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 TAIN, TRANSLATED BY THOMAS KINSELLA FROM THE IRISH TAIN BO CUAILNGE'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 17 May 2008
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'HEAD AND HANDPRINT, 1974'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 17 September 2007
- aquatint on Arches paper (no. 25 from an edition of 75)
- 39 by 40cm., 15.5 by 15.7 5in.
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'Thomas Kinsella (trans.), The Táin'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 09 December 2006
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'CHILDREN IN A WOOD, 1991'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 13 December 2023
- lithograph; (no. 40 from an edition of 75)
- 20 x 25½in. (50.80 x 64.77cm)
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'PROCESSION WITH LILLIES, 1991'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 04 December 2023
- lithograph; (no. 40 from an edition of 75)
- 20½ x 26½in. (52.07 x 67.31cm)
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'HAND, 1971'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 18 October 2021
- lithograph on hand made rag paper (no. 13 from an edition of 70)
- 15¾ x 13¼in. (40.01 x 33.66cm)
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'FLIGHT'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 27 May 2019
- screen print on stretchered fabric
- 45 x 22½in. (114.30 x 57.15cm)
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'THE TÁIN. PILLOW TALK, 1969'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 04 March 2019
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 27 from an edition of 70)
- 14¾ x 21¾in. (37.47 x 55¼cm)
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'PROCESSION WITH LILLIES I, 1991'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 04 March 2019
- lithograph on handmade Japan paper; (no. 62 from an edition on 75)
- 22 x 30in. (55.88 x 76.20cm)
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'DUBLINERS, SUBURBAN DOORWAY and ST. GEORGE'S CHURCH, 1986 (A PAIR)'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 01 October 2018
- lithographic brush drawing on handmade Japanese paper; (each nos. 3 from an edition of 35); (2)
- 18 x 12½in. (45.72 x 31¾cm)
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'CHILDREN IN A WOOD III, 1991'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 28 November 2016
- lithograph on handmade Japan paper; (no. 22 from an edition of 75)
- 19½ x 25½in. (49.53 x 64.77cm)
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'HUMAN IMAGE, 1999'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 28 September 2015
- carborundum; (no. 22 from an edition of 75)
- 24 x 19in. (60.96 x 48.26cm)
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'THE TÁIN. CÚCHULAINN MOUNTING HIS CHARIOT, 1969'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 23 February 2015
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 53 from an edition of 70)
- 15 x 21in. (38.10 x 53.34cm)
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'THE TÁIN. METAMORPHOSIS, 1969'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 24 November 2014
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 10 in the series); (no. 53 from an edition of 70)
- 21 x 15in. (53.34 x 38.10cm)
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'HUMAN IMAGE IX, 2005'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 26 May 2014
- silkscreen print; (no. 35 from an edition of 75)
- 34 by 23.75in., 85 by 59.375cm.
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'HUMAN IMAGE XII, 2005'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 26 May 2014
- silkscreen print; (no. 35 from an edition of 75)
- 34 by 23.75in., 85 by 59.375cm.
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'HUMAN IMAGE X, 2005'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 26 May 2014
- silkscreen print; (no. 35 from an edition of 75)
- 34 by 25.75in., 85 by 64.375cm.
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'HUMAN IMAGE VII, 2005'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 26 May 2014
- silkscreen; (no. 35 from an edition of 75)
- 34 by 23.75in., 85 by 59.375cm.
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'HUMAN IMAGE I, 2005'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 26 May 2014
- silkscreen print; (no. 35 from an edition of 75)
- 34 by 25.25in., 85 by 63.125cm.
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'HUMAN IMAGE VIII, 2005'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 26 May 2014
- silkscreen print; (no. 35 from an edition of 75)
- 34 by 23.75in., 85 by 59.375cm.
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'HUMAN IMAGE XI, 2005'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 26 May 2014
- silkscreen print; (no. 35 from an edition of 75)
- 34 by 25in., 85 by 62.5cm.
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'STUDY TOWARDS AN IMAGE OF W.B. YEATS'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 24 February 2014
- etching with aquatint; (no. 15 from an edition of 30)
- 22.75 by 30in., 56.875 by 75cm.
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'IMAGE OF BONO (PINK), 2003'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 27 May 2013
- silkscreen; (no. 33 from an edition of 75)
- 26.5 by 22in., 66.25 by 55cm.
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'THE TÁIN. A FLOCK OF BIRDS, 1969'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 21 May 2012
- lithographic brush drawing (no. 68 from an edition of 70)
- 15 by 21.25in., 38.1 by 53.975cm.
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'THE TÁIN. THE BULL OF CUAILNGE, 1969'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 21 May 2012
- lithographic brush drawing (no. 68 from an edition of 70)
- 15 by 21.5in., 38.1 by 54.61cm.
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'HUMAN IMAGE VII, 2005'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 31 May 2010
- screenprint (no. 8 from an edition of 75)
- 86 by 61cm., 34 by 24in.
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'TWO STUDIES TOWARDS AN IMAGE OF JAMES JOYCE, 1982'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 15 March 2010
- lithograph on arches paper
- 57 by 76cm., 22.5 by 30in.
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'EIGHT IRISH PORTRAITS IN WORDS AND WATERCOLOUR, 1990'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 18 May 2009
- offset lithograph prints (no. 133 from an edition of 1,000)
- 25 by 22cm., 10 by 8.5in.