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Lot 44: May Guinness (1863-1955) STILL LIFE WITH GREEN BOTTLE

Est: €6,000 EUR - €8,000 EURSold:
Whyte'sBallsbridge, IrelandMay 25, 2015

Item Overview

Description

May Guinness (1863-1955)
STILL LIFE WITH GREEN BOTTLE
oil on canvas
h:25  w:20 in.

Provenance:
Christie's, London, 16 October 2003, lot 481;
Private collection;
Whyte's, 24 November 2008, lot 127;
Private collection

Exhibited:
Probably exhibited as 'La Bouteille Verte', 'May Guinness', Galerie Visconti, Paris, January 1925;
the exhibition later travelled in the same year to the Mayor Gallery, London;
'Analysing Cubism', Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Crawford Art Gallery, Cork and F.E. McWilliam Gallery & Studio, Banbridge, Co. Down, 20 February 2013 to 30 November 2013 (loaned by present owner)

Literature:
Analysing Cubism, exhibition catalogue, IMMA, Dublin, 2013, p.71 (full page illustration)

May Guinness is one of the unsung heroes of Irish Modernism. Born in Dublin in 1863 she was part of a generation of pioneering Irish artists that included Grace Henry (1868-1953), Eileen Gray (1878-1976), and Mary Swanzy (1882-1978) who travelled outside Ireland to learn about the most innovative movements in art. In the mid-1890s, Guinness began by studying in Cornwall with Norman Garstin where plein-air painting was encouraged. Soon after, she exhibited for the first time at the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin. From 1902-03 she travelled to Florence and then later to Paris where she was exposed to the avant-garde developments of early Cubism around the salon of Gertrude Stein. During the First World War she became a nurse in the French army and was awarded the Médaille de la Reconnaissance Française for bravery. After the war, she returned to Paris to study with Kees Van Dongen whose Expressionist style would long influence her. Guinness was already fifty-nine years old when she went to study with André Lhote in 1922. She exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants in 1923 and continued to work with Lhote until 1925.

Still Life with Green Bottle was made concurrently with her time in Paris and demonstrates that she had absorbed many of the principles of Cubism in her work. Breaking with academic tradition and the laws of perspective inherited from Renaissance masters, cubist painters no longer copied from nature or from the works of other masters. The rules of modelling, foreshortening and especially perspective were abandoned. Paintings should no longer attempt to fool the eye by conveying three dimensionality, rather the two dimensional space of the surface, canvas and paint should be celebrated for their formal qualities. The image to be conveyed was reduced to geometric forms. It was then fractured and seen from multiple viewpoints. Paintings were no longer lit from a single viewpoint but modelled for volume.

Still life was a popular subject for the cubists and Still Life with Green Bottle is a good example of the genre. The objects depicted such as the fruit bowl and table-cloth have been successfully reduced to patterns and groups of shapes. We see an image that has been so abstracted that it has become almost unreadable. The viewpoints taken by Guinness create an overlapping and layered effect, pulling apart the subject, before putting it back together again - something that was radical for its time. The first works of Cubism by Picasso and Braque demonstrated a restrained palette, using blacks, browns and greys; here Guinness uses more vibrant colours although the stippling and wood-grain effects are very typical of the style of Picasso.

André Lhote taught a number of Irish painters including Mainie Jellett, Evie Hone, Norah McGuinness, Jack Hanlon and others. These artists studied with this master of Cubism, but the lessons each learned, the influences they absorbed and the methods with which they applied these were as unique as each individual artist. As artists who wis

Artist or Maker

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Accepted forms of payment: MasterCard, Visa

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The buyer will be responsible for all removal, storage and insurance charges in respect of any lot which has not been collected within fourteen days of the date of sale.

Auction Details

Important Irish Art

by
Whyte's
May 25, 2015, 06:00 PM BST

Royal Dublin Society (RDS) Anglesea Road Entrance, Ballsbridge, Dublin, D04 HY94, IE

Terms

Buyer's Premium

30.6%

Bidding Increments

From:To:Increment:
€0€99€5
€100€199€10
€200€699€20
€700€1,299€50
€1,300€2,999€100
€3,000€6,999€200
€7,000€12,999€500
€13,000€29,999€1,000
€30,000€69,999€2,000
€70,000€129,999€5,000
€130,000+€10,000

