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: €3,800
- Sale: 04 December 2023
- collotype lithographs; (8); (no. 41 from an edition of 100); unframed, in the original linen folio case
- 13½ x 11½in. (34.29 x 29.21cm)
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'IMAGE OF SEAMUS HEANEY, 2009'
- Price Realised: €3,800
- Sale: 29 May 2017
- intaglio print on Japanese Kozu natural paper; (no. 13 from an edition of 75)
- 23 x 17½in. (58.42 x 44.45cm)
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'STUDY TOWARDS AN IMAGE OF W. B. YEATS, 1975'
- Price Realised: €3,800
- Sale: 29 September 2008
- aquatint with drypoint on Arches paper (no. 73 from an edition of 100)
- 50 by 44cm., 19.5 by 17.5in.
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'SWORDSMAN, 1969'
- Price Realised: €3,800
- Sale: 17 September 2007
- lithograph (no. 30 from an edition of 70)
- 53 by 38cm., 21 by 15in.
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'EIGHT IRISH PORTRAITS IN WORDS AND WATERCOLOUR, 1990'
- Price Realised: €3,800
- Sale: 19 February 2007
- offset lithographic prints (no. 553 from an edition of 1000)
- 25 by 21cm., 10 by 8.25in.
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'ENCLOSED FIELD, BEARA'
- Price Realised: €3,800
- Sale: 20 September 2005
- lithograph (no. 13 from an edition of 25)
- 25 by 30cm., 10 by 12in.
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'HEAD OF STRINDBERG'
- Price Realised: €3,800
- Sale: 17 February 2004
- chromolithograph
- 77 by 58cm., 30.5 by 23in.
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'THE TÁIN. CÚCHULAINN CONFRONTING FERDIA, 1969'
- Price Realised: €3,700
- Sale: 27 February 2017
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 53 from an edition of 70)
- 21¼ x 15in. (53.98 x 38.10cm)
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'NOISIU'
- Price Realised: €3,700
- Sale: 10 December 2005
- lithograph on Swiftbrook paper (no.13 from an edition of 70)
- 53 by 37cm., 21 by 14.5in.
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'IMAGE OF PICASSO, 1989'
- Price Realised: €3,600
- Sale: 27 May 2024
- lithograph on Japanese paper; (no. 14 from an edition of 29)
- 27 x 20in. (68.58 x 50.80cm)
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'THE TÁIN. NAKED WOMAN, 1969'
- Price Realised: €3,600
- Sale: 22 March 2021
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 24 from an edition of 70)
- 21 x 15in. (53.34 x 38.10cm)
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'THE TÁIN. MEDB, 1969'
- Price Realised: €3,600
- Sale: 25 May 2020
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 5 from an edition of 70)
- 21 x 15in. (53.34 x 38.10cm)
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'IMAGE OF BONO (BLUE) 2003'
- Price Realised: €3,600
- Sale: 30 May 2011
- silkscreen (no. 39 from an edition of 75)
- 67 by 56cm., 26.5 by 22in.
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'HEAD OF STRINDBERG'
- Price Realised: €3,600
- Sale: 16 September 2003
- chromolithograph
- 77 by 58cm., 30.5 by 23in.
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'HAND, 1971'
- Price Realised: €3,500
- Sale: 28 November 2006
- lithograph on hand made rag paper (no. 50 from an edition of 70)
- 41 by 33cm., 16 by 13in.
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'THE TAIN: MEDB RELIEVING HERSELF, 1969'
- Price Realised: €3,500
- Sale: 27 May 2006
- lithograph on Swiftbrrok paper (no 32 from an edition of 70)
- 55 by 38cm., 21.5 by 15in.
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'STUDY OF W. B. YEATS, 1984'
- Price Realised: €3,400
- Sale: 02 October 2023
- aquatint; (no. 29 from an edition of 70)
- 14 x 12½in. (35.56 x 31¾cm)
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'CHILD IN A FOREST, 1953'
- Price Realised: €3,400
- Sale: 02 October 2017
- ink and watercolour
- 4 x 3in. (10.16 x 7.62cm)
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'BONO'
- Price Realised: €3,400
- Sale: 24 November 2008
- lithograph (no. 30 from an edition of 75)
- 67 by 56cm., 26.5 by 22in.
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'PEACE DOVE'
- Price Realised: €3,400
- Sale: 09 December 2006
- photolithograph (no. 104 from an edition of 250)
- 23 by 28cm., 9 by 11in.
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'Samuel Beckett, Stirrings Still, Blue Moon Books, New York, in association with John Calder,'
- Price Realised: €3,400
- Sale: 25 April 2006
- London, 1988
- 0 by 0cm., by in.
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'STUDY TOWARDS AN IMAGE OF W. B. YEATS, 1975'
- Price Realised: €3,400
- Sale: 20 September 2005
- aquatint with drypoint (no. 59 from an edition of 100)
- 50 by 44cm., 19.5 by 17.5in.
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'BOY WITH FISH'
- Price Realised: €3,400
- Sale: 27 April 2004
- pencil on paper
- 14 by 17cm., 5.5 by 6.75in.
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'PROCESSION WITH LILLIES I, 1991'
- Price Realised: €3,400
- Sale: 19 November 2002
- lithograph on handmade Japanese paper
- 56 by 76cm., 22 by 30in.
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'THE TÁIN. LION, 1969'
- Price Realised: €3,300
- Sale: 23 February 2015
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 53 from an edition of 70)
- 15 x 21in. (38.10 x 53.34cm)
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'THE TÁIN. THE BEGETTING OF CONCHOBOR, 1969'
- Price Realised: €3,200
- Sale: 04 March 2024
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 45 from an edition of 70)
- 15 x 21in. (38.10 x 53.34cm)
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'RECUMBENT FORMS, 1962'
- Price Realised: €3,200
- Sale: 04 March 2024
- watercolour
- 5½ x 7½in. (13.97 x 19.05cm)
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'RECUMBENT FORMS, 1962'
- Price Realised: €3,200
- Sale: 04 March 2024
- watercolour
- 5½ x 7½in. (13.97 x 19.05cm)