Louis le Brocquy
Louis le Brocquy was born in Dublin in 1916. Leaving Ireland in 1938 to study the major European art collections in London, Paris, Venice and Geneva, he returned in the 1940s where he participated in the Irish Exhibition of Living Art, departing for London in 1946 where he soon became prominent on the contemporary art scene. Later he began to exhibit internationally and - representing Ireland - won a major prize at the Venice Biennale in 1956. In 1958 he married fellow artist Anne Madden and left London to work in France.
He received an invitation, in December 1966, to collaborate with publisher Liam Miller on a new translation of Ireland's oldest saga, An Táin Bó Cúailnge. Accepting, le Brocquy spent much of the next three years visualising the project, before its publication in 1969. His lithographic brush drawings for The Táin were celebrated by critics, and would endure as one of the crowning achievements, and culturally significant artworks, of his career.
The artist would enjoy continuous acclaim throughout his long career, which spanned over six decades and can be broken up roughly into ten, sometimes overlapping, periods; the ‘Tinker’ (1945-1948), ‘Grey’ (1951-54) and ‘White’ (1956-66) periods, the ‘Ancestral’ (1964-75) and ‘Portrait’ (1975-2000) Heads, his series of Still Lifes (1981-1998), ‘Processions’ (1984-92) and ‘Irish Landscapes’ (1987-94), before his ‘Human Image’ (1996-05) and, finally, the ‘Homage’ (2005-06) series towards the end of his career and life.
Le Brocquy is recognised by many as one of the greatest Irish artists of the twentieth century, and one of the greatest of any era of Irish art. He was made Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur in 1975 and received the Freedom of the City of Dublin in 2007. The realisation of over £1.7 million for his 1951 painting A Family at auction in 2000 was a record at the time for an Irish artist’s work, placing him among a very select group of British and Irish artists whose works have commanded in excess of £1 million in their lifetime, an acknowledgement of his illustrious profile in the art community internationally as well as at home. Le Brocquy died on 25 April 2012. Before his passing, he was the only artist to have received the distinctive honour of being included during his lifetime in the Permanent Irish Collection of the National Gallery of Ireland. His works can be found in some of the world’s most important public collections including the Guggenheim Museum, New York and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
He received an invitation, in December 1966, to collaborate with publisher Liam Miller on a new translation of Ireland's oldest saga, An Táin Bó Cúailnge. Accepting, le Brocquy spent much of the next three years visualising the project, before its publication in 1969. His lithographic brush drawings for The Táin were celebrated by critics, and would endure as one of the crowning achievements, and culturally significant artworks, of his career.
The artist would enjoy continuous acclaim throughout his long career, which spanned over six decades and can be broken up roughly into ten, sometimes overlapping, periods; the ‘Tinker’ (1945-1948), ‘Grey’ (1951-54) and ‘White’ (1956-66) periods, the ‘Ancestral’ (1964-75) and ‘Portrait’ (1975-2000) Heads, his series of Still Lifes (1981-1998), ‘Processions’ (1984-92) and ‘Irish Landscapes’ (1987-94), before his ‘Human Image’ (1996-05) and, finally, the ‘Homage’ (2005-06) series towards the end of his career and life.
Le Brocquy is recognised by many as one of the greatest Irish artists of the twentieth century, and one of the greatest of any era of Irish art. He was made Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur in 1975 and received the Freedom of the City of Dublin in 2007. The realisation of over £1.7 million for his 1951 painting A Family at auction in 2000 was a record at the time for an Irish artist’s work, placing him among a very select group of British and Irish artists whose works have commanded in excess of £1 million in their lifetime, an acknowledgement of his illustrious profile in the art community internationally as well as at home. Le Brocquy died on 25 April 2012. Before his passing, he was the only artist to have received the distinctive honour of being included during his lifetime in the Permanent Irish Collection of the National Gallery of Ireland. His works can be found in some of the world’s most important public collections including the Guggenheim Museum, New York and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
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'THE TÁIN. HORSEMAN, 1969'
- Price Realised: €2,100
- Sale: 30 May 2016
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 53 from an edition of 70)
- 21¼ x 14¾in. (53.98 x 37.47cm)
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'THE TÁIN. PILLOW TALK, 1969'
- Price Realised: €2,100
- Sale: 30 May 2016
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 53 from an edition of 70)
- 14¾ x 21¼in. (37.47 x 53.98cm)
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'THE TÁIN. THE BEGETTING OF CONCHOBOR, 1969'
- Price Realised: €2,100
- Sale: 30 November 2015
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 53 from an edition of 70)
- 15 x 21in. (38.10 x 53.34cm)
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'A FLOCK OF BIRDS, 1969'
- Price Realised: €2,100
- Sale: 15 December 2007
- lithograph (no. 47 from an edition from an edition of 70)
- 38 by 53cm., 15 by 21in.
