Michael George Brennan Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Michael George Brennan Art Value Price Guide

Jul. 15, 2026
Michael George Brennan (Castlebar, 1839 - 1874) - Ragazzi con colomba, 1864
Est: €1,000 - €2,000
Pastelli su carta, cm. 59x43,5.
Pananti Casa D'Aste SRL
May. 31, 2021
Michael George Brennan (1839-1871) PORTRAIT OF LAURA REDDEN SEARING IN THE STUDIO, 1867
Est: €10,000 - €15,000
Michael George Brennan (1839-1871) PORTRAIT OF LAURA REDDEN SEARING IN THE STUDIO, 1867 oil on canvas faintly inscribed and dated on the stretcher h:25 w:18 in. Michael George Brennan, subject and landscape painter, was born and educated in Castlebar Co. Mayo where his talents were noted by Charles O'Donal, afterwards a police magistrate in Dublin (Strickland, p.83). Aged fifteen he was sent to the Dublin Society's School and later the Royal Hibernian Academy where his skills where honed. He later travelled to London, working on several publications there, including Fun, a rival to Punch. Ill health in the form of typhoid fever led Brennan back to Ireland and later prompted a further relocation to the warmer climes of Italy. Settling first in Rome, Brennan continued to send back paintings for exhibition in the Royal Academy between the years 1865-1878. Strickland describes how his works were "warmly praised as admirably painted, harmonious in colour, and full of character and feeling." Brennan's deteriorating condition provoked later trips to Capri and it was here that he came in contact with the subject of this work, Miss Laura Catherine Redden, a celebrated deaf American poet, journalist and author. The pair were engaged within ten days of meeting and while they discussed their future wedding plans the engagement was ultimately broken off, the reasons for which are unknown. One rumoured explanation was that Redden was not willing to forego her flourishing career. Brennan died from a fall in 1871. Laura Catherine Redden (1839-1923) was born in Maryland in the United States. Having lost her hearing at the age eleven she enrolled in the Missouri School for the Deaf (MSD) and later developed the skill of sign language and the American Manual Alphabet. Upon graduation in 1859 Redden was unable to enrol in college because of her disability; thus to supplement her education she travelled to Europe between 1865-1896 where she studied several languages. When she met Brennan she was already a published writer with articles in Harper's Magazine and American Annals of the Deaf where she championed the struggles of the deaf community. Earlier in 1860, she became the editorialist for the St. Louis Republican and officially adopted the pseudonym Howard Glyndon. In 1861, she was sent by the St. Louis Republican to Washington D.C. report on the American Civil War. She was a pro-Union loyalist and wrote poems about the experiences and human interests of the battlefield. Redden also wrote to Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant during the war period and it was with this wealth of experience that she later travelled to Europe between 1865-1869 to become a correspondent for The New York Times. After the engagement to Brennan was called off, Redden returned to America and in 1876 married Edward Whelan Searing, a lawyer, with whom she had one child. By 1870, she returned to New York and Boston and was a staff writer for the New York Evening Mail and contributed to Galaxy, Harper's Magazine, and the Tribune. The marriage did not last and they divorced in 1894. Laura Redden Searing died in 1923 and was buried in Colma, California. She is remembered as a pioneer within the deaf community and is pictured here as a sensual muse of a former lover in the prime of her life.
Whyte's
Dec. 02, 2019
Michael George Brennan (1839-1871) MENDING NETS, c.1860s
Est: €5,000 - €7,000
Michael George Brennan (1839-1871) MENDING NETS, c.1860s
Whyte's
Dec. 02, 2019
Michael George Brennan (1839-1871) INTERIOR WITH MOTHER AND CHILD, ROME, 1863
Est: €5,000 - €7,000
signed, inscribed [Rome] and dated lower left; with partial label of Foord & Dickinson [London] framing label on reverse
Whyte's
Nov. 21, 2018
MICHAEL GEORGE BRENNAN | The Acolyte
Est: £20,000 - £30,000
oil on canvas
Sotheby's
Nov. 06, 2015
Michael Brennan, pair paintings
Est: $300 - $500
Michael Brennan (American, b. 1965), untitled abstracts, 1998, ink and acrylic on paper, signed "MB", lower right, 16.5"h x 14.25"w, matted and framed
Millea Bros Ltd
Oct. 17, 2015
Painting, Michael Brennan
Est: $200 - $400
Michael Brennan (American, b. 1965), Sandals, oil on canvas, overall: 86"h x 66.5"w
Clars Auctions
May. 25, 2015
Michael George Brennan (1839-1871) PORTRAIT OF LAURA REDDEN SEARING IN THE STUDIO, 1867
Est: €10,000 - €15,000
Michael George Brennan (1839-1871) PORTRAIT OF LAURA REDDEN SEARING IN THE STUDIO, 1867 oil on canvas faintly inscribed and dated on the stretcher h:25 w:18 in. Michael George Brennan, subject and landscape painter, was born and educated in Castlebar Co. Mayo where his talents were noted by Charles O'Donal, afterwards a police magistrate in Dublin (Strickland, p.83). Aged fifteen he was sent to the Dublin Society's School and later the Royal Hibernian Academy where his skills where honed. He later travelled to London, working on several publications there, including Fun, a rival to Punch. Ill health in the form of typhoid fever led Brennan back to Ireland and later prompted a further relocation to the warmer climes of Italy. Settling first in Rome, Brennan continued to send back paintings for exhibition in the Royal Academy between the years 1865-1878. Strickland describes how his works were "warmly praised as admirably painted, harmonious in colour, and full of character and feeling." Brennan's deteriorating condition provoked later trips to Capri and it was here that he came in