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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'JOHN M. SYNGE, THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD, ILLUSTRATED AND SIGNED BY LE BROCQUY'
- Price Realised: €520
- Sale: 17 May 2008
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'The Playboy of the Western World'
- Price Realised: €520
- Sale: 12 June 2005
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'PEACE DOVE'
- Price Realised: €507
- Sale: 17 December 2000
- photolithograph, limited edition of 250
- 23 by 28cm., 9 by 11in.
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'LOVE DUET, FROM THE PLAY GOD'S GENTRY BY DONAGH MACDONAGH, 1951'
- Price Realised: €500
- Sale: 01 July 2024
- lithograph; (from an edition of 525)
- 14½ x 11in. (36.83 x 27.94cm)
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'EIGHT PORTRAITS IN WORDS AND WATERCOLOUR, 1990'
- Price Realised: €500
- Sale: 06 December 2014
- off-set lithograph print; (no. 0718 from an edition of 1000)
- 10½ x 9in. (26.67 x 22.86cm)
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'J. M. SYNGE [FROM EIGHT IRISH WRITERS SERIES], 1981'
- Price Realised: €500
- Sale: 30 September 2013
- collotype lithograph on Rives; (artist's proof, no. 1 from an edition of 15)
- 12.75 by 10.75in., 31.875 by 26.875cm.
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'Jeremy Madden-Simpson, The No Word Image - with an original lithograph by le Brocquy'
- Price Realised: €500
- Sale: 27 May 2006
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'John M. Synge, The Playboy of the Western World'
- Price Realised: €500
- Sale: 17 February 2004
- 0 by 0cm., by in.
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'EIGHT IRISH PORTRAITS IN WORDS AND WATERCOLOUR, 1990'
- Price Realised: €480
- Sale: 28 September 2015
- off-set lithograph print; (no. 0166 from an edition of 1000)
- 10½ x 9½in. (26.67 x 24.13cm)
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'SAMUEL BECKETT, POEMS 1930-1989 WITH AN ORIGINAL LITHOGRAPH BY LE BROCQUY'
- Price Realised: €480
- Sale: 09 December 2012
- limited edition book; (no. 80 from an edition of 100); lithograph; (1)
- 9.5 by 8.25in., 24.13 by 20.955cm.
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'PEACE DOVE'
- Price Realised: €450
- Sale: 09 December 2018
- photolithograph; (no. 235 from an edition of 250)
- 8½ x 8½in. (21.59 x 21.59cm)
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'THE NO WORD IMAGE by Jeremy Madden-Simpson'
- Price Realised: €440
- Sale: 05 October 2020
- limited edition book with lithograph; (no. 41 from an edition of 500)
- 11¼ x 7½in. (28.58 x 19.05cm)
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'John Millington Synge, THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD'
- Price Realised: €440
- Sale: 11 December 2011
- limited edition book; (no. 1764 from an edition of 1950)
- 28 by 19cm., 11 by 7.5in.
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'The Irish Landscape'
- Price Realised: €440
- Sale: 12 June 2005
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'PEACE DOVE'
- Price Realised: €400
- Sale: 09 December 2012
- photolithograph; (no. 8 from an edition of 250)
- 8.5 by 8.5in., 21.59 by 21.59cm.
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'IMAGE OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, 1980'
- Price Realised: €360
- Sale: 23 October 2023
- lithograph
- 29 x 23in. (73.66 x 58.42cm)
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'Thomas Kinsella, The Táin, translated from the Irish Táin Bó Cuailnge, with brush drawings by Louis le Brocquy'
- Price Realised: €360
- Sale: 12 June 2005
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'LOUIS LE BROCQUY BY DOROTHY WALKER'
- Price Realised: €300
- Sale: 13 December 2010
- 28 by 23cm., 11 by 9in.
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'THE IRISH LANDSCAPE'
- Price Realised: €300
- Sale: 13 December 2010
- limited edition book
- 25 by 30cm., 10 by 12in.
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'THOMAS KINSELLA, DER RINDERRANB: ALTIRISCHES EPOS – GERMAN TRANSLATION OF THE TÁIN'
- Price Realised: €300
- Sale: 06 December 2008
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'Thomas Kinsella, Der Rinderraub: Altirisches Epos, German translation of The Táin'
- Price Realised: €300
- Sale: 12 June 2005
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'THE TÁIN, TRANSLATED BY THOMAS KINSELLA FROM TÁIN BÓ CÚAILGNE'
- Price Realised: €250
- Sale: 23 October 2023
- book
- 12 x 7¾in. (30.48 x 19.69cm)
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'Five scarce exhibition catalogues, 1964-1998'
- Price Realised: €250
- Sale: 27 May 2006
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'Thomas Kinsella, Der Rinderraub: Altirisches Epos - German translation of The Táin'
- Price Realised: €200
- Sale: 27 May 2006
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'Anne Madden le Brocquy, Louis le Brocquy: A Painter Seeing His Way - special edition'
- Price Realised: €200
- Sale: 27 May 2006
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'John Millington Synge, THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD'
- Price Realised: €190
- Sale: 09 December 2018
- limited edition book; (no. 1874 from an edition of 1950)
- 11½ x 7½in. (29.21 x 19.05cm)
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'The Irish Landscape (1992); Procession (1994); and The Head Image (1996)'
- Price Realised: €170
- Sale: 27 May 2006
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'MAURA LAVERTY'S COOKERY BOOK, WITH A SECTION ON DIET BY SYBIL LE BROCQUY and THE RISING OF THE MOON BY THE CLANCY BROTHERS AND TOMMY MACKEN [VINYL]'
- Price Realised: €160
- Sale: 11 December 2011
- limited edition book; (1); vinyl record; (1)