Art & Antiques - By Michael Drake

What a year it has been for sales houses and auctiongoers. And who would have predicted twelve months ago the difficult times that lay ahead and the equally difficult decisions which had to be made by many to remain in business. But the majority of them have survived, at least up to now, and hopefully the weeks and months ahead will bring better times.

Thanks to the facilities provided by on-line sales many of us have been able to retain our sanity.

And this valuable outlet has no doubt won many new and permanent customers during these difficult months. That isn't to say we would not welcome again the atmosphere of a crowded sales room,,rubbing shoulders with friends and even foes and of course soaking up everything that a sale brings to the scene.

Sadly those days, if they ever really return, are well in the future. For I am afraid conditions this year will be much the same as they have been since last spring. But have no doubt about it, so long as people have items to sell and there are others to buy them then auction sales in one form or another will be with us for a long time to come.

According to Ian Whyte of Dublin based WHYTES sales house, one of the most prominent in Europe, it was a busy and exciting year, saying: ”We held our first major art auction of the year on March 9" he told me "just as the pandemic took effect in Ireland. It was the weekend the government imposed the first set of restrictions including a limit of 100 people at indoor events.

“The auction room at the RDS was packed and nearly exceeded that limit, the sale was extremely successful and grossed €1.2 million for 85% of the lots offered. Unusually the highest result was for a Polish artist, Tadeusz Brzozowski (1918-1987) whose painting MASTIFF (CWAJNOS), 1967, fetched €190,000 plus fees from a collector in Poland. Of course there was an Irish connection – the painting had been exhibited at ROSC, an international art exhibition held in Dublin - in 1967 after which it was purchased by an Irish collector.”

This Tadeusz Brzozowski’s painting fetched €190,000 plus fees (WHYTES)

This Walter Osborne sold for €315,000 (WHYTES)

A week later, however the first lockdown was imposed and all businesses closed their doors until June.

However, this did not deter Whyte’s who continued to service buyers and sellers by internet and telephone.

Ian Whyte said: “Having been one of the first auction houses to have online bidding back in 1995 Whyte’s were well adept at doing business in Cyberspace. On-line timed sales were organised for less valuable sales while “virtual” auctions which included telephone and absentee bidding as well as participation via various internet platforms throughout the world, hosted the higher ticket works.”’

In order to mitigate the fears of clients bidding ‘blind’ Whyte’s provide, online, extra photographs including images to scale in a domestic setting and an app to project pictures to scale on walls. The auction house also publishes condition reports on-line and, very importantly, issues certificates of authenticity for every lot sold.

Ian Whyte concluded: “Collectors embraced the new forms of auction with alacrity and great enthusiasm, and prices, which were already showing much improvement in 2018-2019 were generously pushed upward with some

aggressive online bidding.”

Whyte’s had postponed its annual and popular “Eclectic Collector” sale to late July, when relaxed restrictions allowed a room attendance of up to 50 masked bidders, socially spaced, in the appropriately historic surroundings of The Freemasons Hall. Among the highlights was a 1916 Proclamation of The Irish Republic which fetched €190,000, a Wolfe Tone archive split into a number of lots and which grossed over €70,000, a John McCormack archive which made €42,000.

In the last few years, Whyte’s have broken world records for many Irish artists. In 2019 the firm smashed price records for Jack Yeats, Mainie Jellett and May Guinness. On 19 October 2020 Whyte’s sold an outstanding Paul Henry painting, “A Sunny Day Connemara” for a new world record of €420,000. This was a “virtual auction” with every type of buyer except room bidders due to the reintroduced restrictions.

Whyte’s rounded off the year on 7 December with a tally of €2.6 million for 90% of the works offered. The highlights of a fantastic sale were paintings by Walter Osborne at €315,000, Paul Henry at €240,000 and Jack B Yeats at €190,000. Just like the October sale, no room bidders were allowed due to a continuing ban on indoor events.

Whyte’s total sales for 2020 amounted to €7 million compared to €8.5 million for the previous year. “The increased demand for art and collectibles offset the worst of the effects of the pandemic,” Ian said. This demand was driven by savings made from not travelling abroad, not eating out, not drinking in pubs, not commuting and not buying clothes for work. Also the imposition of negative interest rates on bank deposits has encouraged cash rich individuals to purchase tangible assets such as art and collectibles.”

This painting by Jack B Yeats sold at €265,000 (ADAMS)

This year, he believes will be another challenging one for everyone: “With the continuance, for several months at least, of the pandemic restrictions, and the end of the UK’s membership of the EU. The latter will cause problems for trading in art between the EU and the UK.

“Individual collectors will have to pay 13.5% VAT on importation of art, and 21% on importation of collectibles from the UK. But UK collectors and businesses will only pay 5% VAT on imports of art and most collectibles from Ireland. Irish VAT registered businesses will account for the importation VAT in their returns to Revenue. Customs clearance charges will add an extra 1% to the cost of importing art and collectibles. “So a painting bought in the UK for €10,000 could cost an extra €1,450 to import to Ireland, and a €1,000 collectible will be charged €220 on arrival.” But with so much uncertainty surrounding the post Brexit era who knows what other difficulties may arise.

ADAMS ended their year in fine style when, in their pre-Christmas Irish Art Sale, they sold a Jack Butler Yeats for €265,000 again underlining the significance of this great artist. This was followed by a Walter F. Osborne which went at €90,000, a great Daniel O’Neill which well exceeded its high estimate to come under the hammer at €58,000. A Louis Le Brocquy realised €54,000, while a Donald Teskey, an extremely popular artist today, made €35,000. A Paul Henry landscape with cottages, a familiar scene with this artist, made €34,000 while a Tony O’Malley oil was appreciated at €30,000. Another Daniel O’Neill sold at €27,000 while a Jack B Yeats made €22,000, with a Wm. Conor going at €22,000.

Louis Le Brocquy’s work sold for €54,000 (ADAMS)