John Luke Paintings & Artwork for Sale | John Luke Art Value Price Guide

May. 25, 2026
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) THE MOURNES, 1939
Est: €60,000 - €80,000
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) THE MOURNES, 1939 oil on board signed and dated lower left; with John Magee and Arts Council of Northern Ireland labels on reverse h:15 w:21.25 in. Provenance: Collection of the late Mr J. C. Sheridan; Thence by descent Exhibited: 'Ulster Artists Exhibition: The Work of John Luke', Belfast Museum and Art Gallery, Belfast, 4-28 September 1946, catalogue no. 10; 'John Luke (1906-1975)', Ulster Museum, Belfast, 27 January to 4 March 1978, catalogue no. 40, with tour to Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin This landscape painting by John Luke was one of his first major works of the 1930s. It was shown at the 1946 Luke exhibition at the Belfast Museum and Art Gallery and in the Luke retrospective that took place in Belfast's Ulster Museum and Dublin's Douglas Hyde Gallery in 1978 (no. 40). It was more than likely bought after the 1946 exhibition by J.C. Sheridan, a prominent Belfast businessman. Sheridan would become an important patron of Luke's, amassing a small but significant collection of his work. Born into the working-class heartland of inner-city Belfast at the end of the industrial revolution, John Luke escaped the brutal world of life in the city's factories to train as an artist at Belfast School of Art. From his enrolment in 1923 he won various awards including a special prize at the RDS Taylor Art Competition as well as the Dunville and Sorella Art scholarships. The latter enabled him to travel to London in 1927 and enrol at the prestigious Slade School of Art. Upon returning to Belfast in 1930, Luke found it difficult to sell his work. He became depressed and later confessed to his friend John Hewitt the poet, art critic and museum curator, that 'in desperation I turned to flowers as a way out' (Letter dated 7 January 1950; Hewitt coll., PRONI). A series of striking still lifes from this period, that juxtapose modernist textiles, ceramics and other props with delicate floral arrangements, attracted few buyers. One painting entitled Daffodils (1937; Priv. coll.) also on display at the 1946 Belfast show was bought by Sheridan. In the early 1930s Hewitt suggested to Luke that he should try his hand at landscape painting. Luke sketched in the Mournes, Co. Down and then in Achill, Co. Mayo. Achill's Slievemore and the Mourne's Slieve Donard began to feature regularly in his work. Motifs such as the jutting mountains, rolling hills and glassy lakes, often in rich, primary colours, also appear in his landscapes and later fantastical figure compositions. Sheridan bought two of these, The Dancer and the Bubble (1947; Priv. coll.) and Landscape with Figures (1948; Priv. coll.). When the former was on display at Victor Waddington's Gallery in Dublin, Luke wrote to Sheridan that the painting was still available and photographs would be sent soon (Letter dated 24 November 1947; Priv coll.). Clearly Sheridan's support was as critical to Luke as that of Hewitt or Waddington. Dr Joseph McBrinn, Belfast School of Art April, 2026
Whyte's
Mar. 25, 2026
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) King Pencil, 182 x 76cm (71½ x 30'') Provenance: The Artist's Estate; Private Collection, Northern Ireland Exhibited: Belfast, 'John Luke: A Hidden Archive', Naughton Gallery, Queen's University, 2013 In 19
Est: €1,000 - €1,500
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) King Pencil, 182 x 76cm (71½ x 30'') Provenance: The Artist's Estate; Private Collection, Northern Ireland Exhibited: Belfast, 'John Luke: A Hidden Archive', Naughton Gallery, Queen's University, 2013 In 1952, John Luke completed his mural painting for Belfast City Hall, and the positive response it received is likely to have encouraged the architects Young and Mackenzie. Joseph McBrinn notes that ‘In the spring of 1955 they commissioned a mural from him for the Provincial Masonic Lodge, in Belfast’s Rosemary Street…Luke’s mural depicted Solomon Building the Temple, which measures over 31 feet in length and 7 feet in height.’ (Joseph McBrinn, Northern Rhythm: The Art of John Luke, NMNI, 2010, p.71-75) John Hewitt describes the ‘whole composition in fine accord with the Palladian decorum of the pillared hall’. (John Hewitt, John Luke, ACNI, 1976, p.83) The present work is the artist’s scale, working drawing for the central figure of Solomon, presented in the hieratic style that Luke carried across this entire composition.
Adam's
Mar. 25, 2026
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) Study for the Coat of Arms of Lord Wakehurst at Hillsborough Castle Pencil, 68 x 72.5cm (26¾ x 28½'') Provenance: The Artist's Estate; Private Collection, Northern Ireland Joseph McBrinn writes that ‘In May 19
Est: €1,000 - €1,500
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) Study for the Coat of Arms of Lord Wakehurst at Hillsborough Castle Pencil, 68 x 72.5cm (26¾ x 28½'') Provenance: The Artist's Estate; Private Collection, Northern Ireland Joseph McBrinn writes that ‘In May 1957, [Luke] was commissioned to design and carve the coat of arms’ of Lord Wakehurst, which remains in place at the main entrance to Hillsborough Castle. ‘Luke went to a local stonemasons yard…and reacquainted himself with the with the tools and skills of direct carving and letter-cutting.’ ‘He worked in Ancaster stone…a stone used by contemporary artists he admired such as Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth’. (Joseph McBrinn, Northern Rhythm: The Art of John Luke, NMNI, 2010, p.75) The detail and highly resolved nature of this drawing suggests that it was a final study for the carving, at close to scale.
