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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'EIGHT IRISH WRITERS [1981]'
- Price Realised: €5,000
- Sale: 30 September 2013
- collotype lithographs; (8); (nos. 81 from an edition of 100); (unframed, in the original linen folio case)
- 13.75 by 11.5in., 34.375 by 28.75cm.
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'TINKER CHILD BENEATH A LIGHT BULB, circa 1952-54'
- Price Realised: €5,000
- Sale: 30 November 2009
- ink and collage with gouache on paper
- 47 by 40cm., 18.5 by 15.7 5in.
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'THE MORRíGAN, 1969'
- Price Realised: €5,000
- Sale: 26 November 2007
- lithograph on Swiftbrook paper (no. 38 from an edition ...
- 53 by 38cm., 21 by 15in.
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'STUDY TOWARDS AN IMAGE OF W. B. YEATS, 1975'
- Price Realised: €5,000
- Sale: 19 February 2007
- aquatint with drypoint (no. 90 from an edition of 100)
- 50 by 44cm., 19.5 by 17.5in.
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'ILLUSTRATION TO THE T¦IN, 1969'
- Price Realised: €5,000
- Sale: 28 November 2006
- lithograph on Swiftbrook paper (no. 32 from an edition of 70)
- 55 by 38cm., 21.5 by 15in.
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'Samuel Beckett, Stirrings Still, Blue Moon Books, New York, in association with John Calder, London, 1988'
- Price Realised: €5,000
- Sale: 28 November 2006
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'STUDY TOWARDS AN IMAGE OF W. B. YEATS'
- Price Realised: €5,000
- Sale: 29 November 2005
- aquatint with drypoint (no. 27 from an edition of 30)
- 50 by 44cm., 19.5 by 17.5in.
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'JOHN MILINGTON SYNGE'
- Price Realised: €5,000
- Sale: 20 September 2005
- collotype lithograph on Rives paper (no. 1 from an edition o
- 33 by 28cm., 13 by 11in.
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'JAMES JOYCE, 1977'
- Price Realised: €4,800
- Sale: 09 March 2020
- charcoal
- 9 x 7½in. (22.86 x 19.05cm)
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'STUDY TOWARDS AN IMAGE OF JAMES JOYCE, 1977'
- Price Realised: €4,800
- Sale: 04 March 2019
- watercolour
- 9 x 7½in. (22.86 x 19.05cm)
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'DHULOUGH PASS, MAYO, 1993'
- Price Realised: €4,800
- Sale: 28 September 2015
- watercolour
- 7 x 10in. (17.78 x 25.40cm)
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'THE CURRAGH, 1991'
- Price Realised: €4,800
- Sale: 26 May 2014
- watercolour
- 7 by 10in., 17.5 by 25cm.
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'MORNING MOUNTAIN, CONNEMARA, 1944'
- Price Realised: €4,800
- Sale: 31 May 2010
- watercolour
- 13 by 24cm., 5.25 by 9.5in.
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'BEING, 1999'
- Price Realised: €4,800
- Sale: 30 April 2007
- carborundum print (no. 16 from an edition of 75)
- 61 by 48cm., 24 by 19in.
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'THE TÁIN. THE BOY CÚCHULAINN, 1969'
- Price Realised: €4,600
- Sale: 07 December 2020
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 24 from an edition of 70)
- 21 x 15in. (53.34 x 38.10cm)
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'RIVERRUN, PROCESSION WITH LILIES I, 1991'
- Price Realised: €4,600
- Sale: 20 September 2005
- lithograph on handmade Japanese paper (no. 42 from an edition of 75)
- 56 by 76cm., 22 by 30in.
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'CHILD WITH FLOWERS, c.1954'
- Price Realised: €4,600
- Sale: 22 February 2005
- etching
- 42 by 38cm., 16.5 by 15in.
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'CUCHULAINN CONFRONTING FERDIA, 1969'
- Price Realised: €4,500
- Sale: 17 September 2007
- lithograph (no. 37 from an edition of 70)
- 53 by 38cm., 21 by 15in.
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'IMAGE OF SEAMUS HEANEY'
- Price Realised: €4,200
- Sale: 24 November 2014
- lithograph; (no. 18 from edition of 75)
- 23 x 17½in. (58.42 x 44.45cm)
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'THE TÁIN. CÚCHULAINN IN WARP SPASM, 1969'
- Price Realised: €4,000
- Sale: 27 September 2021
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 20 from an edition of 70)
- 15 x 21¼in. (38.10 x 53.98cm)
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'STUDY, BEARA, COUNTY CORK, 1987'
- Price Realised: €4,000
- Sale: 27 September 2021
- watercolour
- 6¼ x 9in. (15.88 x 22.86cm)
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'CASHEL, 1987'
- Price Realised: €4,000
- Sale: 25 May 2020
- watercolour
- 6¾ x 9¾in. (17.15 x 24.77cm)
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'CHILDREN IN A WOOD III, 1991'
- Price Realised: €4,000
- Sale: 26 November 2007
- lithograph (no. 20 from an edition of 75)
- 50 by 65cm., 19.5 by 25.5in.
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'FLIGHT'
- Price Realised: €4,000
- Sale: 26 May 2007
- hand-printed linen curtain fabric
- 224 by 124cm., 88 by 49in.
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'SCENE NEAR LUCAN, 1949'
- Price Realised: €4,000
- Sale: 21 February 2006
- lithograph with wash (no. 15 from an edition of 25)
- 13 by 25cm., 5 by 9.75in.
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'CUCHULAINN CONFRONTING FERDIA'
- Price Realised: €4,000
- Sale: 20 September 2005
- lithograph on Swiftbrook paper (no. 7 from an edition of 70)
- 53 by 38cm., 21 by 15in.
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'STUDY OF SELF'
- Price Realised: €4,000
- Sale: 17 September 2002
- lithograph, no.10 of an edition of 75
- 17 by 15cm., 6.5 by 6in.
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'THE TÁIN. CÚCHULAINN IN WARP SPASM, 1969'
- Price Realised: €3,800
- Sale: 04 March 2024
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 34 from an edition of 70)
- 15 x 21¼in. (38.10 x 53.98cm)