Terms and Conditions of Sale Notice

Whyte & Sons Auctioneers Limited, trading as Whyte's, hereinafter called "the auctioneer" exercises all reasonable care to ensure that all descriptions are reliable and accurate, and that each item is genuine unless the contrary is indicated. However, the descriptions are not intended to be, are not and are not to be taken to be, statements of fact or representations of fact in relation to the lot. They are statements of the opinion of the auctioneers, and attention is particularly drawn to clause 5 set out below. Comments and opinions, which may be found in or on lots as labels, notes, lists, catalogue prices, or any other means of expression, do not constitute part of lot descriptions and are not to be taken as such unless they are made or specifically verified by the auctioneers. Clause 1 (a) Each lot is put up subject to any reserve price imposed by the vendor (b) Subject to sub-clause (a) of this clause, the highest bidder for each lot shall be the purchaser thereof (c) If any dispute arises as to the highest bidder the auctioneer shall have absolute discretion to determine the dispute and may put up again and re-sell the lot in respect of which the dispute arises. Clause 2 (a) The bidding and advances shall be regulated by and at the absolute discretion of the auctioneer and he shall have the right to refuse any bid or bids. NOTE: Where an agent bids, even on behalf of a disclosed client, the auctioneer nevertheless has the right at his discretion to refuse any such bid. (b) The purchaser of each lot shall immediately on its sale, if required by the auctioneer, give him the name and address of the purchaser and pay to the auctioneer at his discretion the whole or part of the purchase money. If the purchaser of any lot fails to comply with any such requirement the auctioneer may put up again and re-sell the lot; if upon such re-sale a lower price is obtained than was obtained on the first sale the purchaser in default on the first sale shall make good the difference in price and expenses of re-sale which shall become a debt due from him. (c) Where an agent purchases on behalf of an undisclosed client such agent shall be personally liable for payment of the purchase money to the auctioneer and for safe delivery of the lot to the said client. Clause 3 (a) The auctioneer reserves the rights to bid on behalf of clients including vendors, but shall not be liable for errors or omissions in executing instructions to bid. (b) The auctioneer reserves the rights, before or during a sale, to group together lots belonging to the same vendor, to split up and to withdraw any lot or lots at the auctioneer's absolute discretion and without giving any reason in any case. 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Written or verbal condition reports may be supplied by the Auctioneer on request but these are merely statements of opinion, and any error or omission in these reports may not be taken as grounds for a cancellation of sale or refund of any part of the purchase price or the cost of any repairs to the lot or lots reported on (c) A purchaser shall be at liberty to reject any lot if he - (i) gives the auctioneer written notice of intention to question the genuineness of the lot within seven days from the date of sale; AND (ii) proves that the lot is a deliberate forgery and (iii) returns to the auctioneer within 20 days from the date of sale the lot in the same condition as it was at the time of sale; provided that the auctioneer may, at his discretion, on receiving a request in writing from the purchaser, extend for a reasonable period the time for return of the lot to enable it to be submitted to expertisation. NOTE: The onus of proving a lot to be a deliberate forgery is on the purchaser. (d) Where a lot has been submitted to expertisation, all costs of such expertisation shall be paid by the person who retains the certificate of expertisation and item or items to which the certificate relates. (e) Where the purchaser of a lot discharges the onus and acts in accordance with sub-clause (b) of this clause, the auctioneer shall rescind the sale and repay to the purchaser the purchase money paid by him in respect of the lot. (f) No lot shall be rejected if, subsequent to the sale, it has been marked by an expert committee or treated by any other process unless the auctioneer's permission to subject the lot to such treatment has first been obtained in writing. (g) Any lot listed as a "collection, range, portfolio etc." or stated to comprise or contain a collection or range of items which are not described shall be put up for sale not subject to rejection and shall be taken by the purchaser with all (if any) faults, lack of genuineness and errors of description and numbers of items in the lot, and the purchaser shall have no right to reject the lot; except that, notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this sub-clause, where before a sale a person intending to bid at the sale gives notice in writing to, and satisfies the auctioneer that any such lot contains any item or items undescribed in the sale catalogue and that person specifically describes that item or those items in that notice, then that item or those items shall, as between the auctioneer and that person, to be taken to form part of the description of the lot. Clause 6 The respective rights and obligations of the parties shall be governed and interpreted by Irish law, and the buyer hereby submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Irish Courts. SPECIAL CONDITIONS (a)The buyer shall pay the Auctioneer a commission at the rate of 24.6% (which includes VAT at the prevailing rate under The Margin Scheme and which is not reclaimable. A further charge of 3% is made by Invaluable for Internet live bidders.
(b) The Auctioneer or its employees, servants or agents may, on request organise packing and shipping of lots purchased or may order on the buyer's behalf third parties to pack or ship purchases. Under no circumstances does the Auctioneer accept any liability whatsoever for any loss or damage howsoever occasioned in the course of such service. (c) The buyer authorises the Auctioneer to use any photographs or illustrations of any lot purchased for any or all purposes as the Auctioneer may require. The placing of a bid will be taken as full agreement to all the above conditions. WHYTE & SONS AUCTIONEERS LIMITED 38 Molesworth Street, Dublin 2

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VAT on Buyers Premium

The Buyer's Premium includes Margin Rate VAT of 23% which is not reclaimable and applies to all buyers both inside and outside the EU.

Condition

Whyte & Sons Auctioneers Limited, trading as Whyte's, hereinafter called "the auctioneer" exercises all reasonable care to ensure that all descriptions are reliable and accurate, and that each item is genuine unless the contrary is indicated. However, the descriptions are not intended to be, are not and are not to be taken to be, statements of fact or representations of fact in relation to the lot. They are statements of the opinion of the auctioneers, and attention is particularly drawn to clause 5 in our full Terms & Conditions. Comments and opinions, which may be found in or on lots as labels, notes, lists, catalogue prices, or any other means of expression, do not constitute part of lot descriptions and are not to be taken as such unless they are made or specifically verified by the auctioneers.

Condition

Whyte & Sons Auctioneers Limited, trading as Whyte's, hereinafter called "the auctioneer" exercises all reasonable care to ensure that all descriptions are reliable and accurate, and that each item is genuine unless the contrary is indicated. However, the descriptions are not intended to be, are not and are not to be taken to be, statements of fact or representations of fact in relation to the lot. They are statements of the opinion of the auctioneers, and attention is particularly drawn to clause 5 in our full Terms & Conditions. Comments and opinions, which may be found in or on lots as labels, notes, lists, catalogue prices, or any other means of expression, do not constitute part of lot descriptions and are not to be taken as such unless they are made or specifically verified by the auctioneers.

Premium & Taxes

The buyer shall pay the Auctioneer a commission at the rate of 24.6% (which includes VAT at the prevailing rate under The Margin Scheme and which is not reclaimable). A further charge of 3% is made by Invaluable to on-line bidders..

Payment

Each lot shall be paid for in full before delivery and taken away at his/her expense within seven days of the sale.

Shipping

The buyer will be responsible for all removal, storage and insurance charges in respect of any lot which has not been collected within fourteen days of the date of sale.