothers Joe died of heart related
problems; Patrick died two years later in 1964 from stomach cancer and in 1966, John died from a heart at-
tack. In 1965, Clown images reflected the artists psychological state of depression and two years later, a white
pierrot figure appeared which helped him to search for answers to these traumatic events through dreams
which showed aspects of his subconscious and consciousness in relation to his fear of dying like his brothers
at the age of fifty-five. His fear was realised when he died in 1971 at that same age.
We are grateful to Karen Reihill whose writings have formed the basis of this entry.
€ 6,000 - 10,000
36. 36
30 GERARD DILLON (1916-1971)
Dreaming
Pen and watercolour on paper,
20 x 34.5cm (8 x 13½’’)
Signed
€ 1,000 - 2,000
31 GERARD DILLON (1916-1971)
Abstract Composition
Watercolour and pastel on board,
25 x 35cm (9¾ x 13¾’’)
Signed
€ 1,200 - 1,600
37. 37
Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
32 GERARD DILLON (1916-1971)
Study for Tom Baker, Moyard
Ink and watercolour, 26 x 32cm (10¼ x 12½’’)
Signed
Executed in 1950, the sitter in this composition can be identified as Thomas Baker who met the artist when Dillon decided
to rent a thatched cottage, ‘Cloonederowen’ in Moyard in the West of Ireland. While Dillon stayed at Moyard he became
friendly with the Baker family whose neighbouring farm supplied him with milk, eggs and potatoes. The youngest member
of the Baker family, known as ‘Tom’ had the daily task of bringing supplies to Dillon, who often had friends and family visiting
from London, Dublin and Belfast. Seated on a bed, Thomas Baker is depicted in shorts and a jacket. In an interview with
this writer Thomas Baker recalled sitting for Dillon when he was a young boy.
‘People were regularly moving in and out of the cottage but I remember Gerard Dillon coming to stay because he paid me to be a
model for his oil paintings. He did several sketches of me in Moyard, Roundstone and Leenane.’
(Interview with Tom Baker, Moyard, Connemara, 15.6.11)
The drawings and watercolours were later transferred into known titles, ‘Tom Baker by the Black Lake’, (Private Collection),
and ‘The Yellow Bungalow’ (Ulster Museum). This watercolour ‘Thomas Baker’ is a study for ‘Thomas Baker, Moyard’ (private
collection) which was chosen to be included in Gerard Dillon’s retrospective exhibition in 1972/3 in the Ulster Museum in
Belfast and the Municipal Gallery in Dublin and was illustrated in the accompanying catalogue.
Karen Reihill, November, 2018
€ 2,500 - 3,500
38. 38
33 DANIEL O’NEILL (1920-1974)
Jeanie (1956)
Oil on board, 61 x 46cm (24 x 18’’)
Signed
Provenance: Waddington Galleries, Dublin 1956; Whyte’s, 14.03.2011, Lot No.61;
Private Collection.
Daniel O’Neill received no formal training yet assumes a position as one of
Ireland’s most popular and eminent artists. As with the present work, O’Neill
incorporated all the subtleties of an experienced artist with unified composi-
tions and good tonal harmonies. Ambiguity is a common theme within O’Neill’s
pictures and Jeanie is no exception; as a viewer we are drawn to the dark wonder
in the model’s eyes and the hint of a smile on her lips, which ultimately does not
yield any answers.
Throughout his career, the artist dealt with what it felt like to be a human being,
frequently drawing on his wife, her friends and other models for both artistic
inspiration and personal affection.
€ 10,000 - 15,000
41. 41
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
34 GEORGE CAMPBELL RHA (1917-1979)
Long Distance Truck Driver in Cafe, Zamora
Oil on board, 50 x 40cm (19¾ x 15¾’’)
Signed; inscribed verso
€ 4,000 - 6,000
35 WILLIAM CROZIER HRHA (1930-2011)
Malaga, May 1982
Acrylic on paper, 60 x 84cm (23½ x 33’’)
Signed, inscribed and dated 1982
Provenance: With the Eakin Gallery, Belfast.
€ 5,000 - 8,000
42. 42
38 BASIL IVAN RÁKÓCZI (1908-1979)
Three Vases
Oil on canvas, 63.5 x 52.5cm (25 x 20¾’’)
Signed
€ 2,500 - 3,500
37 BASIL IVAN RÁKÓCZI (1908-1979)
Boat
Oil on canvas, 37 x 53.5cm (14½ x 21’’)
Signed and dated (19)’74
€ 2,000 - 3,000
36 BASIL IVAN RÁKÓCZI (1908-1979)
Two Birds and a Nest
Oil on canvas, 49 x 59cm (19¼ x 23¼’’)
Signed; inscribed and dated (19)’68 verso
€ 2,500 - 3,500
44. 44
39 PETER COLLIS RHA (1929-2012)
The Road to Letterfrack (2006)
Oil on canvas, 66 x 76cm (26 x 30’’)
Signed
Provenance: With John Martin Gallery, London.
€ 3,000 - 4,000
45. 45
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
40 PETER COLLIS RHA (1929-2012)
Still Life with Black Jug
Oil on canvas, 86.4 x 86.4cm (34 x 34’’)
Signed
Provenance: With John Martin Gallery, London.
€ 3,000 - 5,000
46. 46
41 LOUIS LE BROCQUY HRHA (1916-2012)
Battersea Boy (1954)
Oil on canvas, 30.5 x 25.5cm (12 x 10’’)
Signed and dated (19)’54; inscribed verso
Provenance: With Mark Adams Fine Art; Private Collection, Northern Ireland; de Veres Art Auctions, Sale
June 2007, Lot 73; Private Collection Dublin.
In her introduction to the 1966 le Brocquy Retrospective exhibition at The Municipal Gallery of Modern
Art and The Ulster Museum, Prof. Anne Crookshank noted that the artist ‘is one of the strangely few art-
ists who were born into an environment where a knowledge and love of art and literature were matters
of everyday concern. Nevertheless, it was not until he was twenty-two, after he had been in the family’s
business for some four years, that he decided he wanted to paint above all else. He set about it in an un-
conventional way which is, however, the oldest method of learning: from the paintings of the past.
He was enthralled by Spanish painting and it’s influence has remained a feature of his work, where the pre-
cision of his tone values and his use of greys and whites, both very prominent factors in Spanish painting,
are constantly important.
‘From the beginning le Brocquy had remarkable fluency and the early academic paintings have a beauty
and authority which is astonishing in view of his inexperience. Occasionally, much later, he again used old
masters as the basis of his composition, but with much freer treatment. For instance, in Children in a Wood
(1954) which is based on a Nicolaes Maes, he has raised the original into the complexity of a nearly cubist
work, the figures and the background creating a closely related pattern like a carved high-relief.
About 1950, a noticeable change takes place in the artist’s style. His subject matter is still concerned with
human beings, but now more directly with the concept of family. The paintings are much simpler and for
the first time he realizes empty spaces and relates forms to them with conviction. His family groups are
placed in shallow, unidentifiable settings and represent the essential qualities of humanity rather that of
particular human beings.’
The present work, ‘Battersea Boy’ painted in 1954, when the artist was living and working in London, is one
of a small series of works depicting children from the locality where the artist lived. A similar sized work
entitled ‘Battersea Child’, also painted that year, was exhibited in the 1966 Retrospective (Cat. No. 29).
Crookshank comments further ‘His pictures of children, which occur frequently during these years, evoke
the innocence, wonder and clumsiness of the very young. But all his figures, though usually grouped, pro-
duce an impression of isolation. During these years he uses colour very sparingly and the overall effect is
one of tonal contrast. In 1955 this ‘grey period comes to an end.’
€ 10,000 - 15,000
48. 48
42 LOUIS LE BROCQUY HRHA (1916-2012)
Study towards an Image of Shakespeare (1982)
Watercolour, 61 x 46cm (24 x 18’’)
Signed and dated (19)’82
Opus no.W598
Provenance: With Gimpel Fils and Galerie Jeanne Bucher (labels
verso)
€ 10,000 - 15,000
50. 50
43 LOUIS LE BROCQUY HRHA (1916-2012)
Image of Samuel Beckett (1992)
Watercolour, 61 x 46cm (24 x 18’’)
Signed and dated (19)’92 front and back; inscribed verso
Opus no.W1192
Provenance: With L’Atelier Soardi (label verso)
€ 12,000 - 16,000
52. 52
44 AUGUSTUS JOHN OM RA (1878-1961)
Self Portrait
Oil on canvas, 46 x 35cm (18 x 13¾’’)
A letter is attached, dated 1st July 1942 from R.G. Gethin, Belline, Piltown, Co. Kilkenny to The Hon.
Secretary, Gifts Sale Committee, Irish Red Cross Society, and confirms that the writer’s brother, artist
Percy Gethin received the Self Portrait directly from Augustus John. Percy Gethin was killed in June
1916 in the Great War.
Provenance: Given by the artist to Percy Francis Gethin (1874-1916), thence by descent to R.G. Gethin,
who gifted it to the Irish Red Cross Society, c.1942. Sold to Louis Wine, Grafton Street for £40.00;
thence purchased by a Mr Sullivan for £60.00. Collection of T.M. Healy by 1962; Private Collection,
Ireland.
Augustus John was born in the harbour town of Tenby, in southwest Wales and went on to study at the
Slade School of Art from 1894 to 1898. A talented artist, John became known throughout Europe as a
proficient portraitist and made a living painting the leading personalities of the continent. This brought
him into contact with many great Irish names, such as James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw and William
Butler Yeats, cementing him as an artist for the Irish upper class.
