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CHRISTIE'S THE WILLIAM AND JOAN ROTH COLLECTION OF IMPORTANT IRISH ART (((( HARDBACK )))) MAY 14TH 2004 THIS HARDBACK CATALOG CONTAINS 116 PAGES AND 98 LOTS SALE 6899 B-6 S-1
Index I R Ashford, W. 23 Irish School 86 Reid, N. 95 Roberts, Thomas 22 B J Russell, G. 40 Barret, G. 24 Jellett, M. 12-13 Beaufort, W.L. 85 S Bourke, B. 90 L Sadler, VV., Jun. 5 Buck, A. 7-8 Latham, J. 68 Souter, C. 96 Buck, Frederick 62 Lavery, Sir J. 38-39 Swanzy, M. 9 Butler, M.A. 3-4,28 Ledger, M.M. 84 Leech, W.J. 97 V C Lindsay, T. 58 van der Hagen, W. 69 Campbell, J. H. 1-2 Clarke, M. 14 N w Cooke, B. 93 Nairn, C.M. 61 Walmsley, T. 26,59 Nicholl, A. 18-21, 27, 81-82 D Nicholl, W. 60 y Delane, S. 72 Nixon, J. 73-80 Yeats, J.B. 45-54 Dobbin, K. 83 Yeats, J. 55-57 - Doyle, C.A. 70 0 O'Connor, J.A. 6 F O'Connor, R. 98 Farrell, M. 94 O'Neill, D. 91 Faulkner, J. 88 Orpen, Sir W. 41 Osborne, W.F. 32-37 H Hamilton, L.M. 10 P Harrison, S.C. 17 Petrie, G. 87 Haverty, J.P. 67 Purser, S.H. 29-31 Hayes, E. 89 Henry, P. 42-44 Hill, D. 92 Hone, E. 11 Hone, N. 15-16,25, 63-66 Hore, J. 71 101
HIGHLIGHTS:
most important
collections of Irish Art to appear at auction for several years. The 104-lot William and
Joan Roth Collection forms the backbone of Christie’s ninth annual sale of Irish Art and
features all the major names in Irish painting, spanning more than three centuries. The
collection is expected to fetch in excess of £1.5million (€2.1million) with individual
estimates ranging from £200 to £600,000.
William and Joan Roth
Born in San Francisco in September 1916, William M. Roth’s enchantment with Ireland
began following his marriage to Joan Adams Osborn in April 1946 when, in spite of postwar
visa difficulties, they decided to spend their honeymoon in Ireland. William Roth had
become enamoured with the poetry of W.B. Yeats as a college student and in his senior year
had compiled a bibliography of his works for the Yale Library. It was during this time that
he started corresponding with the Yeats family, which led to an invitation to tea from the
artist Jack Yeats during the summer of 1946. Almost 20 years later, the Roths bought a
house in Ireland and, with walls to fill, continued to amass with passion their fine collection
of Irish pictures. William and Joan Roth have lived in Princeton, New Jersey for the last
25 years and are still frequent visitors to Ireland.
The Paintings
The collection is highlighted by the work of Jack Butler Yeats, R.H.A. (1871-1957), one of
the most influential names and arguably the finest Irish artist of the twentieth century.
Featuring a total of ten pictures by Yeats, the undoubted highlight is an exceptional early
work entitled Here She Comes! estimated at £400,000-600,000/€580,000-870,000.
Dating from 1913, it depicts two horses in a trotting race being keenly observed by the
bookies and a couple of spectators. Measuring 24x36 inches, Here She Comes! is believed to
be one of Yeats’s largest paintings from this period. The horse is a recurrent theme in
Yeats’s work, his fascination stemming from his childhood in County Sligo, a place truly
saturated in racing tradition.
A much later work, Looking About Him, 1949, painted when the artist was in his late 70s,
carries an estimate of £300,000-500,000/€435,000-725,000. Dr Thomas MacGreevy, a
former Director of the National Gallery of Ireland, acquired this picture in 1952 and it was
subsequently bought by the Roths in 1967.
Over the last number of years, Christie’s has gained a strong reputation for selling 18 th
century Irish pictures, and the sale last May was no exception when an auction record was
set for a magnificent George Barret, R.A. (1728 or 1732-1784) (£363,650/€506,928).
This was followed in November by a record price of £158,900/€227,000 for the artist
Joseph Patrick Haverty, R.H.A. (1794-1854).
The William and Joan Roth Collection includes a wonderful example of the work of
Thomas Roberts (1748-1778), who has been described as ‘the most brilliant Irish landscape
painter of the second half of the eighteenth century’. A view of the Weir in Lucan House
Demesne, Co. Dublin carries an estimate of £70,000-100,000/€101,500-145,000 – which
relates to a similar composition in the National Gallery of Ireland.
The Galway born artist and one of the earliest members of the R.H.A., Joseph Patrick
Haverty (1794-1854) is represented in the collection by A Group Portrait of a family, which
may show the Reilly family of Scarvagh stepping ashore from a boat in an extensive lake
landscape. John Lushington Reilly, who was an artist himself, was one of Haverty’s most
important early patrons. The picture is estimated to fetch in region of £25,000-
£35,000/€36,250-50,750.
No comprehensive collection of Irish Art would be complete without the work of Sir John
Lavery, R.H.A., R.A., R.S.A. (1856-1941), another artist for which Christie’s holds the
world record price at auction [£1,321,500 – 8 December 1998]. The Bathing Pool, North
Berwick, dating from 1919 is sure to arouse keen interest amongst collectors (estimate:
£40,000-60,000/€58,000-87,000). A beautiful view of Dun Laoghaire Harbour by
Walter Frederick Osborne, R.H.A. (1859-1903) carries an estimate £40,000-60,000
(€58,000-87,000).
The Roth Collection also features a number of notable watercolours including the artists
Mildred Anne Butler, R.W.S., R.U.A. (1858-1941), Andrew Nicholl, R.H.A. (1804-
1886), John Nixon (c.1750-1818) and John Henry Campbell (1757-1828).
A group of six works by Andrew Nicholl includes one of his beautiful trademark depictions
of wild flowers; executed with microscopic detail, Poppies, buttercups and daisies, may fetch
up to £10,000/€14,500. A highlight among the three Mildred Anne Butler’s on offer is a
view of the house, Kilmurry, where she was born in Co. Kilkenny, the chief source of her
inspiration – Doves near the Conservatory, Kilmurry carries an estimate of £6,000-
8,000/€8,700-11,600. Thirteen landscape watercolours and caricatures by John Nixon
range in estimate from £200-£1,500/€290-€2,175. |
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