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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'ILLUSTRATION TO THE TÁIN'
- Price Realised: €2,600
- Sale: 29 April 2003
- chromolithograph
- 38 by 53cm., 15 by 21in.
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'HORSE AND RIDERS, FROM THE TAIN SERIES'
- Price Realised: €2,600
- Sale: 18 February 2003
- lithograph
- 50 by 38cm., 19.5 by 15in.
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''...AND DISAPPEARED WITH A CURIOUS PERFUME AND MOST MELODIOUS TWANG.''
- Price Realised: €2,500
- Sale: 16 September 2019
- pen and ink with gouache over pencil
- 4½ x 6¾in. (11.43 x 17.15cm)
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'THE TÁIN. THE BOY CÚCHULAINN, 1969'
- Price Realised: €2,500
- Sale: 27 May 2019
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 27 from an edition of 70)
- 21 x 15in. (53.34 x 38.10cm)
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'THE TÁIN. CÚCHULAINN MOUNTING HIS CHARIOT, 1969'
- Price Realised: €2,500
- Sale: 27 May 2019
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 27 from an edition of 70)
- 14¾ x 21in. (37.47 x 53.34cm)
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'THE TÁIN. THE BOY CÚCHULAINN ARMED, 1969'
- Price Realised: €2,500
- Sale: 04 March 2019
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 27 from an edition of 70)
- 21¼ x 14¾in. (53.98 x 37.47cm)
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'THE TÁIN. MARE AND FOALS, 1969'
- Price Realised: €2,500
- Sale: 26 November 2018
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 27 from an edition of 70)
- 14¾ x 21in. (37.47 x 53.34cm)
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'THE TÁIN. THE BOY CÚCHULAINN ARMED, 1969'
- Price Realised: €2,500
- Sale: 26 November 2018
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 41 from an edition of 70)
- 21¼ x 14¾in. (53.98 x 37.47cm)
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'IMAGE OF BONO (BLUE), 2003'
- Price Realised: €2,500
- Sale: 04 March 2013
- silkscreen (no. 39 from an edition of 75)
- 26.5 by 22in., 66.25 by 55cm.
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'TWO STUDIES TOWARDS AN IMAGE OF JAMES JOYCE, 1983'
- Price Realised: €2,500
- Sale: 30 May 2011
- lithograph on arches paper (no. 66 from an edition of 75)
- 57 by 76cm., 22.5 by 30in.
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'PEACE DOVE'
- Price Realised: €2,500
- Sale: 26 May 2007
- photolithograph (no. 165 from an edition of 250)
- 23 by 28cm., 9 by 11in.
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'Samuel Beckett, Stirrings Still'
- Price Realised: €2,500
- Sale: 12 June 2005
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'HUMAN IMAGE VIII, 2005'
- Price Realised: €2,400
- Sale: 27 September 2021
- silkscreen print; (no. 35 from an edition of 75)
- 34 x 23¾in. (86.36 x 60.33cm)
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'CÚCHULAINN, 1974'
- Price Realised: €2,400
- Sale: 25 May 2020
- aquatint on Arches paper; (no. 56 from edition of 75)
- 15½ x 15½in. (39.37 x 39.37cm)
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'THE TÁIN. THE BULL OF CUAILNGE, 1969'
- Price Realised: €2,400
- Sale: 16 September 2019
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 27 from an edition of 70)
- 15 x 21in. (38.10 x 53.34cm)
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'THE TÁIN. NAKED WOMAN, 1969'
- Price Realised: €2,400
- Sale: 27 November 2017
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 53 from an edition of 70)
- 21¼ x 15in. (53.98 x 38.10cm)
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'HUMAN IMAGE IX, 2005'
- Price Realised: €2,400
- Sale: 28 September 2015
- silkscreen; (no. 9 from an edition of 75)
- 34 x 25in. (86.36 x 63½cm)
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'HEAD OF FRANCIS STUART'
- Price Realised: €2,400
- Sale: 29 April 2003
- lithograph
- 32 by 27cm., 12.5 by 10.5in.
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'HUMAN IMAGE XII, 2005'
- Price Realised: €2,300
- Sale: 04 December 2023
- screenprint on Velin d'Arches; (no. 49 from an edition of 75)
- 40 x 28¼in. (101.60 x 71.76cm)
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'STUDY TOWARDS AN IMAGE OF JAMES JOYCE'
- Price Realised: €2,300
- Sale: 29 November 2021
- etching with aquatint; (hors du commerce; 5 from an edition of 20)
- 20½ x 17½in. (52.07 x 44.45cm)
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'W.B. YEATS STUDY IN PURPLE 1991'
- Price Realised: €2,300
- Sale: 22 March 2021
- aquatint on wove paper (no. 18 from an edition of 35)
- 22½ x 16½in. (57.15 x 41.91cm)
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'THE TÁIN. CÚCHULAINN CONFRONTING FERDIA, 1969'
- Price Realised: €2,300
- Sale: 27 May 2019
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 27 from an edition of 70)
- 21 x 15in. (53.34 x 38.10cm)
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'THE TÁIN. ULSTER RISES FROM ITS PANGS, 1969'
- Price Realised: €2,300
- Sale: 26 November 2018
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 27 from an edition of 70)
- 14¾ x 21in. (37.47 x 53.34cm)
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'THE TÁIN. THE INFANT CÚCHULAINN, 1969'
- Price Realised: €2,300
- Sale: 27 February 2017
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 53 from an edition of 70)
- 15 x 21¼in. (38.10 x 53.98cm)
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'THE TÁIN. DEER AMONG DOLMENS, 1969'
- Price Realised: €2,300
- Sale: 24 November 2014
- lithographic brush drawing; (no. 26 in the series); (no. 53 from an edition of 70)
- 21 x 15in. (53.34 x 38.10cm)
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'THE TÁIN. METAMORPHOSIS, 1969'
- Price Realised: €2,300
- Sale: 25 November 2013
- lithographic brush drawing on Swiftbrook paper; (no. 1 from an edition of 70)
- 21.5 by 15in., 53.75 by 37.5cm.
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'VISAGE A BOUCHE OUVERTE'
- Price Realised: €2,300
- Sale: 27 April 2004
- aquatint on Arches paper
- 41 by 41cm., 16 by 16in.
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'HEAD OF W. B. YEATS (GREEN), 1991'
- Price Realised: €2,200
- Sale: 26 September 2022
- silkscreen; (no. 15 from an edition of 35)
- 23 x 16in. (58.42 x 40.64cm)