A Bohemian by nature, John felt himself constantly drawn to the wildness of twentieth century gypsy
culture. Enthralled as he was, he spent much of his time traversing the British countryside in a horse
drawn caravan, living as part of a gypsy commune. His travels also brought him to Ireland, further
affiliating him with the country and instilling its land and culture firmly in his mind.
With the outbreak of WWI in 1914, John was enlisted to accompany the Canadian troops as a war
painter on the Western Front. Despite being given full reign to depict what he pleased, only one paint-
ing is known to have come out of his time there. However, he was not the only artist to find himself on
the front lines. An Irish painter, by name of Percy Francis Gethin, was also placed amongst the fighting,
sadly losing his life in 1916.
It was to Gethin that the current lot was originally gifted by Augustus John. Perhaps this portrait was
offered as a show of comradery from one artist to another at a time of upheaval or perhaps John had
met Gethin on one of his Irish visits, we cannot be sure. However, the war linked these two men, as
it did thousands of others and, despite Gethin’s death, this self-portrait remained in Ireland in the
hands of Gethin’s brother. In 1942, halfway through the Second World War, the painting was sold to aid
the Irish Red Cross in Dublin. From here it remained in the country, ultimately finding its way to these
salerooms seventy-six years later.
€ 20,000 - 30,000
54. 54
45 ROWAN GILLESPIE (B.1953)
The Violinist
Bronze, 15cm high x 14.5cm wide x 11cm deep
(6 x 5¾ x 4¼’’)
Signed, numbered 4/9 and dated (19)’98
The figure is based on violinist Eileen Ivers, whom
the artist was inspired to portray following a
concert.
€ 2,000 - 3,000
46 ROWAN GILLESPIE (B.1953)
The Guitarist
Bronze, 17.6cm high x 13cm wide x 9cm deep
(7 x 5 x 3½’’)
Signed, numbered 3/9 and dated (19)’98
€ 2,000 - 3,000
47 EAMONN O’DOHERTY (1939-2011)
The Emigrants (1990)
Bronze, 49cm high x 49cm long x 26cm diameter
(19¼ x 19¼ x 10¼’’)
Signed and dated (19)’90
€ 4,000 - 6,000
€ 4,000 - 6,000 4,000
55. 55
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
Irish Sculptor Eamonn O’Doherty’s work is amongst the best-known of any contemporary Irish artist. He may
also be, as far as name-recognition goes, the least famous. He created so many of Ireland’s late 20th century
public sculptures and yet remains relatively anonymous. His best known Irish sculpture is large scale public
works including ‘Fauscailt’, County Wexford (1998), ‘Crann an Oir’ (Tree of Gold) Central Bank Plaza Dublin
(1991), and the ‘Galway Hookers’, Eyre Square, Galway (1984). He has worked in bronze, stone and various
other media.
Born in Derry, he grew up in the West End Park area of the city. He graduated from University College Dublin
with an Architecture degree and was awarded a Visiting Scholarship to Harvard University. Before turning to
sculpture full-time in 2002, he lectured for many years at the Faculty of Architecture at the Dublin Institute
of Technology as well as the University of Jordan, the University of Nebraska and the Ecole Speciale d’Archi-
tecture in Paris.
Although O’Doherty has bordered on abstraction with such works as the Galway Hookers, which seems to
constantly change with the light that informs it, he is not, by nature an abstract artist. Like another Irish
Sculptor, Seamus Murphy, he was deeply involved in the idea of Irishness, in particular the idea that Ireland is
an island and the sense of leaving it and setting out. O’Doherty’s The Emigrants is intentionally sentimental,
focusing on a family group who are leaving Ireland (Derry was a major port of exodus for Irish after the fam-
ine) for America. They are carrying luggage, a book, a fiddle, to indicate the cultural baggage that emigrants
brought to the New World.
56. 56
48 FREDERICK E. MCWILLIAM HRUA RA (1909-1992)
Peace B - Banner Series (1975)
Bronze, 35cm high x 28.5cm wide x 16cm deep (13¾ x 11¼ x 6¼’’), raised on a polished limestone base
Signed with initials and numbered 4/5
(The plaster maquette is in the collection of F.E.McWilliam Gallery and Studio, Banbridge.)
Exhibited: Gordon Gallery, Derry, 1987, cat. no. 10; Sotheby’s 1996; Solomon Gallery 1998.
Literature: The Sculpture of F.E.McWilliam, Denise Ferran & Valerie Holman, Lund Humphries in association with
the Henry Moore Foundation, 2012, no. 424, illus, p. 161 and fig. 44, p. 72.
It was inevitable that McWilliam followed his series ‘Women of Belfast’ with his series of ‘Banners’ as he re-
sponded to events in Northern Ireland, with each series lasting no more than 3 years from the first idea to
completion. Out of the carnage of the bombings and murders during the ‘Troubles’, grew the ‘Peace People’
and their ever-increasing number marched through the main towns of Northern Ireland, rallying people to
join them in their call for ‘Peace’. This group was comprised mainly of women who did not want any other
mother to lose their son or daughter. McWilliam, through his friendship with T.P. Flanagan’s wife, Sheelagh,
who like me, had joined the ‘Peace People’, designed a Christmas card in 1974, which featured a lone woman,
carrying a banner with the word ‘Peace’ written on it.
The ‘Banners’ combined McWilliam’s delight in depicting the female form with his humour in developing the
theme beyond the ‘Peace’ theme to those with a play on words ‘No Broken Province’ or ‘Up the Grass Roots’.
The sculptor, from his early childhood in Banbridge, had witnessed vicious sectarian riots, which gave him a
lifelong detestation of bigotry in any form and he resolved to leave Northern Ireland as soon as he could.
By 1977, McWilliam had returned to his much more playful series of ‘Legs’ because he himself was aware that
‘The things you start a theme with are usually the best at the beginning. After a while a sort of repetition
seems to set in….’ McWilliam in conversation with Louisa Buck for the Irish Art series, 1983, p.5 Tate Gallery
Archive. In these two figures, apparently fighting one another with their Banners, one of which carries the
word ‘Peace’. McWilliam uses their clothing, including head coverings to give movement and an angular power
to the material, and, as always, carefully maintaining the anonymity of the subjects.
Dr Denise Ferran
November 2018
€ 8,000 - 12,000
58. 58
49 FREDERICK E. MCWILLIAM HRUA RA (1909-1992)
Leg Figure D (1977)
Bronze, 29.5cm high x 26cm wide x 9.5cm deep (11½ x 10¼ x 3¾’’)
Signed with initials and numbered 5/5
Exhibited: Taylor Galleries, 1979; Arts Councils of Ireland, 1981, cat. illus. p.86; Tate 1989, cat., illus., p. 62; NAC 1989;
Mayor Gallery 1990.
Literature: The Sculpture of F.E.McWilliam, Denise Ferran & Valerie Holman, Lund Humphries in association with the
Henry Moore Foundation, 2012, no. 424, p. 161.
After ‘Women of Belfast’ and ‘Woman in a Bomb-blast’ and the Banners series, McWilliam began his series of Legs in 1977.
It must have been a relief for the sculptor to turn from the deeply emotional subject matter of the ‘Troubles’ to the
beauty and playfulness of women’s ‘Legs’. In fact, McWilliam had begun ‘One pair of Legs’ and ‘Two pair of Legs’ in 1971,
before he began ‘Women of Belfast’ and these legs informed his women caught in a bomb-blast and thrown off balance.
‘Legs’ allowed McWilliam the freedom to model legs and attach these to different bodies and heads, such as a fish head
resulting in the surrealist figure ‘Lady into Fish’ and ‘Magritte’s Mermaid’ or ‘Legs with fig-leaf’. One of this series was ‘Leg
Figure D’ which was included in the Tate retrospective exhibition of 1989. Patrick Heron wrote to McWilliam after visit-
ing the Tate retrospective of his friend’s work: ‘I was fascinated by the hands and feet in all those 70’s figures. Nobody
else in this country has been able to do hands and feet like yours.’
McWilliam had countless drawings of women’s feet and legs and collected large advertising posters for women’s
stockings, which hung on his studio wall. The sculptor can achieve such expression and feeling in splayed toes and
outstretched legs, as in ‘Leg Figure D’ which resulted in Heron’s admiring observation. The Leg series continued from
1977 until 1981, ending with ‘Ms Orissa’ which combined ‘Legs Upended’ with a clothed head and shoulders, again mask-
ing identification. This series resulted in two large sculptures ‘Umbilicus’, FEMcWilliam Gallery and the large sculpture
of the ‘Judo Players’, Derry City Council.
Dr Denise Ferran
November 2018
€ 8,000 - 12,000
60. 60
50 SELMA MCCORMACK (20TH/21ST CENTURY)
Abandon (c.1991)
Bronze, 32cm high (12½’’)
Exhibited: Dublin, RHA Gallagher Gallery 1991,
‘Espace’ exhibition.
€ 800 - 1,200
51 JAMES MACINTYRE RUA (1926-2015)
Peeling Potatoes
Bronze, 21cm high x 22.6cm wide x 14cm deep
(8¼ x 9 x 5½’’)
Signed, dated (19)’75 and numbered 2/6
Stamped ‘Morris / Singer / Founders / London’ and
inscribed ‘The Bell Gallery’ on the underside
€ 1,000 - 1,500
61. 61
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
52 FREDERICK E. MCWILLIAM HRUA RA (1909-1992)
Woman of Belfast 10 - Woman in a Bomb Blast (1972)
Bronze, 22cm long x 13.5cm high x 9cm deep (8½ x 5¼ x 3½’’)
Signed and numbered 1/5
(The plaster maquette is in the collection of F.E.McWilliam Gallery and Studio, Banbridge.)
