The Dublin art buying public reconvenes in mid-September and from then until Christmas the bulk of the serious buying takes place. Whytes and de Veres have their auctions and galleries like the Taylor and the Kerlin put their prime artists on show.
Early indications are that Donald Teskey and John Kingerlee are currently the hottest properties. Teskey is the real deal and I'll buy him when I can. Kingerlee on the other hand is being jacked up artifically by some cute hoor from the North who bulk bought his work a little while back. A modest piece (17" x 20") went for €60,000 at Whytes auction on the 20th September. Beware of buying him. Shinnors is still hot but his growth rate has slowed. Le Brocquy I feel has peaked and so it seems has Dan O'Neill. A large Le Brocquy piece failed to sell at the de Vere auction in September, stalling some €13K below its guide price of €100K. It could be of course that it didn't sell because the accompanying guff mentioned that Anne Madden (Le Brocquy's pit bull minder) was the subject.
There are a number of very interesting shows in town. The Charlie Tyrrell show in the Taylor is the most impressive and he is still very modestly priced. His works have the numinous quality of Rothko's and I feel he's very underpriced at present. Over at the Green on Red Gallery Eilis O'Connell's perfectly wrought works in bronze and resin seem more craft than art to me - but that's dangerous territory to pontificate in so I'll move swiftly on.
Mary Lohan is showing the Vangard in Cork. Much as I love Mary and her work I feel she is stuck in a creative rut. And this business of cutting her canvasses into triptych polyptychs etc. will just have to stop. Forget the aesthetics - they're a nightmare to hang.
