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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'VISAGE SUR FOND ROUGE ORANGÉ [HEAD ONA RED GROUND] 1974'
- Price Realised: €1,500
- Sale: 29 May 2017
- Intaglio print on Arches paper; (Hors de Commerce)
- 15½ x 15½in. (39.37 x 39.37cm)
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'THE TÁIN. THE BULL OF CUAILNGE [BLUE], 1989'
- Price Realised: €1,500
- Sale: 29 May 2017
- lithograph on swiftbrook paper; (no. 138 from an edition of 140)
- 14¾ x 21in. (37.47 x 53.34cm)
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'THE TÁIN. FERDIA DEAD, 1969'
- Price Realised: €1,500
- Sale: 27 February 2017
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 53 from an edition of 70)
- 15 x 21¼in. (38.10 x 53.98cm)
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'THE TÁIN. DEATH OF FRAECH, 1969'
- Price Realised: €1,500
- Sale: 26 September 2016
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 53 from an edition of 70)
- 15 x 21¼in. (38.10 x 53.98cm)
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'THE TÁIN. WARRIOR KILLED, 1969'
- Price Realised: €1,500
- Sale: 26 September 2016
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 53 from an edition of 70)
- 15 x 21¼in. (38.10 x 53.98cm)
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'THE TÁIN. SLAIN MEN, 1969'
- Price Realised: €1,500
- Sale: 29 February 2016
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 53 from an edition of 70)
- 15 x 21¼in. (38.10 x 53.98cm)
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'HUMAN IMAGE, 1999'
- Price Realised: €1,500
- Sale: 28 September 2015
- carborundum; (no. 22 from an edition of 35)
- 24 x 19in. (60.96 x 48.26cm)
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'HUMAN IMAGE I, 2005'
- Price Realised: €1,500
- Sale: 28 September 2015
- screenprint; (no. 9 from an edition of 75)
- 34 x 25in. (86.36 x 63½cm)
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'DUBLINERS, GOLDSMITH, T.C.D., 1986'
- Price Realised: €1,500
- Sale: 28 September 2015
- lithographic brush drawing on handmade Japanese paper; (no. 21 from an edition of 35)
- 17¼ x 12¼in. (43.82 x 31.12cm)
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'HUMAN IMAGE VII, 2005'
- Price Realised: €1,500
- Sale: 25 May 2015
- silkscreen; (no. 9 from edition of 75)
- 34 x 25in. (86.36 x 63½cm)
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'CHILDREN IN A WOOD I, 1991'
- Price Realised: €1,500
- Sale: 01 October 2012
- lithograph on handmade Japanese paper; (no. 11 from an edition of 75)
- 20 by 26in., 51 by 66cm.
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'THE TÁIN. COW AND CALF, 1969'
- Price Realised: €1,500
- 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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'NOISIU, 1969'
- Price Realised: €1,500
- Sale: 30 November 2009
- lithograph (no. 33 from an edition of 70)
- 54 by 38cm., 21.2 5 by 15in.
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'SWORDSMAN, 1969'
- Price Realised: €1,500
- Sale: 30 November 2009
- lithograph (no. 33 from an edition of 70)
- 53 by 38cm., 21 by 15in.
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'W.B. YEATS STUDY IN PURPLE, 1991'
- Price Realised: €1,500
- Sale: 18 May 2009
- aquatint on wove paper (no. 24 from an edition of 35)
- 75 by 56cm., 29.5 by 22in.
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'W. B. YEATS'
- Price Realised: €1,500
- Sale: 10 December 2005
- offset lithographic poster
- 71 by 53cm., 28 by 21in.
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'Samuel Beckett, Poems 1930-1989'
- Price Realised: €1,500
- Sale: 10 December 2005
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'IMAGE FORMING ON A RED GROUND or RECONSTRUCTED HEAD, 1974'
- Price Realised: €1,500
- Sale: 12 June 2005
- aquatint on wove paper (no. 9 from an edition of 75)
- 41 by 41cm., 16 by 16in.
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'HAND PRINT'
- Price Realised: €1,500
- Sale: 08 May 2002
- lithograph, number 24 out of an edition of 70
- 34 by 41cm., 13.5 by 16in.
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'THE TÁIN. NAKED WOMAN, 1969'
- Price Realised: €1,450
- Sale: 26 November 2012
- lithographic brush drawing (no. 39 from an edition of 70)
- 21.25 by 15in., 53.975 by 38.1cm.
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'STUDY TOWARDS AN IMAGE OF FEDERICO GARCÍA LORCA, 1977'
- Price Realised: €1,450
- Sale: 26 November 2012
- aquatint on Arches (no. 25 from an edition of 30)
- 20.25 by 17.5in., 51.435 by 44.45cm.
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'SAMUEL BECKETT'
- Price Realised: €1,400
- Sale: 04 December 2023
- lithograph; (no. 5 from an edition of 100)
- 15½ x 15¾in. (39.37 x 40.01cm)
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'THE TÁIN. CHARIOTS, 1969'
- Price Realised: €1,400
- Sale: 04 December 2023
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 49 from an edition of 70)
- 21 x 15in. (53.34 x 38.10cm)
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'STUDIES TOWARDS AN IMAGE OF JAMES JOYCE EXHIBITION POSTER, 1978'
- Price Realised: €1,400
- Sale: 23 October 2023
- lithograph
- 30 x 19in. (76.20 x 48.26cm)
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'STUDY TOWARDS AN IMAGE OF W.B. YEATS, 1975'
- Price Realised: €1,400
- Sale: 18 October 2021
- etching with aquatint; (no. 1 from an edition of 30)
- 19½ x 17½in. (49.53 x 44.45cm)
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'RECONSTRUCTED HEAD, 1974'
- Price Realised: €1,400
- Sale: 22 March 2021
- aquatint on Arches paper (no. 59 from an edition of 75)
- 16 x 16in. (40.64 x 40.64cm)
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'STUDY TOWARDS AN IMAGE OF W. B. YEATS, 1975'
- Price Realised: €1,400
- Sale: 14 December 2020
- aquatint with drypoint; (artist proof XIV)
- 20 x 17½in. (50.80 x 44.45cm)
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'NO LEMON, 1974'
- Price Realised: €1,400
- Sale: 28 September 2020
- Intaglio print on paper; (no. 57 from an edition of 75)
- 6 x 6¾in. (15.24 x 17.15cm)