Remembering A Fine Custodian: The Collection of the Late Brian P Burns

I n 2018, Sotheby’s had the honour of offering the Collection of Brian P. Burns in a dedicated auction. Formed over the course of forty years, the collection was one of the greatest private collections of Irish art assembled. Including artists from the 18th century to the present day, it provided an extraordinary insight into Ireland – its history, its people and its artists. Through Brian’s generosity in loaning the collection to exhibitions in America and Ireland, he opened up new audiences to the history and strength of Ireland’s visual painters.

Following Brian’s death in August 2021, the Irish-American community lost a prominent supporter and Ireland a proud champion of its cultural heritage. This November, Sotheby’s are privileged to be offering works from the Collection of the Late Brian P. Burns, that they may be enjoyed by a new generation of collectors. In parting with the majority of his collection with Sotheby’s in 2018, Brian recalled:
 
Many years ago, when I started collecting, I was advised by Desmond Fitzgerald, the 29th Knight of Glin; Desmond Guinness, and other art advisors in Ireland to remember that no matter how many paintings I might acquire, I was only a custodian of them during my lifetime. Now at 80-plus years old, and with a collection of more than 200 works, it seemed an appropriate time. Eileen and I share a sense of modest pride as custodians that we have made every effort to display Irish art to as many people as possible in the Irish diaspora.

Brian’s father, John Burns, emigrated from Sneem in County Kerry to the United States in 1892. His family prospered, and Brian was able to pursue a successful financial and legal career after graduating from Harvard Law School. Brian’s father John was equally a patron of the arts, securing for Boston College a set of Flemish tapestries from William Randolph Hearst, and also presenting the College with Sean Keating’s painting, The Playboy of the Western World. The John J. Burns Library at Boston College is named in his honour, while the list of visiting scholars at that Library is a rollcall of Ireland’s finest, not least President Mary McAleese. Through the leadership Brian provided over the years in the American Ireland Fund, many worthwhile projects have been translated into reality for artists, social activists and charities throughout Ireland.

One of the delights of the Burns collection was that from the very outset, there was an emphasis, not only on great names in Irish art - such as Walter Osborne, Roderic O’Conor, Evie Hone and Jack Yeats - but also on many overlooked talents, among them William Sadler (lot 223), William McEvoy (lot 230), Howard Hemlick (lot 232) and Lilian Davidson (lot 226). The collection is one that told the story of Ireland with a candid eye. The story is of success and of endurance, often of people surviving in economic hardship, amidst landscapes of extraordinary beauty. Alongside the universal human emotions of hope and despair, joy and anguish, themes that can be discerned in these works of art include canny judgement and shrewd assessment, qualities even – or indeed especially – evident amongst the children and country people depicted by artists over the centuries.

Many of the paintings in the Burns collection were down-to-earth, revealing aspects of everyday life in Ireland – as evidenced in the remaining works to be offered; some are deeply felt and spiritual, while others are responses to nature and scenes of natural beauty. This is a final opportunity to discover and appreciate a distinct collection of Irish art that belonged to a formidable collector, acquired with passion and knowledge over many years.

Past Auction

Irish Art

16–22 November 2022 | 3:00 PM GMT | London