Exhibited : Waddington 1973; McClelland 1973, cat. no. 10; Arts Councils of Ireland 1981, cat.no.106, illus. p. 72; Gordon
Gallery 1990; Austin Desmond 1990; Banbridge 2008, exh. Cat., illus. p.101; Highlanes Gallery 2009.
Literature: The Sculpture of F.E.McWilliam, Denise Ferran & Valerie Holman, Lund Humphries in association with the
Henry Moore Foundation, no. 386, p. 156.
When McWilliam began modelling in clay and casting in bronze, a new freedom entered the sculptor’s figurative work
as in ‘Girls’ 1969 - 1971, ‘Women of Belfast’ 1972 - 1974, ‘Banners’ 1975 - 1976 and ‘Legs’ 1977 - 78. Although McWilliam
left Ireland at age 18 and lived in London most of his life, he maintained close links with family and friends in North-
ern Ireland and the ‘troubles’ affected him deeply especially the bomb which exploded in the Abercorn restaurant in
Belfast, March 1972. McWilliam wrote in July 1973 that his ‘Women of Belfast’ ‘are concerned with violence, with one
particular aspect, bomb-blast - the women as victim of man’s stupidity. …As they have a common subject matter these
sculptures have no titles - woman affected by violence - women of Belfast.’
It was significant for McWilliam that the two deaths, that day, were women as were many of the seriously injured. He
uses the drapery of these unfortunate and unsuspecting victims, to emphasise the impact of the blast, reminiscent
of the Greek figure, Nike of Samothrace. His drawing ability, honed by his student days at the Slade in London, are ev-
ident in the outstretched limbs, fingers and toes which express human suffering while the faces remain anonymous.
In 1973 McWilliam wrote about these works: ‘The figures are small because it was more convenient to make them
small…..If you have something to say it makes no difference whether you whisper or shout, so long as it is audible.’
Dr Denise Ferran
November 2018
€ 6,000 - 8,000
62. 62
53 PAUL HENRY RHA (1877-1958)
The Stick-Gatherer (1904)
Charcoal on paper, 47 x 23cm (18½ x 9’’)
Signed and dated 1904
Literature: Kennedy, S.B., Paul Henry, Yale 2000, p.33;
Kennedy, S.B., Paul Henry: with a catalogue of the Paintings,
Drawings, Illustrations, New Haven & London, Yale 2007,
CR No. 49 illustrated p.108. and noted ‘Whereabouts of
original unknown’.
€ 8,000 - 12,000
Drawn in 1904 when Henry was living and working in London. He described his time there as ‘the second great adventure’ of his life
and could be best described as a hiatus period between his student days in Paris and becoming a full-time painter. This period is
notable for a large output of illustrative works done for various publications. His personal life too was blossoming and on September
17th, 1903 he married Emily Grace Mitchell. Many of his friends and acquaintances from his time in Paris had returned to London
and had developed their careers in the newspaper and publishing businesses and it was through Ladbroke Black and Frank Rutter
that Henry got the opportunity to provide illustrations for To-Day, a weekly paper edited by the two men.
SB Kennedy notes in reference to the present work: ‘In the autumn of 1904 he began a series of illustrations called ‘Types’. The Un-
fortunate, a drawing of an elderly pauper reading a paper by the Thames embankment at dusk, appeared on 5 October 1904, and
was followed by The Grandmother (2 November), The Stick - Gatherer (9 November), The Ballad Singer (16 November) and The Crank (23
November). All of these drawings show his debt to Whistler and, indeed, that he continued to admire Whistler is evident from his
attendance at the latter’s funeral on 23 July 1903.’
We are grateful to Dr S.B.Kennedy whose writings formed the basis of this entry.
64. 64
54 JAMES LE JEUNE RHA (1910-1983)
Children Playing in a Garden
Oil on canvas, 35 x 45cm (13¾ x 17¾’’)
Signed
€ 1,500 - 2,000
65. 65
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
55 LOUIS LE BROCQUY HRHA (1916-2012)
Liffey near Celbridge (1992)
Watercolour, 17 x 25.5cm (6¾ x 10’’)
Signed and dated (19)’92
Exhibited: London, Gimpil Fils 1993.
€ 4,000 - 6,000
66. 66
56 PATRICK SCOTT HRHA (1921-2014)
Gold Painting 5.94
Gold leaf and tempera on canvas, 130 x 130cm (51¼ x 51¼’’)
Signed, dated 1994 and inscribed verso
Patrick Scott was born in Kilbrittain, Co. Cork, in 1921, trained as an architect but
did not become a full-time artist until 1960. He worked with architect Michael
Scott, on the design of Busáras, the central bus station in Dublin. He was also
responsible for the orange livery of Irish intercity trains.
Scott was perhaps best known for his gold paintings, abstracts incorporating
geometrical forms in gold leaf against a pale tempura background. These works
in particular are distinguished by their purity and sense of calm, reflecting his
own interest in Zen Buddhism. Paintings by Scott are in several important inter-
national collections including the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He won
the Guggenheim Award in 1960 and represented Ireland in the Venice Biennale
of that year. The Douglas Hyde Gallery held a major retrospective of his work in
1981 and the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin held a major survey in 2002.
Scott, who was a founding member of Aosdána, was conferred with the title
of Saoi in 2007, by President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, the highest honour that
can be bestowed upon an Irish artist. Patrick Scott died on 14 February 2014 at
the age of 93.
€ 8,000 - 12,000
68. 68
57 PATRICK SCOTT HRHA (1921-2014)
Abstract Composition (White on red)
Felt collage, 44.5 x 31.8cm (17½ x 12½’’)
Provenance: Gifted by the artist to the present
owner.
€ 800 - 1,200
58 PATRICK SCOTT HRHA (1921-2014)
Abstract Composition (Black on green)
Felt collage, 44.5 x 31.8cm (17½ x 12½’’)
Provenance: Gifted by the artist to the present
owner.
€ 800 - 1,200
59 PATRICK SCOTT HRHA (1921-2014)
Abstract Composition (Blue on gold)
Felt collage, 44.5 x 31.8cm (17½ x 12½’’)
Provenance: Gifted by the artist to the present
owner.
€ 800 - 1,200
69. 69
60 PATRICK SCOTT HRHA (1921-2014)
Abstract Composition (Green on black)
Felt collage, 44.5 x 31.8cm (17½ x 12½’’)
Provenance: Gifted by the artist to the present
owner.
€ 800 - 1,200
61 PATRICK SCOTT HRHA (1921-2014)
Abstract Composition (Rainbow)
Felt collage, 44.5 x 31.8cm (17½ x 12½’’)
Provenance: Gifted by the artist to the present
owner.
€ 800 - 1,200
62 PATRICK SCOTT HRHA (1921-2014)
Abstract Composition (Blue on black)
Felt collage, 44.5 x 31.8cm (17½ x 12½’’)
Provenance: Gifted by the artist to the present
owner.
€ 800 - 1,200
70. 70
63 MICHAEL FARRELL (1940-2000)
The Third Very Real Irish Political Picture - Miss O’Murphy,
d’apres Boucher
Oil on canvas, 104 x 118cm (41 x 46½’’)
Signed verso, dated 1978 and inscribed ‘en Ardêche’
A key element in Farrell’s Madonna Irlanda series, ‘The Third very real Irish Political Picture’ was
completed in 1978, part of a larger body of works all focused around the reassurance in violence
in Northern Ireland in the 1970s. This series has become synonymous with the artist’s oeuvre, in
which he produced a number of paintings and lithographs based around a very similar com-
position. He is not the first artist of his generation to use his work to comment directly on the
political and social issues of his country of birth. Farrell was deeply affected by the bombings in
both Dublin and Monaghan in May 1974 and this manifested itself in his Pressé Series. The later
Madonna Irlanda series, focused on a larger theme of modern Ireland and the country’s long
and protracted history of colonisation and sectarian violence. As Farrell remarked on the work, ‘I
thought, here we go; this is the right way to do it. You’d have Ireland as a whore, ridden by every-
body, mixed up with religion and the whole business, and as Ireland was a woman…that seemed
to be a better political way of doing the thing than the other paintings I’d done before….Ireland
is a feminine country and constantly referred to as she’ (Michael Farrell quoted in David Farrell,
Michael Farrell, The Life and Work of an Irish Artist, The Liffey Press, 2006, p.81).
He found an allegorical model for the country in François Boucher’s 18th-century erotic painting
of Louise O’Murphy (1737–1814), the youngest daughter of an Irish soldier turned shoemaker
who had settled in Rouen. Following her father’s death, Marie-Louise’s mother moved the family
to Paris where she traded old clothes and put her daughters to work as actresses, dancers and
models. In 1752, at the young age of 15, Marie - Louise posed nude for Francois Boucher’s pro-
vocative portrait of her, now in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich. O’Murphy was for a period of time a
mistress of Louis XI. She remained in France until her death in 1814.
In Farrell’s reworking of Boucher’s study, she becomes a profane “Madonna Irlanda”, the person-
ification of Ireland, one scandalously at odds with pious stereotypes. While he is clearly equat-
ing Ireland with the courtesan, he’s also implying that she is exploited and abused. Her body
stretched out on the chaise longue, her exposed pearly white skin and halo above her head. His
inclusion of printed lettering for the title, is reminiscent of political posters of the period. It is a
work that Farrell has repeatedly included himself, either in profile with lit cigarette hanging from
his lip, as in the painting in the Hugh Lane collection, or standing nude on top of an open book,
or as in this present example submerged in a tumbler of water. The figure in every expression, is
diminutive in comparison to the reclining body of Marie-Louise, and she is entirely oblivious to
his presence. Although she is sexually submissive in the pose, it is immediately clear to us that
he is not the dominant masculine presence in the work. In the same way that she has been ex-
ploited, he has been emasculated, rendered to an ineffectual presence, barely keeping his head
above water.
