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In our June 2022 sale of Important Irish Art, Adam's is delighted to offer two rediscovered masterworks by William Ashford, a pair of paintings showing Dublin Bay looking north and south. These are extraordinarily important paintings from both historical and artistic points of view and, without doubt, the most important eighteenth-century Irish landscapes to come to market for many decades.
Given their significance, we have taken the unusual step of dedicating a stand-alone catalogue to the Dublin Bay views. Adam's is grateful to Michael Branagan and William Laffan for contributing essays to this volume.
Ashford, who decades after he painted these pictures, would become the first president of the Royal Hibernian Academy, is one of the key figures in Irish art history while perhaps the only works of comparable topographical significance in the corpus of Irish art are Ashford’s own View from Phoenix Park in the National Gallery of Ireland, Joseph Tudor’s view of the city from the same angle (private collection) and John Butts’s View of Cork (Crawford Art Gallery, Cork).
The pictures were first sold almost two hundred and fifty years ago at Christie’s, in its original home in London’s Pall Mall, with its legendary founder James Christie at the rostrum. They have been lost sight of in the intervening centuries with their authorship by William Ashford and their subject, Dublin Bay, forgotten.
Adam's is proud to re-present these works of immense national importance to the public and the scholarly community alike.
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'
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