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'HEAD OF STRINDBERG, c.1979/80'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 04 December 2023
- chromolithograph; (no. 89 from an edition of 100)
- 30¼ x 22¾in. (76.84 x 57.79cm)
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'CHILDREN IN A WOOD, 1991'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 04 December 2023
- lithograph; (no. 28 from an edition of 75)
- 20 x 25½in. (50.80 x 64.77cm)
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'IMAGE OF SAMUEL BECKETT, 1979'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 06 March 2023
- lithograph; (no. 91 from an edition of 100)
- 15½ x 15¾in. (39.37 x 40.01cm)
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'IMAGE OF W. B. YEATS, 1975'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 12 December 2022
- poster
- 28 x 20in. (71.12 x 50.80cm)
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'PROCESSION WITH LILLIES, 1991'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 18 October 2021
- lithograph; (no. 63 from an edition of 75)
- 20½ x 28¼in. (52.07 x 71.76cm)
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'CHILDREN IN A WOOD, 1991'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 27 September 2021
- lithograph; (no. 63 from an edition of 75)
- 20 x 25in. (50.80 x 63½cm)
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'STONES, CONNEMARA, 1944'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 31 May 2021
- pencil
- 4 x 5½in. (10.16 x 13.97cm)
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'THE TÁIN. MACHA PLEADING, 1969'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 22 March 2021
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 24 from an edition of 70)
- 21 x 15in. (53.34 x 38.10cm)
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'THE TÁIN. MACHA PLEADING, 1969'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 22 March 2021
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 24 from an edition of 70)
- 21 x 15in. (53.34 x 38.10cm)
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'THE TÁIN. MACHA PLEADING, 1969'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 22 March 2021
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 24 from an edition of 70)
- 21 x 15in. (53.34 x 38.10cm)
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'THE TÁIN. MACHA PLEADING, 1969'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 22 March 2021
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 24 from an edition of 70)
- 21 x 15in. (53.34 x 38.10cm)
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'HAND, 1971'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 14 December 2020
- lithograph on handmade rag paper; (no. 18 from an edition of 70)
- 15¾ x 13¼in. (40.01 x 33.66cm)
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'HEAD OF STRINDBERG, c. 1979/80'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 02 December 2019
- chromolithograph; (no. 80 from an edition of 100)
- 30¼ x 22¾in. (76.84 x 57.79cm)
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'THE TÁIN. COW AND CALF, 1969'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 16 September 2019
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 27 from an edition of 70)
- 15 x 21in. (38.10 x 53.34cm)
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'THE TÁIN. NAKED WOMAN, 1969'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 26 November 2018
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 27 from an edition of 70)
- 21 x 14¾in. (53.34 x 37.47cm)
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'NELSON MANDELA, 1983'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 28 May 2018
- lithograph; (no. 43 from an edition of 100)
- 33¼ x 23¼in. (84.46 x 59.06cm)
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'CONNEMARA ISLAND, 1944'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 02 October 2017
- pencil
- 5¼ x 6¾in. (13.34 x 17.15cm)
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'THE TÁIN. NOISIU, 1969'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 27 February 2017
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 24 from an edition of 70)
- 21 x 15in. (53.34 x 38.10cm)
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'SCENE NEAR LUCAN, 1949'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 28 November 2016
- hand coloured lithograph; (artist's proof)
- 4½ x 8½in. (11.43 x 21.59cm)
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'THE TÁIN. CHARIOTS, 1969'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 29 February 2016
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 24 from an edition of 70)
- 21 x 15in. (53.34 x 38.10cm)
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'THE TÁIN. CHARIOTS, 1969'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 30 November 2015
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 53 from an edition of 70)
- 21 x 15in. (53.34 x 38.10cm)
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'THE TÁIN. MACHA PLEADING, 1969'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 23 February 2015
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 53 from an edition of 70)
- 21 x 15in. (53.34 x 38.10cm)
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'BONO (BLUE), 2003'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 24 November 2014
- silkscreen; (no. 48 from edition of 75)
- 26.80 x 22in. (68.07 x 55.88cm)
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'"...AND DISAPPEARED WITH A CURIOUS PERFUME AND MOST MELODIOUS TWANG."'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 28 November 2011
- pen and ink with gouache over pencil
- 11 by 17cm., 4.5 by 6.75in.