Niamh Corcoran, BA 2018
€ 20,000 - 30,000
72. 72
65 RODERIC O’CONOR (1860-1940)
Nude Study - Reclining
Ink, pencil and conte, 26 x 41cm (10¼ x 16’’)
Provenance: Dr. Robelet, Neuil sur Layon; Thierry & Lannon,
Brest, Sale of 14 October 2009.
€ 800 - 1,200
64 RODERIC O’CONOR (1860-1940)
Nude Study - View from the Back
Pencil and charcoal, 24 x 33cm (9½ x 13’’)
Provenance: Dr. Robelet, Neuil sur Layon; Thierry
& Lannon, Brest, Sale of 14 October 2009.
Frequent drawing from a posed life-model was an
essential part of Roderic O’Conor’s studio prac-
tice, and it was from sketches such as these that
he developed ideas and concepts for his paint-
ings of both clothed and unclothed models which
he made in his Paris studio. He had moved to the
city in 1904 following his well-documented thir-
teen year association with Brittany. It was in Paris
that his relationship with a young model, Renée
Honta began, and they eventually married in 1933
and moved to the small town of Nueil-sur-Layon
in the Départment of Maine et Loire in the far
west of France. After O’Conor’s death there in
1940, his widow became his chief beneficiary
under the terms of his will, and she continued to
live in the splendid maison-de-maitre which had
been their home. When she died in 1955, a local
resident, Doctor Robelet acquired a portfolio of
O’Conor’s drawings, which included these works
and with others they were subsequently sold by
the auction house of Thierry & Lannon in Brest, in
their sale of 14 October 2009.
Roy Johnston
€ 800 - 1,200
66 BASIL BLACKSHAW HRHA RUA (1932-2016)
Nude
Oil on canvas, 61 x 51cm (24 x 20”)
Signed
Exhibited: Basil Blackshaw retrospective, Ulster
Museum
€ 5,000 - 7,000
65
64
74. 74
67 RODERIC O’CONOR (1860-1940)
Model Seated (C.1915-17)
Oil on canvas, 55 x 46.5cm (21½ x 18¼’’)
Atelier stamp verso
Provenance: Studio of the artist, sold Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 7 February 1956.
Believed to be from the collection of Barnett Shine; Private Collection.
The colours and style of this work are consistent with a date of around 1915-17 when O’Conor’s studies
of nudes often conveyed a warmth and softness of focus that reflected his admiration for the late work
of Auguste Renoir. In Model Seated the restrained palette - blue, crimson, pink, cream and yellow - and
the way the background and the darker tones of the model’s head and torso have been blocked in using
stained pigment, have direct parallels in paintings by O’Conor such as Etude de femme (sold in these rooms,
1 October 2014, lot 96). In both works the model is positioned parallel to the picture plane, with her left
shoulder and arm catching the daylight that has entered through the studio windows just out of view to
the right. The subjects of both paintings also turn their heads slightly sideways, so that they gaze into the
distance rather than directly at the viewer.
A drawing of a model with identically folded arms, seated in an armchair, explored a very similar pose and
may have been a preparatory study for the present work (see Sotheby’s, London, British Impressionist
& Post-Impressionist Paintings & Drawings and Modern British Paintings, Drawings & Sculpture, 10 June
1981, lot 61). In the painting, however, the white chemise worn by the model in the drawing has been
pulled down and is just visible tucked beneath her arms. The brilliant white fabric, captured in a flurry of
brushstrokes, contrasts with the young woman’s tanned forearms.
O’Conor’s concentration on indoors subjects - still lifes and female models - during these years can be
explained at least in part by his decision to remain in Paris during the First World War. The cafés of Mont-
parnasse and Montmartre that had been full of artists were now practically deserted, a ban against liquor
was imposed, and models left the city in droves because there was no work. O’Conor, however, seems to
have maintained a solid work ethic and, in so doing, was not only able to continue his explorations of the
female form, but also to lend some material support to the modelling community. Indeed it was by these
means that he came to meet Henriette (Renée) Honta, who learned to paint under his guidance and would
later become his wife.
Jonathan Benington
€ 30,000 - 40,000
76. 76
69 LETITIA MARION HAMILTON RHA
(1878-1964)
Hunting Group in Woodland
Oil on board, 26 x 24.5cm (10¼ x 9¾”)
Signed with initials
€ 1,000 - 1,500
68 JOHN LUKE RUA (1906 - 1975)
Coastal Landscape
Watercolour, 15.5 x 24cm (6¼ x 9”)
Signed and dated (19)‘47
€ 800 - 1,200
77. 77
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
70 HANS ITEN RUA (1874-1930)
‘Snowy Landscape with Buildings’ and ‘A Wintry Wooded Lake Scene’
Double sided oil on board, 15 x 21.4cm (6 x 8½’’)
Signed on both sides
€ 2,000 - 3,000
78. 78
71 STYLE OF SAMUEL SPODE (19TH CENTURY)
Portrait of ‘Cloister’, Winner of the 1893 Grand National
Oil on canvas, 70 x 92cm
€ 1,500 - 2,500
79. 79
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
72 JAMES ARTHUR O’CONNOR (1792-1841)
Figures on a Woodland Path, Twilight
Oil on panel, 20 x 25cm (7¾ x 9¾’’)
Signed with initials and dated 1830
€ 3,000 - 5,000
80. 80
73 ERSKINE NICOL RSA ARA (1825 - 1904)
‘It Won’t Slip this Time’
Oil on canvas, 100 x 70cm (39.3 x 27.5”)
Signed and dated 1874
Erskine Nicol was a Scottish painter whose frequent visits to and love for Ireland allowed him to
slip into our collective of Irish artists. First visiting the country in 1846, Nicol became enamoured
by scenes of Irish rural life and continued to paint such subjects for the length of his career.
It is interesting to note the difference with which Nicol addressed his Irish subjects compared to
the approach used when painting his fellow Scotsmen. In the present work, we are presented
with a Scottish fisherman. Despite his flaming red hair, we are immediately alerted to his nation-
ality by the presence of his Balmoral Bonnet, a hat traditionally worn in the Scottish highlands.
This differs from the dress of his Irish models that are usually shown with the customary soft ‘top
hat’.
Unlike hunting and shooting, fishing was a sport for every class and it is fair to assume that this
man is of the same social standing as Nicol’s rural Irish subjects. However, the Victorian age was
a time in which science was developed and devoured with an insatiable hunger and several theo-
ries were spread regarding the evolution of man and its effects on the present physical make up
of different races. In particular, physiognomy became popular, a study in which an emphasis was
placed on the formation of the head in order to tell someone’s character or race.
Still in the grips of a colonial Britain, such ideologies were placed onto the Irish population and,
affected by these concepts, Nicol often transferred various attributes onto his depictions of
Ireland and her inhabitants. In particular, Nicol would use the angle and size of his subject’s
nose in order to portray their social character. A small, upturned nose was seen as denoting an
uneducated demeanour and was often falsely applied to an Irish face. In contrast, we see Nicol’s
Scotsman as boasting a strong and straight nose, casting him in a more favourable light.
Regardless of who he is painting, it is evident, through his work, that Nicol held a genuine fond-
ness and sympathy for those that he illustrated. In ‘It Won’t Slip this Time’, delicate brushstrokes
bring his fisherman’s face to life, enabling us to feel the determination with which he works. Such
empathy turns a figure into a story and we cannot help but root for his success. Behind him, the
wistful rendering of the receding mountains is obscure enough to allow the viewer to place the
scene in any mountain pass, bringing a personal romanticism to the piece. In a similar manner,
Nicol’s Irish scenes were painted so as to mimic each and every town, their caricatured tenants,
as here, easily taking the form of a brother, sister, neighbour or acquaintance.
€ 15,000 - 25,000
82. 82
74 CHARLES MACIVER GRIERSON RI (1864-1934)
A Tea Party
Watercolour, 56 x 65cm (22 x 25½”)
Signed
€ 1,500 - 2,000
83. 83
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
75 HOWARD HELMICK (1845-1907)
The Reluctant Pupil
Oil on canvas, 56 x 47cm (22 x 18½”)
Signed
€ 3,000 - 5,000
84. 84
76 GEORGE RUSSELL ‘AE’ (1867-1935)
Figures in the Dunes
Oil on canvas, 53 x 80cm (20¾ x 31½’’)
Signed ‘AE’
€ 3,000 - 5,000
George Russell grew up in Lurgan, Co. Amargh but moved to Dublin
at the age of 11. He is known not only for his paintings but as a writer,
poet, critic, theosophist and economist, and by his pseudonym ‘AE’ (a
derivative of the word Aeon).
He began night time painting classes at the Metropolitan School of
Art just two years after moving to Dublin, and went on to receive ac-
ademic training at the RHA. AE supported Hugh Lane’s campaign for
the gallery of modern art and was active in the Irish Literary Revival.
Iberian reviewed George Russell’s first exhibition in 1904 in The Irish
Homestead – ‘It is, perhaps, in his treatment of atmospheres that Mr
Russells most charming and satisfying effects are produced, and the
sense of brooding tranquillity and a living peace. [His] use, too, of a
solitary figure, or of a few figures wrapped about with silence and
the spaces of the air and the hills, is a revelation of the nearness of
natural men to the heart of nature itself. (The Irish Homestead, Vol.
