Lot Closes In:
Louis le Brocquy
MILLE TETES GRIS NOIR BLANC
Lot 10A
Current Bid:
€0.00
Bid History:
0 Bids
Estimate:
€70,000 - €90,000
Ending:
18:07:30 on 28/05/2024
Louis le Brocquy HRHA, 1916-2012
MILLE TETES GRIS NOIR BLANC
Hand made Aubusson tapestry, Tabard Freres & Soeurs, 70 3/4" x 89 1/4" (180 x 227cm), signed label verso. Edition 2/10.
Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist; Important Private... Read more
Lot 10A
Louis le Brocquy
MILLE TETES GRIS NOIR BLANC
MILLE TETES GRIS NOIR BLANC
Hand made Aubusson tapestry, Tabard Freres & Soeurs, 70 3/4" x 89 1/4" (180 x 227cm), signed label verso. Edition 2/10.
Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist; Important Private... Read more
Lot 10A
Louis le Brocquy
MILLE TETES GRIS NOIR BLANC
Estimate:
€70,000 - €90,000
Louis le Brocquy HRHA, 1916-2012
MILLE TETES GRIS NOIR BLANC
Hand made Aubusson tapestry, Tabard Freres & Soeurs, 70 3/4" x 89 1/4" (180 x 227cm), signed label verso. Edition 2/10.
Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist; Important Private Collection, Dublin and by descent to the current owner.
Louis le Brocquy first began working in the medium of woven tapestry in 1948, when he was invited by the Edinburgh Tapestry Weavers to design tapestries. His interest continued following his introduction to French designer Jean Lurçat in the summer of 1952 and in the intervening years le Brocquy produced a number of tapestries facilitated by Tabard Frères & Soeurs, Aubusson. It was his interest in the emotional effect of colour coupled with advancements in the weaving industry which encouraged this exploration of tapestry art.
The theme of the Tain, the early Irish epic translated by the poet Thomas Kinsella in 1969 and for which le Brocquy was commissioned to provide the accompanying black brush drawings, inspired in the artist a fresh surge of creativity in the realm of tapestry. The word 'Tain' means 'hosting' or gathering of a large crowd for a raid and provided the theme for a number of tapestries designed by the artist. The black, white and grey of the present work presents a subtly to the group. The surface of the tapestry is covered in irregular, oval heads, all with minute irregular 'features' and all facing the spectator. Visualising a raiding party, the heads are individual with minute and irregular details between them. In spite of their individuality, the heads blend into one another to form one mass party. While each head presents as a single entity, there is some irregular force holding this band of rugged individualists together. There is no order, no ranking, yet some inherent, instinctive force holds them together.
In 1970 P.J. Carroll and Co. through their architects Scott Tallon Walker commissioned the first 'Tain' tapestry from le Brocquy for the foyer of their Dundalk factory and geographically close to the legendary action in the epic. "In this tapestry I have tried to produce a sort of group or mass emergence of human presence, features uncertain - merely shadowed blobs or patches - but vaguely analogous perhaps in terms of woven colour to be weathered, enduring stone boss-heads of Clonfert or Entremont - or of Dysert O'Dea…" "each individual head is conscious only of the viewer vertically facing it. This is the secret of their mass regard. Each head is self-contained, finally a lump of presence. No exchange or incident takes place between their multiplied features".
Following the large Carroll's tapestry, le Brocquy designed a series of six smaller Tain tapestries with similar patterns of irregular oval heads; the minute, irregular "features" of the faces, even on this tiny scale, assert the individuality of the members of the crowd. One of the tapestries, Men of Connacht, composed of rows of black heads casting a grey shadow behind them, achieves an effect like the traditional "lace" stone-wall of Connemara. It recalls the legend of a king who shared the Celtic identification of the stone boss with the head, to the extent of attacking a stone wall under the illusion (admittedly cast by a spell) that he was dealing with upstanding warriors. All of the Tain tapestries were woven in Aubusson, and in them the artist has contrived a masterly conjunction between the narrative content of the epic, his own and the ancient Celtic concern of the head image and the visual and architectural demands of a large modern wall-hanging.
(ref: Dorothy Walker, Louis Le Brocquy, Dublin, 1981.)
