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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'STUDY TOWARDS AN IMAGE OF FEDERICO GARCÍA LORCA, 1977'
- Price Realised: €950
- Sale: 29 February 2016
- aquatint on Arches paper; (no. 28 from an edition of 30)
- 20¼ x 17½in. (51.44 x 44.45cm)
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'THE TÁIN. MEDB, 1969'
- Price Realised: €950
- Sale: 29 September 2014
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 10 from an edition of 70)
- 21 by 15in., 52.5 by 37.5cm.
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'THE TÁIN. PIGS, 1969'
- Price Realised: €950
- 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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'NO LEMON, 1974'
- Price Realised: €900
- Sale: 01 March 2021
- Intaglio print on paper; (no. 51 from an edition of 75)
- 6 x 6¾in. (15.24 x 17.15cm)
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'THE TÁIN. MEDB RELIEVING HERSELF, 1969'
- Price Realised: €900
- Sale: 17 February 2020
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 17 from an edition of 70)
- 21 x 15in. (53.34 x 38.10cm)
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'JAMES JOYCE, 1981'
- Price Realised: €900
- Sale: 27 November 2017
- lithograph; (no. 34 from an edition of 100)
- 12½ x 10½in. (31¾ x 26.67cm)
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'MYCENEAN GOLD MASK, 1974'
- Price Realised: €850
- Sale: 14 June 2021
- Intaglio print on paper; (no. 63 from an edition of 75)
- 15½ x 15½in. (39.37 x 39.37cm)
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'VARIOUS PRINTS 1980-1993 (12)'
- Price Realised: €838
- Sale: 08 March 2000
- coloured lithographs
- 20 by 15cm., 8 by 6in.
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'IMAGE OF W. B. YEATS, 1975'
- Price Realised: €800
- Sale: 28 March 2022
- poster
- 28 x 20in. (71.12 x 50.80cm)
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'LOUIS LE BROCQUY BY DOROTHY WALKER'
- Price Realised: €800
- Sale: 12 March 2012
- limited edition book; (first ed. 1981)
- 28.575 by 21.59cm., 11.25 by 8.5in.
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'THE TÁIN, TRANSLATED BY THOMAS KINSELLA FROM TÁIN BÓ CÚAILGNE'
- Price Realised: €750
- Sale: 17 October 2022
- limited edition book; (from an edition of 1,750 of which 750 were for sale in the USA)
- 12 x 7¾in. (30.48 x 19.69cm)
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'EIGHT IRISH PORTRAITS IN WORDS AND WATERCOLOUR, 1990'
- Price Realised: €750
- Sale: 13 December 2021
- offset lithographic prints; (no. 362 from an edition of 1000)
- 10 x 8½in. (25.40 x 21.59cm)
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'DUBLINERS, BALLAST OFFICE CLOCK, 1986'
- Price Realised: €750
- Sale: 04 March 2019
- lithograph on handmade Japanese paper; (no. 11 from an edition of 35)
- 18 x 12½in. (45.72 x 31¾cm)
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'IMAGE OF SELF, 1993 and SEEING HIS WAY'
- Price Realised: €750
- Sale: 09 December 2018
- lithograph on Rives paper; (no. 24 from an edition of 100); (1); limited edition book; (no. 71 from an edition of 100); (1)
- 8½ x 5½in. (21.59 x 13.97cm)
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'THOMAS KINSELLA, 1981'
- Price Realised: €750
- Sale: 11 December 2017
- lithograph; (no. 34 from an edition of 100)
- 12½ x 10½in. (31¾ x 26.67cm)
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'STUDY OF SELF, 1949'
- Price Realised: €750
- Sale: 02 October 2017
- lithograph; (no. 64 from an edition of 75)
- 7¼ x 6½in. (18.42 x 16.51cm)
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'STUDY OF SELF'
- Price Realised: €750
- Sale: 25 November 2013
- lithograph; (no. 42 from an edition of 75)
- 6.5 by 5.5in., 16.25 by 13.75cm.
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'THE TÁIN. MACHA PLEADING, 1969'
- Price Realised: €750
- 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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'THE TAIN, TRANSLATED BY THOMAS KINSELLA FROM TAIN BO CUAILNGE'
- Price Realised: €750
- Sale: 11 December 2011
- limited edition book; (from an edition of 1,750 of which 750 were for sale in the USA)
- 30 by 20cm., 11.7 5 by 7.75in.
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'THE IRISH LANDSCAPE - LIMITED EDITION'
- Price Realised: €750
- Sale: 17 May 2008
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'THE TAIN, TRANSLATED BY THOMAS KINSELLA'
- Price Realised: €750
- Sale: 15 December 2007
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'John M. Synge, The Playboy of the Western World, illustrated by Louis le Brocquy - limited edition'
- Price Realised: €750
- Sale: 27 May 2006
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'LOUIS LE BROCQUY BY DOROTHY WALKER'
- Price Realised: €720
- Sale: 01 October 2012
- limited edition book; (first ed. 1981)
- 10.75 by 8.5in., 27 by 22cm.
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'The Irish Landscape - limited edition'
- Price Realised: €720
- Sale: 09 December 2006
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'HEAD OF STRINDBERG - PORTRAIT FOR BASLE ART FAIR, 1982'
- Price Realised: €700
- Sale: 13 December 2023
- chromolithograph on wove paper with screen printed text
- 30½ x 18in. (77.47 x 45.72cm)
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'UNTITLED, c. 1956'
- Price Realised: €700
- Sale: 14 June 2021
- screen-printed cotton
- 50 x 95½in. (127 x 242.57cm)
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'FRANCIS STUART, 1981'
- Price Realised: €700
- Sale: 11 December 2017
- lithograph; (no. 34 from an edition of 100)
- 12½ x 10½in. (31¾ x 26.67cm)
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'JOHN MILLINGTON SYNGE, 1981'
- Price Realised: €700
- Sale: 11 December 2017
- lithograph; (no. 34 from an edition of 100)
- 12½ x 10½in. (31¾ x 26.67cm)