contact with the subject of this work, Miss Laura Catherine Redden, a celebrated deaf American poet, journalist and author. The pair were engaged within ten days of meeting and while they discussed their future wedding plans the engagement was ultimately broken off, the reasons for which are unknown. One rumoured explanation was that Redden was not willing to forego her flourishing career. Brennan died from a fall in 1871. Laura Catherine Redden (1839-1923) was born in Maryland in the United States. Having lost her hearing at the age eleven she enrolled in the Missouri School for the Deaf (MSD) and later developed the skill of sign language and the American Manual Alphabet. Upon graduation in 1859 Redden was unable to enrol in college because of her disability; thus to supplement her education she travelled to Europe between 1865-1896 where she studied several languages. When she met Brennan she was already a published writer with articles in Harper's Magazine and American Annals of the Deaf where she championed the struggles of the deaf community. Earlier in 1860, she became the editorialist for the St. Louis Republican and officially adopted the pseudonym Howard Glyndon. In 1861, she was sent by the St. Louis Republican to Washington D.C. report on the American Civil War. She was a pro-Union loyalist and wrote poems about the experiences and human interests of the battlefield. Redden also wrote to Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant during the war period and it was with this wealth of experience that she later travelled to Europe between 1865-1869 to become a correspondent for The New York Times. After the engagement to Brennan was called off, Redden returned to America and in 1876 married Edward Whelan Searing, a lawyer, with whom she had one child. By 1870, she returned to New York and Boston and was a staff writer for the New York Evening Mail and contributed to Galaxy, Harper's Magazine, and the Tribune. The marriage did not last and they divorced in 1894. Laura Redden Searing died in 1923 and was buried in Colma, California. She is remembered as a pioneer within the deaf community and is pictured here as a sensual muse of a former lover in the prime of her life.
Whyte's
Nov. 15, 2014
Painting, Michael Brennan
Est: $300 - $500
Michael Brennan (American, b. 1965), Sandals, oil on canvas, overall: 86"h x 66.5"w
Clars Auctions
Oct. 11, 2014
Painting, Michael Brennan
Est: $600 - $800
Michael Brennan (American, b. 1965), Sandals, oil on canvas, overall: 86"h x 66.5"w
Clars Auctions
Dec. 04, 2012
Michael George Brennan (1839-1871) A Courtyard in
Est: €6,000 - €8,000
Michael George Brennan (1839-1871) A Courtyard in Capri Oil on canvas, 33 x 44.5cm (13 x 17½'') Signed and dated 1866 Exhibited: The Frederick Gallery, December 2001, Cat No. 16. where purchased by current owner The majority of Brennan's paintings are of Capri subjects. His work can be seen in the context of other nineteenth century artists who were attracted to this beautiful island. Frederick Lord Leighton, for example, painted on Capri in 1859, John Brett at the same time as Brennan, and John Singer Sargent in 1878. Brennan made return visits to Ireland and England, and he spent some time in Paris in 1868. But, suffering from consumption, in 1870 he was advised to live in Algiers. There, Lady Kingston looked after him. But he died in Algiers in 1871, aged thirty-two. Strickland provides a list of Brennan's major paintings. Two of these, 'A Vine Pergola in Capri' and 'Church Interior at Capri', are in the collection of the National Gallery of Ireland Brennan's painting A Courtyard in Capri shows his interest in Capri domestic life, and his eye for detail: the earthenware pitchers of different sizes, the circle of tiles in the foreground, and the pigeons feeding on the ground, the pot of fuchsia and the vine trellis, the tambourine propped against the wall and the birdcage hanging in the archway. The painting also illustrates Brennan's sense of composition, a recession, the shape of one large archway balancing the other, while shadowy doorways lead mysteriously to inner rooms, and steps lead up to upper floors. A review in 'The Times', referring to another Capri picture, could equally apply to the present one: ''Exquisite for quiet truth, its sentiment of repose and its serene diffused lights... A romantic theme is present in Brennan's painting too. A young man in loose white shirt rests in the shadows, looking wistfully at the barefoot girl, who pensively holds her hand to her chin. She holds a wickerwork pannier under her arm, so, although the picture may be one of Brennan's 'Courtyard in Capri' paintings shown at the RA in 1865 and 1867, most likely it is the painting entitled 'Feeding the Doves', exhibited at the R.A. in 1868. Dr. Julian Campbell
Adam's
Mar. 29, 2011
MICHAEL BRENNAN The Acolyte Oil on Canvas, 50 x 61
Est: €500 - €700
MICHAEL BRENNAN The Acolyte Oil on Canvas, 50 x 61 cm Signed
Adam's
Mar. 14, 2011
Michael George Brennan (1839-1871)
Est: €15,000 - €20,000
PORTRAIT OF LAURA REDDEN SEARING IN THE STUDIO, 1867 faintly inscribed and dated on the stretcher
Whyte's
Nov. 07, 2009
OOC Poetess Searing Portrait M Brennan Irish 1867
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
OOC - Portrait of poetess Laura Redden Searing in the Studio by Michael George Brennan (Irish, 1840-1871), faintly inscribed on stretcher (Brennan is legible) and dated 1867, the year of their engagement (notice the ring prominently displayed on her finger), he died while she was back in the US preparing for their wedding, housed in a magnificent parcel gilt matched corner carved and gesso detailed frame, SS: 24 1/2" x 17 1/2", OS: 34" x 28", small scuffs, one small puncture to the left of her feet, flaking in background.
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