X, No.35, 27 August 1904). This sense of the magical power of na-
ture and its spiritual and enigmatic character is what defines the best
specimens of George Russell’s work. Although he was sometimes crit-
icised for his prolific output, there are many fine examples among his
industrious oeuvre.
His paintings can be found in the collection of the Ulster Museum,
National Gallery of Ireland, Hugh Lane, OPW, Trinity College Dublin
and the Crawford Gallery.
85. 85
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77 GEORGE RUSSELL ‘AE’ (1867-1935)
Figure in a Landscape
Oil on canvas, 51 x 76cm (20 x 30’’)
€ 3,000 - 5,000
86. 86
78 MILDRED ANNE BUTLER RWS FRSA RUA (1858-1941)
Gardens at Kilmurry
Watercolour, 18 x 26cm (7 x 10¼”)
Signed and dated May 1906
€ 2,000 - 3,000
80 DANIEL O’NEILL (1920-1974)
Flowers
Oil on board, 46 x 35cm (18 x 13¾’’)
Inscribed with title verso
€ 6,000 - 8,000
88. 88
81 DANIEL O’NEILL (1920-1974)
And Yet Another
Oil on board, 50 x 60cm (19¾ x 23½’’)
Signed
In his use of surreal forms and unearthly light, O’Neill moulds the Irish landscape into his own personal creation, particu-
larly in his nocturnes which allowed for the exploitation of dramatic effects as well as being suggestive of, rather than
actual depictions of, specific locations. Once O’Neill was confident that he could invent a landscape to suit his purposes,
he was able to exploit it and found that it could become a backdrop to display his figures. Arland Ussher observes, ‘He
contrasts the dynamic aridity of place with the richly dramatic sky to expose the needs of the heart, searching always for
a solace more desirable than can be conveyed by the inanimate’.
Brian Fallon remarked of Daniel O’Neill, ‘he is an excellent Landscapist. But in the Yeatsian way - there is more imagination
than topography’ and concluded that O’Neill’s best works ‘are charged with that mysterious and unquantifiable quality
which gives Art its purpose,’ while quoting the American Critic, Hilton Kramer, who described the attempt to define the
indefinable as ‘aesthetic intelligence’.
John Hewitt, writing on the subject of O’Neill’s impasto techniques, noted ‘the work has both a sensory as well as a sensual
quality’. Commenting further he remarked, ‘through his poetry, he handles the great commonplace of being; birth, death,
love, belief, wonder’. Hewett perceptively realises the elusiveness and the dangers that are present in work so personal,
in its communication. ‘And yet Another’ is a very poetic work, full of suggestion, pathos and mystery. The group of mourn-
ing figures are moving away from the burial ground where a fisherman has been laid to rest. The principal male figure, a
fisherman himself, towering above the small group, wraps his arm around a grieving woman in an emotionally charged
moment. The bright horizon provides us with the hope for a new day but the title reminds us that this devastatingly sad
day is one that will inevitably be repeated amongst this community on into the future.
We are grateful to Anne-Marie Keaveney whose writings formed the basis of this entry.
€ 8,000 - 12,000
90. 90
82 GEORGE CAMPBELL RHA (1917-1979)
Clifden, Connemara
Oil on board, 76 x 91cm (30 x 35¾’’)
Signed; signed and inscribed verso
Exhibited: ‘George Campbell’ Arts Council Gallery, Bedford St Belfast, January 1972, Cat No.39
Provenance: Previously in the collection of Film Director John Huston
In the late 1960’s, Campbell embarked on a series of subjects centered on the town of Clifden in Connema-
ra. These works were largely concerned with structure and form but in the early 1970’s detail became less
important and Campbell’s attention centered on mood and atmosphere. An impression of Clifden emerg-
es from shapes of cool watery greens and tones of grey. The subtle control over line and colour combined
with the action of scraping away paint to suggest roof tops is visually effective. The harbour on the right
and the soft shapes in the background direct our eye towards the dominant feature, St Joseph’s Catholic
Parish Church. The view may be from Errislannan Hill or from the John D’Arcy monument on the Sky Road.
In an interview, Campbell was asked did he paint on location and the artist replied:
‘No, I never paint on the spot. For instance, I never paint in Spain at all. If I go to Connemara, I don’t paint. I only
paint in my own room. The things I remember are the important things, a distillation of things’ (Irish Times,
30.6.62, pg.10)
‘Clifden, Connemara’ was chosen to be included in Campbell’s retrospective exhibition at the Arts Council in
Belfast in January 1972. It was purchased by the American film director, John Huston (1906-1987). Filming
‘Moby Dick’ in Cork with Gregory Peck in the 1950’s, Huston was out hunting with the Galway Blazers, when
he came across St. Cleran’s, a large derelict Georgian house in Co. Galway. After purchasing it he sur-
prised neighbours by filling the house with an extensive art collection which included pre-Colombian art
and African sculpture. Included among the six thousand pieces were two paintings of Clifden by George
Campbell as well as works by the founder of French Impressionism, Claude Monet and the Spanish cubist
painter, Juan Gris.
Karen Reihill
November, 2018
€ 10,000 - 15,000
92. 92
83 GEORGE CAMPBELL RHA (1917-1979)
Achill Coastal Landscape
Oil on board, 50 x 59cm (19¾ x 23¼’’)
Signed
€ 3,000 - 4,000
93. 93
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84 JAMES HUMBERT CRAIG RHA RUA (1877-1944)
Landscape with Cattle Grazing
Oil on canvas, 37 x 50cm (14½ x 19¾’’)
Signed
€ 5,000 - 7,000
94. 94
85 COLIN DAVIDSON PPRUA (B.1968)
Study of Brian Friel
Conte, 77 x 56.5cm (30¼ x 22¼’’)
Signed; also signed, inscribed and dated 2012 verso
€ 4,000 - 6,000
95. 95
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86 COLIN DAVIDSON PPRUA (B.1968)
Seamus Heaney 2012
Conte, 77 x 56.5cm (30¼ x 22¼’’)
Signed; also signed and inscribed verso
€ 5,000 - 8000
96. 96
88 GEORGE GILLESPIE RUA (1924-1995)
Connemara Landscape
Oil on canvas, 39 x 49cm (15½ x 19½”)
Signed
€ 2,000 - 3,000
87 GEORGE GILLESPIE RUA (1924-1995)
Donegal Lake and Mountain Landscape
Oil on canvas, 40 x 49cm (15¾ x 19¼”)
Signed
€ 2,000 - 3,000
97. 97
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89 MAURICE MACGONIGAL PRHA (1900 - 1979)
The Thatcher
Oil on panel, 29 x 40cm (11½ x 15¾”)
Signed, Inscribed with title verso
Provenance: With Waddington Galleries (label verso); Sold, these rooms 5/12/2001.
€ 5,000 - 8,000
98. 98
90 ROBIN BUICK (B.1940)
Female Piper
Bronze, 18cm high (7’’)
Numbered 4/9
€ 700 - 1,000
91 EDWARD DELANEY RHA (1930-2009)
Two Figures (Wall piece)
Bronze and chicken wire, 56cm (22”) tall
€ 800 - 1,200
99. 99
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92 RORY BRESLIN (B.1963)
Mask of the Atlantic
Bronze, 88.5cm high x 41.5 wide (35 x 16”)
Signed
Number 2 from an edition of 3
€ 6,000 - 8,000
100. 100
93 OISÍN KELLY RHA (1915-1981)
Children of Lir
Bronze, 72cm (28.3”) high, raised on a circular timber base 46cm (18”) diameter
Edition 1/2
This bronze by Oisín Kelly was cast at the Dublin Art Foundry as one of an issue of two in 1983.
It was cast directly from the original plaster maquette under the supervision of his son Fergus.
The only other copy is currently on display outside the Taoiseach’s Office in Government Build-
ings, Dublin. The maquette was the model for the large-scale bronze of the ‘Children of Lir’, which
is the centrepiece of the Garden of Remembrance, Parnell Square, a space which was designed
by the Dublin City Architect, Daithí Hanly. This was the first of Oisín’s major public commissions,
and one for which he devoted a great deal of thought and preparation. In a memo to the office
of Public Works, dated 12 May 1959, he suggested that ‘the swan is the generally accepted image
of resurgence, triumph and perfection, with undertones of regal sadness and isolation’. He
therefore proposed the theme of the changing of the Children of Lir into swans as a representa-
tion of the dramatic and painful birth of the Irish State after the 1916 Easter Rising. This theme
derives from an early Irish tale which recounts the fate which befell the daughter and three sons
of the legendary King Lir. Through the jealous spells of their stepmother they were magically
changed into swans: the piece depicts the children in the process of transformation.
When Oisín had completed the large-scale plaster model of the group, it was cut into sections
and sent to the Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry in Florence. There it was expertly cast in
bronze under the sculptor’s guidance - Oisín paid four visits to the foundry - and finally trans-
ported back to Ireland. It was dedicated by An Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, on 6 August 1971.
Fergus S. Kelly, son of Oisín Kelly, and author of The Life and Work of Oisín Kelly, with photography
by Hugh McElveen (Derreen Books, 2015)
€ 30,000 - 50,000
102. 102
94 OISÍN KELLY RHA (1915-1981)
Horse and Rider
Bronze, 46cm high
Edition 1/8
This bronze by Oisín Kelly was cast in 1975 at the Dublin Art Foundry as one of an issue of eight.
