Auctions & Fairs – Triptych by Francis Bacon goes for £10m at Christie’s

Early version of ‘The Meeting on the Turret Stairs’ makes €24,000 in Kilkenny auction

‘Three Studies for a Portrait’ (1976), a triptych  painting by Francis Bacon
‘Three Studies for a Portrait’ (1976), a triptych painting by Francis Bacon

Auction Results

Tuesday (March 6th)

Christie's, London: Auction of Post-War & Contemporary Art. Three Studies for a Portrait (1976), a triptych (three-panel) painting by Francis Bacon (inspired by Henrietta Moraes, a British artists' model who lived in Ireland during the late 1970s and early 1980s at Roundwood House, Mountrath, Co Laois), sold for £10 million (€11.2m)(£10million-£15 million) [see pic].

‘Hellelil and Hildebrand, The Meeting on the Turret Stairs’ (in the National Gallery of Ireland) by Sir Frederic William Burton
‘Hellelil and Hildebrand, The Meeting on the Turret Stairs’ (in the National Gallery of Ireland) by Sir Frederic William Burton

Wednesday (March 7th)

Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers, Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny: "The Chatsworth Spring Fine Art Sale". 82 per cent of lots sold. Lot 367, a preparatory watercolour study for the very famous Hellelil and Hildebrand, The Meeting on the Turret Stairs (in the National Gallery of Ireland) by Sir Frederic William Burton €24,000 – three times the median estimate (€7,000-€10,000); Lot 494 Golgotha, The Crucifixion on Mount Calvary described as "Flemish School / 16th or 17th century" €12,000 (€10,000-€15,000); Lot 369, On the Road described as by "a Follower of Peter Paul Rubens", Dutch (1577-1640) €8,500 (€5,000-€7,000); Lot 364, a painting of King Billy at the Battle of the Boyne attributed to Dirk Maes, Dutch (1659-1717) €7,500 (€5,000- €7,000); Lot 442, an early 19th century Killarney wood arbutus and marquetry Davenport Desk €6,700 (€6,000-€8,000); Lot 571, a late 19th century African rhinoceros horn "knobkerrie" (club) once owned by Victorian adventurer AJ Mounteney Jephson of Mallow Castle, Co Cork, €6,500 – over five times the top estimate (€800-€1,200); Lot 507, The Ascension, a 19th-century Russian School silver gilt Triptych with assay marks for Russia, 1837 €6,500 (€6,000-€8,000); Lot 371, Portrait of Daniel O'Connell, The Liberator by Thomas Heathfield Carrick €4,000 (€4,000-€6,000); Lot 72, a late 18th/early 19th-century carved ivory Corpus Christi, Franco-Flemish, mounted on an ebonised crucifix €1,000 (€1,000-€1,500); Lot 225A, a large American "Hartmann" "Pathfinder" model folding brass-mounted and leather-bound "Trunk Wardrobe", on a turn-table, with the original label €340 (€600-€800);and, Lot 94, an opium weighing scales, modelled as a crocodile €50 (€80-€120). For more results see fonsiemealy.ie

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Forthcoming Fairs

Sunday (March 11th) Antiques Fair, The County Arms Hotel, Birr, Co Offaly. 11am-6pm.

Sunday Antiques & Vintage Fair, Osprey Hotel, Naas, Co Kildare, 11am-6pm.

Michael Parsons

Michael Parsons

Michael Parsons is a contributor to The Irish Times writing about fine art and antiques