MILLE TETES GRIS NOIR BLANC
Hand made Aubusson tapestry, Tabard Freres & Soeurs, 70 3/4" x 89 1/4" (180 x 227cm), signed label verso. Edition 2/10.
Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist; Important Private Collection, Dublin and by descent to the current owner.
Louis le Brocquy first began working in the medium of woven tapestry in 1948, when he was invited by the Edinburgh Tapestry Weavers to design tapestries. His interest continued following his introduction to French designer Jean Lurçat in the summer of 1952 and in the intervening years le Brocquy produced a number of tapestries facilitated by Tabard Frères & Soeurs, Aubusson. It was his interest in the emotional effect of colour coupled with advancements in the weaving industry which encouraged this exploration of tapestry art.
The theme of the Tain, the early Irish epic translated by the poet Thomas Kinsella in 1969 and for which le Brocquy was commissioned to provide the accompanying black brush drawings, inspired in the artist a fresh surge of creativity in the realm of tapestry. The word 'Tain' means 'hosting' or gathering of a large crowd for a raid and provided the theme for a number of tapestries designed by the artist. The black, white and grey of the present work presents a subtly to the group. The surface of the tapestry is covered in irregular, oval heads, all with minute irregular 'features' and all facing the spectator. Visualising a raiding party, the heads are individual with minute and irregular details between them. In spite of their individuality, the heads blend into one another to form one mass party. While each head presents as a single entity, there is some irregular force holding this band of rugged individualists together. There is no order, no ranking, yet some inherent, instinctive force holds them together.
In 1970 P.J. Carroll and Co. through their architects Scott Tallon Walker commissioned the first 'Tain' tapestry from le Brocquy for the foyer of their Dundalk factory and geographically close to the legendary action in the epic. "In this tapestry I have tried to produce a sort of group or mass emergence of human presence, features uncertain - merely shadowed blobs or patches - but vaguely analogous perhaps in terms of woven colour to be weathered, enduring stone boss-heads of Clonfert or Entremont - or of Dysert O'Dea…" "each individual head is conscious only of the viewer vertically facing it. This is the secret of their mass regard. Each head is self-contained, finally a lump of presence. No exchange or incident takes place between their multiplied features".
Following the large Carroll's tapestry, le Brocquy designed a series of six smaller Tain tapestries with similar patterns of irregular oval heads; the minute, irregular "features" of the faces, even on this tiny scale, assert the individuality of the members of the crowd. One of the tapestries, Men of Connacht, composed of rows of black heads casting a grey shadow behind them, achieves an effect like the traditional "lace" stone-wall of Connemara. It recalls the legend of a king who shared the Celtic identification of the stone boss with the head, to the extent of attacking a stone wall under the illusion (admittedly cast by a spell) that he was dealing with upstanding warriors. All of the Tain tapestries were woven in Aubusson, and in them the artist has contrived a masterly conjunction between the narrative content of the epic, his own and the ancient Celtic concern of the head image and the visual and architectural demands of a large modern wall-hanging.
(ref: Dorothy Walker, Louis Le Brocquy, Dublin, 1981.)
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All maximum bids are confidential and not disclosed. The system will endeavor to purchase the lot for you for the least price. Bids are subject to buyer’s premium of 25% (incl vat), with no additional charges.
In the event of a tied bid, the preference will be given to the bid submitted first. The second bidder will receive immediate notification of being outbid.
PLEASE BID EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT.
In order to allow rival bidders the opportunity to respond to a late bid the following extensions will apply:
IF A BID IS RECEIVED WITHIN THE FINAL 45 SECONDS OF THE COUNTDOWN THE CLOCK WILL RESET TO 60 SECONDS.
At any point you can leave a maximum bid, representing the highest price you are prepared to pay for a particular lot. Bidding only advances when there is competition from a rival bidder. In that case the system bids on your behalf, only up to the maximum if required. All bids are relayed to you be email, along with notification if you have been outbid.
All maximum bids are confidential and not disclosed. The system will endeavor to purchase the lot for you for the least price. Bids are subject to buyer’s premium of 25% (incl vat), with no additional charges.
In the event of a tied bid, the preference will be given to the bid submitted first. The second bidder will receive immediate notification of being outbid.
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