The casting was supervised by the artist himself. Throughout his career, Oisín displayed a special
interest in portraying horses in various contexts. One of his best-known public works is his large
‘Chariot of Life’ at the Irish Life Centre, Lower Abbey Street, Dublin, which portrays a charioteer driv-
ing his two-horse chariot through the flames. On a much smaller scale, he has represented horses
racing towards the finishing post in a bronze piece, as well as a delightful wood-carving of a single
horse and jockey at full gallop. In the present work, he models a horse and rider in a relaxed pose:
the rider has an air of contemplation, while the horse grazes peacefully beneath him.
Fergus S. Kelly, son of Oisín Kelly, and author of The Life and Work of Oisín Kelly, with photography
by Hugh McElveen (Derreen Books, 2015)
€ 10,000 - 15,000
104. 104
96 COLIN O’DALY
Abstract Landscape
Oil on canvas, 24 x 30cm (9.4 x 11.8”)
Signed
€ 600 - 900
MARGARET CORCORAN (B.1963)
Henriette - Delacroix’s Sister
Oil on canvas, 141 x 109cm (55.5 x 42.9”)
Signed and dated 1998 verso
€ 1,000 - 2,000
105. 105
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98 STEPHEN LOUGHMAN (B.1964)
Prosten Haten
Oil on board, 70 x 100cm (27.5 x 39.3”)
€ 1,200 - 1,600
97 MARTIN FINNIN (20TH/21ST CENTURY)
The Beauty of Irrational Oranges
Oil on canvas, 60 x 90cm (23.6 x 35.4”)
Signed
€ 2,000 - 3,000
106. 106
99 DAVID CLARKE (B.1920)
‘Plaza de Independcia, Madrid’
Oil on canvas, 49 x 59cm (19 x 23”)
Inscribed verso
Exhibited: Paintings & Drawings by David,
Harry Clarke Studios, 1949, Cat No. 36
€ 1,000 - 1,500
100 TONY O’MALLEY HRHA (1913-2003)
Untitled
Gouache on paper, 20 x 29cm (7¾ x
11½’’)
Signed with initials and dated (19)’77
€ 800 - 1,200
107. 107
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101 JOHN BOYD (B.1957)
Solus X
Oil on board, 38 x 38cm (14.9 x 14.9”)
Signed and dated 2011
Provenance : With Cross Gallery, Dublin (label verso)
€ 2,500 - 3,500
108. 108
102 GERARD DILLON (1916-1971)
Artist’s Studio
Oil and mixed media on board, 45 x 55cm (17¾ x 21½’’)
Provenance: Gerry Dillon, nephew of the artist; thence by descent to Martin Dillon, New York;
Adam’s Sale 28th May 2008, Lot 63; Private collection.
In the late 1950’s, the Belfast artist Noreen Rice (1936-2015) painted with Dillon when she lived in a flat
above him in Molly Dillon’s house in Abbey Road in St. John’s Wood in London. This painting ‘Artist’s Studio’
was probably executed during this period when Dillon was going through an intense period of creativity
and experimentation with various materials and mediums. Years later in a retrospective of Dillon’s work
Noreen Rice recalled their time working in his studio together;
‘We were enlightened and stimulated when the Spanish School led by Tàpies, the Tachists with Jackson
Pollock, and Cézar, the French sculptor, were first shown in London. All at once, we changed from figura-
tive to abstracts. We made pictures or objects from things found in dumps to recycle into art parts of
sewing machines, gas cookers, bicycles, leather, sand, hessian, anything which suggested a new aspect
of their quality metamorphosis into a new life.’ (Memories of Gerard Dillon, Gerard Dillon 1916-1971 A
Retrospective Exhibition, Droichead Arts Centre, 2003)
Bold shapes of colour and an abstract painting depicted on the artist’s easel suggest a period of ‘met-
amorphosis into a new life’. Dillon explored making papier mâché masks, sculpture, sewing suits, ties,
hats, designing and hand weaving tapestries. He also explored the area of home furnishing by designing
Holland blinds, lamp shades and wall paper. The appearance of another easel on the right side of the
composition suggest another artist at work. The wallpaper tools displayed on the floor, scissors and roll
of paper on a table signify someone working with wall paper. This subject may therefore relate to the pe-
riod when Noreen Rice was in Dillon’s studio when he was making wall paper. In a retrospective catalogue
in 2003, Dillon is photographed sitting on the stairway of his family home in Belfast with his wall paper
behind him. The motif on the paper signifies Dillon’s passion for the Theatre. (Photograph reproduced
courtesy of Tristram Giff)
Karen Reihill
November, 2018
€ 8,000 - 10,000
110. 110
103 GERARD DILLON (1916 - 1971)
A View of Drogheda (1943)
Oil on board, 27.9 x 35.5cm (11 x 14”)
Signed and dated (19)’43, title verso
Provenance: With Jorgensen Fine Art, Dublin
‘A View of Drogheda’ was most likely painted after Dillon’s visit to the town with Drogheda painter,
Nano Reid (1900-1981) in 1943. The two friends may have arranged a sketching holiday after the
opening of their group exhibition of watercolours at the Contemporary Picture Galleries in Lower
Baggot Street in July, 1943. A Publican’s daughter, Reid was sixteen years older than Dillon but he
never viewed their age difference as an obstacle for friendship. Both artists felt strongly about
Ireland’s cultural heritage and admitted in interviews to having influenced each other’s work.
This work is typical of Dillon’s subjects in the early 1940’s which were largely focused on every-
day subjects that were linked to his daily life. His style of painting was still at an early stage of
development but this visit to the town and the surrounding area had a lasting impact on him. In
1944 Dillon and Reid showed works from their sketching holiday in their exhibitions in Dublin and
Northern Ireland. ‘View of Drogheda’ may be ‘Drogheda’ listed in Dillon’s joint show with George
Campbell at John Lamb’s gallery, Bridge St in Portadown in June, 1944 (Cat.22). Opened by John
Hewitt, the Portadown News commented that the two artists ‘cover a wide range of subjects and
include landscape, the blitz and life in our cities and on things that are avoided by the majority of
artists, but which when painted leave a valuable record of our time for future generations.’(1.7.44)
Dillon probably didn’t intend to document this scene as a valuable record of the town but his de-
sire to record the town and the architectural heritage in the area before Institutions were set up
to protect listed buildings was a ‘valuable record’ for future generations.
It has been suggested that this scene is from the south side of the Boyne looking west possibly
from the vantage point of Pitcher Hill, Barack Lane or at ‘Butter Gate’. The Church across the river
is probably St. Magdalen’s Church known locally as Dominick’s Church.
Karen Reihill
November, 2018
(This writer is grateful for the assistance of Declan Mallon for his help in identifying the location of this work.)
€6,000 - 10,000
112. 112
104 GERARD DILLON (1916-1971)
Street Scene in Belfast
Watercolour, 10.5 x 16cm (4 x 6¼’’)
Signed with initials
Exhibited: Droichead Arts Centre, 2003,
‘Retrospective’.
€ 700 - 1,000
105 GERARD DILLON (1916-1971)
The Visitor
Gouache and ink, 24 x 32cm (9½ x 12½’’)
Signed
€ 2,500 - 3,500
This subject is directly linked to two etchings, ‘Strange Visitor’ and ‘Little Girl’s Wonder’ completed in the last year of the artist’s life.
The inspiration for these works was derived from an earlier oil painting ‘Little Girl’s Wonder’ which was exhibited in Dublin at the Irish
Exhibition of Living Art in August 1955, (Cat No. 103). Curiously, the young boy in this work is not included in the 1955 oil painting or
in the prints. Perhaps when Dillon revisited this subject in 1970, he decided to explore the idea of including a boy. Further research
may reveal more information but we do know that the narrative in these works relate to Dillon’s interest in the past and the present.
Two children are depicted in an interior with a figure resembling a figure from a medieval manuscript. A little girl gazes at the visitor
in a robe from behind a chair while a boy’s attention is directed toward the cat sitting on the visitor’s lap. The past is represented
by the statuesque figure in medieval robes and the present signifies the children in an interior of a traditional cottage. The basket
of turf in the foreground and the cross of St. Brigid on the wall behind the seated figure may be symbols linking the past and the
present. The making of St. Brigid’s Crosses from rushes was traditional on St Brigid’s feast day, which was formerly celebrated as a
pagan festival marking the beginning of Spring. The four arms tied at the ends and woven square in the middle were traditionally set
over rural cottage doorways and windows to protect the home from any harm.
Karen Reihill
November, 2018
113. 113
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
106 WILLIAM CONOR RHA RUA ROI (1881-1968)
The Red Shawl
Charcoal and pastel on paper, 42 x 28cm (16½ x 11’’)
Signed
€ 4,000 - 6,000
114. 114
107 WILLIAM CONOR RHA RUA ROI (1881-1968)
Family on a Cart
Pastel and charcoal on paper, 62 x 47cm (24½ x 18½’’)
Signed
An old label for The Godfrey Phillips Galleries is affixed verso
William Conor was born in Belfast and studied graphic design at the Government School of Design and
was then apprenticed to a poster designer. He exhibited at the RHA for the first time in 1918 and continued
to do so until the year before his death. During both World Wars Conor was commissioned by the British
Government to produce records of soldiers in the form of sketches, some of which were included in an
exhibition of war artists at the National Gallery, London in 1941. He spent a number of years in London in
the 1920’s where he met John Lavery and Augustus John, and in 1926 travelled to America to undertake
various portrait commissions. Conor was elected a member of the RHA in 1946. His works can be found in
major collections including the Ulster Museum, Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery, Crawford Municipal Gallery,
Imperial War Museum in London. The Victoria & Albert Museum in London and the Brooklyn Museum in
New York.
Conor worked for many years in a lithographic studio and the techniques he learned there were often
incorporated into his later drawings and paintings. His handling of the medium and treatment of the shad-
ows in the present work illustrates these influences. As a recorder of daily life in Belfast and beyond in the
early years of the twentieth century Conor was, perhaps, unique.
