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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'HOMAGE Á STRINDBERG'
- Price Realised: €700
- Sale: 29 February 2016
- lithograph; (no. 98 from an edition of 100)
- 30½ x 22½in. (77.47 x 57.15cm)
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'JOHAN AUGUST STRINDBERG'
- Price Realised: €700
- Sale: 25 May 2015
- lithograph; (no. 3 from an edition of 100)
- 30 x 22½in. (76.20 x 57.15cm)
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'PEACE DOVE'
- Price Realised: €700
- Sale: 25 November 2013
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photolithograph; (no. 129 from an edition of 250)
- 8.5 by 8.5in., 21.25 by 21.25cm.
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'PEACE DOVE'
- Price Realised: €700
- Sale: 28 November 2011
- photolithograph (no. 133 from an edition of 250)
- 23 by 29cm., 9 by 11.5in.
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'Jeremy Madden-Simpson, The No Word Image - with an original lithograph by le Brocquy'
- Price Realised: €700
- Sale: 26 May 2007
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'THE NO WORD IMAGE'
- Price Realised: €700
- Sale: 12 June 2005
- lithograph (no. 385 from an edition of 500)
- 20 by 13cm., 8 by 5.25in.
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'The Irish Landscape - limited edition'
- Price Realised: €680
- Sale: 27 May 2006
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'EIGHT IRISH PORTRAITS IN WORDS AND WATERCOLOUR, 1990'
- Price Realised: €660
- Sale: 28 March 2022
- off-set lithograph print; (no. 0365 from an edition of 1000)
- 10½ x 8¾in. (26.67 x 22.23cm)
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'EIGHT IRISH PORTRAITS IN WORDS AND WATERCOLOUR, 1990'
- Price Realised: €660
- Sale: 27 May 2019
- off-set lithograph print (no. 0199 from an edition of 1000)
- 10½ x 8¾in. (26.67 x 22.23cm)
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'IMAGE OF W.B. YEATS, 1975'
- Price Realised: €660
- Sale: 28 September 2015
- 28 x 20in. (71.12 x 50.80cm)
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'The Irish Landscape'
- Price Realised: €650
- Sale: 17 February 2004
- 0 by 0cm., by in.
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'John M. Synge, The Playboy of the Western World'
- Price Realised: €650
- Sale: 18 November 2003
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'EIGHT IRISH PORTRAITS IN WORDS AND WATERCOLOUR, 1990'
- Price Realised: €620
- Sale: 25 May 2015
- off-set lithograph print (no. 0583 from an edition of 1000)
- 10½ x 9½in. (26.67 x 24.13cm)
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'Thomas Kinsella (trans.), The Táin'
- Price Realised: €620
- Sale: 10 December 2005
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'PEACE DOVE'
- Price Realised: €609
- Sale: 26 June 2000
- limited edition photo-lithograph
- 23 by 28cm., 9 by 11in.
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'EIGHT IRISH PORTRAITS IN WORDS AND WATERCOLOUR, 1990'
- Price Realised: €600
- Sale: 25 July 2022
- off-set lithograph print; (no. 0710 from an edition of 1000)
- 10½ x 8¾in. (26.67 x 22.23cm)
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'NEAR LUCAN, 1949'
- Price Realised: €600
- Sale: 01 March 2021
- lithograph; (no. 10 from an edition of 25)
- 4¼ x 8¾in. (10.80 x 22.23cm)
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'EIGHT IRISH PORTRAITS IN WORDS AND WATERCOLOUR, 1990'
- Price Realised: €600
- Sale: 04 March 2019
- off-set lithograph print (no. 0445 from an edition of 1000)
- 10½ x 8¾in. (26.67 x 22.23cm)
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'THE TÁIN, 1969'
- Price Realised: €600
- Sale: 30 September 2013
- first limited edition
- 12 by 8in., 30 by 20cm.
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'MYCENEAN GOLD MASK, 1974'
- Price Realised: €600
- Sale: 04 March 2013
- Intaglio print on paper; (no. 10 from an edition of 75)
- 15.5 by 15.5in., 38.75 by 38.75cm.
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'IMAGE OF W.B. YEATS, 1975'
- Price Realised: €600
- Sale: 01 October 2012
- 28 by 20in., 71 by 51cm.
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'Jeremy Madden-Simpson, The No Word Image'
- Price Realised: €600
- Sale: 10 December 2005
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'EIGHT IRISH PORTRAITS IN WORDS AND WATERCOLOUR, 1990'
- Price Realised: €580
- Sale: 05 October 2020
- off-set lithograph print; (no. 099 from an edition of 1000)
- 10½ x 8¾in. (26.67 x 22.23cm)
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'EIGHT PORTRAITS IN WORDS AND WATERCOLOUR, 1990'
- Price Realised: €580
- Sale: 27 May 2013
- off-set lithograph print (no. 0324 from an edition of 1000)
- 10.5 by 9in., 26.25 by 22.5cm.
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'John M. Synge, The Playboy of the Western World'
- Price Realised: €580
- Sale: 10 December 2005
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'EIGHT IRISH PORTRAITS IN WORDS AND WATERCOLOUR, 1990'
- Price Realised: €560
- Sale: 17 October 2022
- off-set lithograph print; (no. 0281 from an edition of 1000)
- 10½ x 8¾in. (26.67 x 22.23cm)
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'The Irish Landscape'
- Price Realised: €550
- Sale: 21 September 2004
- 0 by 0cm., by in.
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'EIGHT IRISH PORTRAITS IN WORDS AND WATERCOLOUR, 1990'
- Price Realised: €540
- Sale: 17 February 2020
- off-set lithograph print (no. 0146 from an edition of 1000)
- 10½ x 8¾in. (26.67 x 22.23cm)