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Born into a naval family in Lyndhurst in the New Forest, David Wynne was educated at Stowe school in Buckinghamshire. He joined the Royal Navy as the second world war was in its closing stages and soon after began his degree in Zoology at Cambridge. His tutors, realising that he was not a man for lecture halls, urged him to concentrate on art. Encouraged by sculptors Jacob Epstein and Georg Ehrlich, Wynne, who eschewed a formal art education, began to develop his skills, primarily as a sculptor of animals, and in particular dolphins.
He held his first one-man show at the Leicester Galleries in London in 1955, and a second in 1959. In 1961 he was commissioned by London county council (LCC) through the Arts Council, to produce a piece for Crystal Palace park. His monumental Guy the Gorilla, in black fossil marble, was an enormous popular success and his career was made. In Wynne’s career, artistic reputation and social connections worked together harmoniously. Portraits of theatrical and musical knights, from Thomas Beecham to John Gielgud, were joined by a sculpture of equestrian nobility, the Derby-winning racehorse Shergar. Wynne’s contribution to popular culture is said to have included the introduction of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi to the Beatles, themselves the subjects in 1964 of a striking composition of bronze busts that seem to float above one above another. However it is for his later animal sculptures including Girl With a Dolphin (1973) at Tower Bridge and Boy With a Dolphin (1974), on the Chelsea side of Albert Bridge, that he is best known.
Dr Pamela Tudor-Craig, the esteemed art historian, in her introduction to Wynne’s 1997 exhibition at The Mall Galleries described him as a ‘…. master equally in marble or metal. David Wynne creates in both mediums, so in a sense he has two artistic personalities. In bronze he can convey the pounce of a leopard, the quiver of a horse, the fast volley of a tennis player, or the fingerprint of music. All that is swift and fleeting, scarce seen by casual eyes, he catches in molten metal. His bronze heads evoke the breathing essence of the sitters, from the very old to the newborn. Who else could capture the first hints of personality? He is quite simply the best portrait sculptor of his generation. In marble, on the other hand, he discovers the quiet plenitudes at the heart of mystery. In bronze he exults in the dance of life; in marble he reveals his own still depths; for this quicksilver man is a philosopher in stone.
In a century when art has been used to express fragmentation, destruction and despair, David Wynne has stood for wholeness, sanity, compassion, and a celebration of all things lovely. Witness his most recent piece, ‘Awakening Lovers’. Does it not come from the country of the human heart?’
King Charles has called him “A remarkable man with a remarkable God-given talent for extraordinary sensitive sculptures”. David Wynne’s work has frequently run against the current of contemporary fashion, but it has never failed to appeal to those who have an eye for the beautiful.
This Brick Screen is a smaller iteration of a piece Eileen Gray originally designed in 1922 for the Paris apartment of Madame Mathieu-Lévy, a prominent milliner. It exemplifies Gray’s unique ability to merge furniture, architecture, and sculpture, a hallmark of her work. Constructed from black lacquered wood, it consists of eight horizontal rows of panels joined by slender vertical metal rods, functioning both as a movable partition and as an art object. Its design, with alternating solids and voids, carries a subtle Cubist influence, reflecting Gray’s affinity for modernist aesthetics.
Gray’s fascination with traditional lacquerware, a craft she mastered under the guidance of a Japanese artisan, Seizo Sugawara. Gray refined her lacquer techniques, creating pieces that balance functionality with decorative beauty. This screen stands as one of her most significant designs and is part of the permanent design collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Eileen Gray collection in the National Museum of Ireland.
Please see our 'Upcoming Auctions' page for further information, including viewing times and location, and how to register.
Buying at Auction and the Role of Antiques in a Modern Home
Important Irish Art Auction Highlights
Oliver Dowling Collection by Aidan Dunne
2024 is a year in which Adam’s wants to recognise the key role buying antique furniture and furnishings at auction contributes greatly to the sustainable initiative. In 2019 the Environmental Protection Agency reported stark figures that each year in Ireland 1.2 million reusable bulky items, primarily furniture goes into landfill. Similar to the problem of ‘fast fashion’, the constant production and consumption of new items is leading to rapidly growing waste problem. We want to acknowledge those who are already buying second hand or antique furniture at auction and to encourage new buyers by highlighting the benefits of acquiring affordable, well-made quality items that are built to last.
Irish author, recipe creator and lifestyle influencer, Indy Parsons, selects her favourite pieces from our upcoming Fine Jewellery & Watches auction
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Cork-born Irish actress, Sarah Greene, selects her favourite pieces from our upcoming Fine Jewellery & Watches auction
Yvonne Aupicq had met Orpen, we understand, while working as a nurse during the war. He had been admitted to hospital with a suspected case of scabies which ended up being a far more serious case of blood poisoning as he recounts in his wartime memoir ‘An Onlooker in France’. Their relationship continued after 1918 when Orpen was appointed as the official artist to The Paris Peace Conference. They relocated to capital and over the following decade he painted her numerous times, often nude as in Amiens 1914, or The Rape and Nude Girl Reading (1921). Working with her as his model during these early years after the war allowed Orpen an opportunity to re-fuel his creativity.
Editor-in-Chief of IMAGE Publications, Lizzie Gore-Grimes, selects her favourite pieces from our upcoming Fine Jewellery & Watches auction
Our upcoming Fine Jewellery & Watches auction on September 13th features a prime example of Van Cleef & Arpel's renowned 'Mystery Setting'
Our June auction offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire one of the great masterpieces of Irish art and icons of Dublin’s history.
Georgia Chiesa selects some of her favourite lots in the upcoming Vintage Wine & Spirits Auction
"Beating the bounds is a tradition that can be traced back to the medieval period. At this time, land was divided into parishes and the clergy and church wardens held the responsibility for its upkeep and management. It was up to the Church to ensure that its parishioners knew the local boundary lines and, before maps became commonplace, this had to be kept as a mental record."
Adam’s in conjunction with Suzanne MacDougald are proud to host an online timed auction of artworks to aid the Irish Red Cross’s humanitarian work in delivering vital services to millions of people impacted by the conflict in Ukraine. With no buyers premium 100% of the hammer price will go directly to the Irish Red Cross.
Ros Drinkwater writes of Jack B Yeats' 'The Boat' in the Business Post:
With a consolidated result of €320,000,the At Home sale in Stephan’s Green, was a great success.
James Adam & Sons Ltd, Fine Art Auctioneers and Valuers, 26 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2,
D02 X665, Ireland