Writing about him in 1951 John Hewitt thought his chief virtue was ‘a fundamental sincerity’ (The Arts in
Ulster, 1951, p. 88), while twenty years later Kenneth Jamison saw him as ‘a kind of Irish Daumier, but with-
out the bitter satirical edge; certainly an impressionist of sorts whose affection for his subjects saved him
from becoming doctrinaire’. (Causeway: The Arts in Ulster, 1971, p. 44). These sentiments are clear to be
seen in this fine composition, representing a way of life long since disappeared.
€ 8,000 - 12,000
116. 116
110 ESTELLA SOLOMON HRHA (1882 - 1968)
Self Portrait
Oil on canvas, 56 x 43.5cm (22 x 17”)
Exhibited: Crawford Gallery, Cork, 1986
€ 3,000 - 5,000
109 WILLIAM JACKSON RUA (20TH CENTURY)
Farm Cottages in a Coastal Landscape
Oil on canvas, 51 x 61cm (20 x 24’’)
Signed
€ 400 - 600
108 FRANK MCKELVEY RHA RUA (1895-1974)
Country Landscape
Oil on board, 26 x 36cm (10¼ x 14’’)
Signed
€ 2,500 - 3,500
118. 118
111 PETER CURLING (B.1955)
Before the Start
Watercolour and charcoal on paper, 40 x 54cm (15¾ x 21¼’’)
Signed
€ 2,000 - 3,000
119. 119
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112 PETER CURLING (B.1955)
The Chair, Aintree
Oil on canvas, 66 x 92cm (26 x 36¼’’)
Signed and dated (19)’71
€ 4,000 - 6,000
120. 120
113 Henry Moore OM CH (1898-1986)
Relief: Three Quarters Mother and Child and Reclining Figure
Bronze relief panel, 18 x 42cm (7 x 16½”)
Signed and numbered ‘Moore 6/9’
With foundry mark ‘MORRIS SINGER FOUNDERS LONDON’ Limited edition 6/9
Literature: A. Bowness, Henry Moore, Complete Sculpture. Volume 5: 1974-1980,
London, 1994, p. 38, no. 728 (another cast illustrated).
€12,000 – 16,000
121. 121
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114 JACK BUTLER YEATS RHA (1871-1957)
“Jack B. Yeats: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Oil Paint-
ings” by Hilary Pyle, London: André Deutsch, 1992.
Three volumes, 1856pp with 1822 illustrations, 111
in colour. Cloth in a slipcase.
Definitive catalogue raisonné of Ireland’s greatest
painter, bringing together every known oil painting
by Yeats, providing further documentary illustra-
tions where appropriate and citing all relevant
sources and influences. No. 108 from an edition
limited to 1500, a must have for anyone interested
in the history of Irish art and work of Jack B. Yeats.
Mint unopened condition.
€ 300 - 500
115 GRAHAM KNUTTEL (B.1954)
Still Life with Flowers at a Window
Acrylic on canvas, 103 x 103cm (40½ x 40½’’)
Signed
€ 2,000 - 4,000
122. 122
116 NEIL SHAWCROSS RHA RUA (B.1940)
Chair
Mixed media on paper on board, 30.7 x
25.4cm (12 x 10’’)
Signed and dated 2008
€ 500 - 800
117 NEIL SHAWCROSS RHA RUA (B.1940)
Still Life with Bottle and Fruit
Mixed media on card, 61 x 74cm (24 x 29’’)
Signed and dated 1997
€ 1,500 - 2,500
123. 123
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118 JOHN NOEL SMITH (B.1952)
The Fold Pendeet
Oil on canvas, 90 x 180cm
Signed
€ 4,000 - 6,000
124. 124
119 JOHN NOEL SMITH (B.1952)
Morning Lines
Oil on canvas, 90 x 60cm
Signed
€ 2,000 - 3,000
125. 125
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120 NEIL SHAWCROSS RHA RUA (B.1940)
Still Life No.16
Mixed media on paper, 73.5 x 73.5cm (29 x 29’’)
Signed
Provenance: With Peppercanister Gallery, Dublin (label verso)
€ 3,000 - 5,000
126. 126
121 ELIZABETH RIVERS RHA (1903-1964)
‘The Bar Scene’, Dublin 1956
Oil on board, 39 x 29cm (15¼ x 11½”)
Signed with initials; also signed twice and inscribed with title on artist’s label verso
Born in Hertfordshire in England in 1903, Elizabeth Rivers was educated at Goldsmiths College, London. In 1926 she won
a scholarship to the Royal Academy schools, where she trained under Walter Sickert. She moved to Paris in 1931 and
continued her training under André Lhote and Gino Severini. By 1932 she was considered part of the ‘Twenties Group’ and
exhibited work at the Wertheim Gallery in London.
It was after that, that Rivers went to live on the Aran Islands. Her first book This Man published by The Guyon House Press
in 1939 was written while she was on Aran. She also wrote a book entitled Stranger in Aran which was published in 1946. A
portfolio of her wood engravings was published by the Waddington Galleries. Except for a short period during the Second
World War and in 1955, Rivers lived in Ireland where she also worked with Evie Hone on designs for stained glass. During
the Second World War she lived in London and worked as a fire warden during the blitz. She also exhibited in the New
English Art Club, the Royal Academy and the Royal Hibernian Academy.
While she was living in the west of Ireland she became friends with The White Stag group founder Basil Rakoczi. He com-
mented in a letter in 1942 about her: “Miss Rivers. Her book ‘This Man’ is certainly her best work. [...] the strange thing is
her ability to draw male nudes—I have never known a woman draw the male body well before ... She ... is awfully interest-
ing though very reserved ... I really think she is a genius mislaid.”
€ 2,000 - 4,000
127. 127
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
122 BEATRICE LADY GLENAVY RHA (1881-1970)
Madonna
Oil on canvas, 40 x 29.5cm (15¾ x 11½’’)
Signed with monogram
€ 1,500 - 2,500
128. 128
123 ARTHUR H. TWELLS ARUA (B.1921)
Lough Ree, Ladywell Park, Co. Westmeath
Oil on canvas, 61 x 122cm (24 x 48’’)
Signed; inscribed with title on stretcher verso
€ 600 - 1,000
124 ANNE PRIMROSE JURY HRUA (1907-1995)
Western Landscape with Donkey and Cart
Oil on board, 35 x 45cm (13¾ x 17¾’’)
Signed
€ 600 - 1,000
129. 129
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
125 MARK O’NEILL (B.1963)
Broken Blue
Oil on board, 33 x 44cm (13 x 17¼’’)
Signed and dated 2002
Provenance: With The Frederick Gallery, Dublin, (label verso).
€ 2,000 - 3,000
130. 130
128 GLADYS MACCABE HRUA ROI FRSA (1918-2018)
La Place du Tertre, Montmartre, Paris
Watercolour, 23 x 29cm (9 x 11½’’)
Signed
€ 300 - 500
126 JOHN KINGERLEE (B.1936)
Difficult Affair
Mixed media on paper, 14 x 19cm (5½ x 7½’’)
Signed and dated 1999
€ 200 - 300
127 JACK COUGHLIN (20TH CENTURY)
Seated Nude on Yellow and Orange Cushions
Watercolour, 28 x 37cm (11 x 14½’’)
Signed and dated (19)‘95
Provenance: With Jorgensen Fine Art, Dublin.
€ 250 - 350
131. 131
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
129 TREVOR GEOGHEGAN (B.1946)
Small Liffey
Oil on canvas, 152 x 183cm (60 x 72”)
Signed
€ 5,000 - 8,000
132. 132
130 LEO WHELAN RHA (1892-1956)
Portrait of Harry Boland T.D.
Oil on canvas on board, 46 x 35cm (18 x 13¾’’)
Signed; also signed and inscribed verso
Provenance: Stephen O’Mara, thence by descent to the current owners
Stephen M. O’Mara was born in January 1884 in Limerick, and educated by the Christian Brothers, and later at Clongowes
Wood College. After the Easter Rising of 1916 he joined Sinn Fein. He married Nancy O’Brien on the 5 February 1918, at
which time he was listed as a bacon merchant, living at Strand House in the city. He was appointed a member of the Sinn
Fein Standing Committee (or “Ard Chomhairle”) for the December 1918 general election. Elected Mayor of Limerick in 1921
after the murder of Mayor George Clancy, he was re-elected in 1922 and 1923 but resigned before his term of office had
expired. As the underground government’s Special Envoy to the United States, he raised funds for the Republican Loans
alongside Harry Boland and was honoured by being made a Trustee of Dail Eireann Funds.
Stephen opposed the Treaty, taking a stand against his own brother Jim and, according to family history, was the only
O’Mara to go ‘anti-Treaty’. During the Civil War he was arrested at Roscrea and imprisoned by the Free State. In later years
he was appointed a member of the Commission of Vocational Organisations and before his death in 1959, was appoint-
ed by President de Valera to the Council of State. He developed the bacon processing company, O’Mara’s Ltd, which his
grandfather had founded and under his guidance the firm opened up bacon curing factories in Claremorris and Letterk-
enny.
€ 2,000 - 3,000
133. 133
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
131 STELLA STEYN (1907-1987)
Still Life
Oil on canvas, 50 x 76cm (19.6 x 30”)
‘Atelier Steyn’ stamp verso
€ 1,500 - 2,500
134. 134
132 MARJORIE FITZGIBBON HRHA (B.1930)
Trees on a Hillside
Oil on canvas, 60 x 74cm (23½ x 29’’)
Signed with initials MH (Marjorie Hartford)
€ 1,500 - 2,000
133 MAURICE MACGONIGAL PRHA
(1900-1979)
The Little Church of St. Mary, Roundstone
Oil on board, 41 x 76cm (16 x 30’’)
Signed;
Provenance: With The Dawson Gallery, Dublin
€ 1,500 - 2,500
134 BRIAN BALLARD RUA (B.1943)
Roses in Jug
Oil on board, 51 x 41cm (20 x 16¼’’)
Signed and dated (19)’88
€ 1,500 - 2,000
136. 136
135 IMOGEN STUART RHA (B.1927)
Saint Brendan and the Whale
Chestnut wood carving, 41 x 57cm (16 x 22.4”)
Signed ‘Imogen Werner’ and dated 1949
€ 2,000 - 4,000
136 SOPHIA ROSAMUND PRAEGER HRHA
MA MBE (1867 - 1954)
Children sleeping in armchairs
A pair of bookends, plaster, 18 x 12cm (7 x 4.7”)
Signed verso ‘S. R. Praeger’
€ 800 - 1,200
137. 137
Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
137 BREON O’CASEY (1928-2011)
Black Field
Acrylic on board, 83.5 x 89cm (32¾ x 35’’)
Signed, inscribed and dated 2006 verso
Provenance: With Peppercanister Gallery, Dublin (label verso)
€ 4,000 - 6,000
138. 138
138 BASIL IVAN RÁKÓCZI (1908-1979)
Teseo y El Minotauro
Oil on board, 60 x 49cm (23½ x 19¾’’)
Signed; inscribed and dated (19)’65 verso
€ 1,000 - 1,500
139 BRETT MCENTAGART RHA (B.1939)
Homeward Bound, Dun Laoghaire
Oil on panel, 25 x 37.8cm (10 x 15’’)
Signed and dated (20)’16
€ 700 - 1000
139. 139
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
140 EVIE HONE HRHA (1894-1955)
Black church Kilkenny
Gouache and ink 26 x 17.5cm (10¾ x 7’’)
€ 2,500 - 3,500
140. 140
141 EVIE HONE HRHA (1894-1955)
Untitled
Lead mounted stained glass panel 30 x 14cm
(11.8 x 5.5”)
€ 1,000 - 1,500
142 GLADYS MACCABE HRUA ROI FRSA
(1918-2018)
The Flower Market
Oil on board, 39.5 x 49.5cm (15½ x 19½’’)
Signed
€ 2,000 - 3,000
141. 141
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
143 NEVILL JOHNSON (1911-1999)
Standing Figure
Collage on board, 56 x 46cm (22 x 18’’)
Signed and dated (19)’92
€ 1,500 - 2,000
142. 142
144 JANE O’MALLEY (B.1944)
Small Still Life
Oil on board, 11 x 15.5cm (4¼ x 6’’)
Signed, inscribed and dated 1983 verso
€ 300 - 500
145 HARRY EPWORTH ALLEN (1894-1958)
Houses in a Country Landscape
Gouache 32 x 48cm (12.5 x 18.75”)
Signed
€ 2,000 - 3,000
143. 143
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
146 GLADYS MACCABE HRUA ROI FRSA (1918-2018)
Park Scene
Oil on board, 40 x 60cm (15¾ x 23½’’)
Signed
€ 2,000 - 3,000
144. 144
147 NICCOLO D’ARDIA CARACCIOLO RHA
(1941-1989)
Sunbathers
Watercolour, 27 x 38cm (10½ x 15”)
Signed
€ 600 - 800
148 WILLIAM PERCY FRENCH (1854-1920)
A West of Ireland Bog with Distant Mountains
Watercolour, 15 x 22cm (6 x 8¾”)
Signed
€ 1,500 - 2,000
145. 145
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
149 ROBERT JAMES ENRAGHT MOONY (1879 - 1946)
Mystifying faces in wooded landscape
Watercolour, 33 x 26cm (13 x 10¼”)
Signed
€ 800 - 1,200
146. 146
151 MAURICE MACGONIGAL PRHA
(1900-1979)
Figures by a stream, Co. Wicklow
Oil on board, 39 x 49cm (15.3 x 19.2”)
Signed; also signed and inscribed indistinctly
with title verso
€ 2,000 - 3,000
150 FRANK EGGINTON RCA FIAL (1908-1990)
Cattle Grazing on a bog
Watercolour, 53 x 74cm (20¾ x 29”)
Signed
€ 800 - 1,200
147. 147
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
152 PATRICK COLLINS HRHA (1911-1994)
Crucifixion
Oil on board, 32 x 25cm (12½ x 9¾’’)
Signed
Provenance: With The Dawson Gallery, Dublin (label verso)
€ 1,500 - 2,500
148. 148
154 CIARÁN LENNON (B.1947)
Colour Collection
Acrylic on aluminium, 23 x 15cm (9 x 6’’)
Signed and dated 2005
Provenance: With the Fenderesky Gallery,
stamp verso
€ 800 - 1,200
153 CIARÁN LENNON (B.1947)
Untitled
Acrylic on copper plate on paper, 57 x 75cm
(22½ x 29½’’)
Signed and dated 2005
€ 800 - 1,200
149. 149
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
155 ROSS WILSON (B.1957)
Big Red Jump
Mixed media on paper, 109 x 78cm (43 x 30¾’’)
Signed with initials
€ 1,000 - 1,500
150. 150
156 ROSS WILSON (B.1957)
Rain Man
Mixed media on paper, 14 x 9cm (5½ x 3½’’)
Signed with initials
€ 200 - 300
157 LIAM TREACY (1934-2004)
Summertime, Inishbofin
Oil on canvas, 40 x 50cm (15¾ x 19¾’’)
Signed; Artist’s label verso
€ 800 - 1,200
151. 151
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
158 MARK O’NEILL (B.1963)
In Abundance
Oil on board, 36 x 69cm (14 x 27’’)
Signed and dated 2018
€ 3,000 - 5,000
152. 152
160 ARTHUR ARMSTRONG RHA (1924-1996)
Dark Landscape II
Oil on paper, 26 x 36cm (10¼ x 14¼’’)
Signed
€ 600 - 800
159 ARTHUR ARMSTRONG RHA (1924-1996)
Dark Landscape I
Oil on paper, 26 x 36cm (10¼ x 14¼’’)
Signed
€ 600 - 800
153. 153
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
161 HENRY HEALY RHA (1909-1982)
Howth Harbour
Oil on board, 50 x 60cm (19¾ x 23½’’)
Signed
€ 1,000 - 2,000
154. 154
162 ARTHUR MADERSON (B.1942)
Statuette
Oil on board, 86 x 42cm (33¾ x 16½’’)
Signed and dated 1976
€ 2,500 - 3,500
163 GEORGE CAMPBELL RHA (1917-1979)
Male Figure
Graphite on paper, 17 x 11cm (6¾ x 4¼’’)
Signed and dated (19)’51
€ 400 - 600
155. 155
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
164 ANNE MADDEN (B.1932)
Evening Sky (1974)
Acrylic on paper, 50 x 65cm (19¾ x 25½’’)
Signed and dated 1974
Provenance: With The Dawson Gallery, Dublin (label verso)
€ 800 - 1,200
156. 156
165 ARTHUR ARMSTRONG RHA (1924-1996)
Woodland
Watercolour, 17 x 22cm (6½ x 8¾’’)
Signed
€ 400 - 600
166 ROSS WILSON (B.1957)
Waiting for the Angel (We Are Shadows)
Watercolour, 23 x 18cm (9 x 7’’)
Signed and inscribed verso
€ 600 - 800
157. 157
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
167 MICHAEL CANNING (B.1971)
Mimesis
Oil and wax on canvas mounted on board, 70 x 50cm (27½ x 19¾’’)
Signed, inscribed and dated 2009 verso
Provenance: With Hillsboro Fine Art, Dublin (label verso)
€ 1,500 - 2,500
158. 158
168 WILLIAM BINGHAM MCGUINNESS RHA
(1849-1928)
Sailing Boat off the Coast
Watercolour, 16 x 28cm (6¼ x 11’’)
Signed
€ 300 - 400
169 ANDREW NICHOLL RHA (1804-1886)
Gougane Barra, Co. Cork
Watercolour on paper, 35 x 51cm (13 x 20’’)
Signed
€ 800 - 1,200
170 DOUGLAS ALEXANDER RHA (1871-1945)
View of Sandycove
Watercolour, 26 x 37cm (10¼ x 14½’’)
Signed
€ 400 - 600
159. 159
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171 GLADYS MACCABE HRUA ROI FRSA (1918-2018)
Fashion Study IV
Watercolour, 49 x 37cm (19¼ x 14½’’)
Signed
Provenance: With Bruton St. Gallery, London, label verso.
€ 800 - 1,200
160. 160
173 PETER COLLIS RHA (1929-2012)
Red Field
Oil on board, 18 x 24cm (7 x 9½’’)
Signed
€ 600 - 800
172 PETER KNUTTEL (B.1945)
Markey Robinson
Lithograph, 31 x 20cm (12¼ x 8’’)
Signed, inscribed and numbered 7/250
€ 100 - 150
161. 161
www.adams.ie Important Irish Art | 4th December 2018
174 WILLIAM CONOR RHA RUA ROI (1881-1968)
Ballerina
Graphite on paper, 36 x 44cm (14 x 17¼’’)
Signed
€ 800 - 1,200
175 DESMOND HICKEY (1937-2007)
On the Gallops
Oil on board, 25 x 30cm (9¾ x 11¾’’)
Signed
Artist’s label verso
€ 400 - 600