Adam's
Jan. 31, 2026
John Luke Eastman 1975 Figural Framed Serigraph
Est: -
Title: Heaven Is My Throne, And Earth Is My Footstool. What House Will You Build For Me, Says The Lord, Or What Is The Place Of My Rest? In Well Kept Condition. Frame Measures Approximately 25.5in X 25.5in. Image Measures Approximately 20in X 20in. Bh14696 Ja
EJ'S Auction & Appraisal
Dec. 01, 2025
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) SHAW'S BRIDGE, BELFAST, 1933
Est: €50,000 - €70,000
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) SHAW'S BRIDGE, BELFAST, 1933 oil on panel signed and dated lower right; with John Magee label on reverse h:12 w:15.75 in. Provenance: John Magee, Belfast; Private collection This painting is the first known representation of Shaw's Bridge in south Belfast by John Luke. The image of the seventeenth century stone arched bridge over the river Lagan would become a key leitmotif in his work. It would feature in numerous paintings, prints and mural designs. Born in north Belfast just after the turn-of-the-century Luke studied at Belfast School of Art before winning a scholarship to London's Slade School of Art in 1927. When he returned to Belfast, without a studio, he spent much time working outdoors. Between 1931 and 1933 he made several sketching trips along the Lagan. This painting of Shaw's Bridge from the south bank of the river shows the Lagan Valley as a kind of pastoral scene. However, the modern geometry of the bridge's architecture cuts through the lush landscape. Early in his career Luke venerated the French painter Paul Cézanne and here he follows closely not only Cézanne's ideas of compositional construction but also his use of small, expressive, blocks of colour to build up a scene. Whilst this painting does not seem to have been exhibited in the 1930s or after, the exact image of Shaw's Bridge it records formed the basis of a linocut also dated 1933. This print was part of Luke's contribution to the Ulster Unit exhibition in December 1934 (no. 41 and priced £1 in the catalogue) (versions are held in the collections of the Ulster Museum and National Gallery of Ireland). There are two further paintings of Shaw's Bridge by Luke, the first dated 1936 and simply entitled The Bridge (Private collection, formerly Queen's University Common Room) and the second dates from 1939 (Private collection). These mark the end of Luke's experiments with subjects and styles in the 1930s before his commitment to more decorative techniques and compositions after 1941. Dr. Joseph McBrinn, Belfast School of Art, October 2025
Whyte's
Dec. 01, 2025
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) THE DEAD TREE, 1934
Est: €100,000 - €150,000
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) THE DEAD TREE, 1934 tempera on canvas signed upper right h:20.25 w:27 in. Exhibited: Royal Ulster Academy of Arts, 1934, catalogue no. 95 John Luke sketched and painted numerous images of vernacular architecture throughout his career. This painting of farmhouses dates from 1934 and from the transitional moment when Luke's interest in topographical fidelity began to be displaced by a new decorative symbolism. Luke was a north Belfast native and spent his early years in a small, relatively confined area between York Street and the Antrim Road. Leaving school after he turned twelve, he worked in the nearby shipyard and later in a textile mill before attending Belfast School of Art. His earliest drawings and paintings record this small geographic space; its factories and the docks, its shops and red-brick terraces. But by 1931, when Luke returned from studying at the Slade School of Art in London he regularly cycled to sketch on the city's edges, to the Cavehill and to Ballysillan, Mossvale, Skegoneill and Whitehouse and further afield. It is here he first drew farm buildings. In 1933 he sketched a farm in the townland of Ballyaghagan (Baile-Ui-hEochagain) that he then transformed into a brightly coloured woodcut (prints are held in the collections of the National Museum of Northern Ireland, ref. no. BELUM.Pt2 and IMMA, ref. no. IMMA.1184 MCCL). An example of this print also sold through these rooms as lot 34, 27 November 2017 (illustrated). This painting originates in the sketches made at the same time. The white-washed farmhouse, outer stone-buildings and dry-stone wall are faithfully rendered. Yet they are subordinate to an overall geometric schema of squares and cubes. This is further enhanced by the use of unnaturalistic colours - red furrows, lilac chimney stacks and blue mountains. The thin tree with its needle-like branches at the centre of the composition is striking - Luke gave the painting the title The Dead Tree. The painting was his first submission to the Ulster Academy of Arts (UAA) in October 1934 (no. 95) priced £15 15 0. One reviewer drew attention to Luke's "modern technique" and further added, "it is a painting that cannot be neglected with its brilliant colour contrasts, its angularised figures, and houses of architectural solidity, and its rhythmically humped background." Luke made a woodcut after the painting also entitled The Dead Tree (this can be found in the Collection of the National Museum of Northern Ireland, ref. no. BELUM.Pt22); only the painting features the figures and animals. The print was also exhibited at the UAA and at the Ulster Unit exhibition that December. This rarely seen and little known painting is one of Luke's most beautiful and important early works. Dr. Joseph McBrinn, Belfast School of Art, October 2025
Whyte's
Jul. 16, 2025
JOHN WILLIAM LUKE, Morpeth, NSW, c1890, watercolour, 18.5 x 25 cm. (7.2 x 9.8 in.), frame: 34 x 39 x 2 cm. (13.3 x 15.3 x 0.7 in.)
Est: $150 - $250
JOHN WILLIAM LUKE Morpeth, NSW, c1890 watercolour titled and inscribed verso
Lawsons
May. 14, 2025
JOHN LUKE RUA (1906 - 1975)
Est: €2,000 - €3,000
Title: Still life - Cognac and Vase Medium: Oil on canvas laid on board Signature: Signed lower left Provenance: The Bell Gallery, Belfast (label verso); Private Collection Framed. Description In this elegant still life, John Luke presents a subtle and refined arrangement of objects: a dark bottle of cognac, a ceramic vase, and a carefully folded cloth, all rendered with a quiet formal balance. The composition is understated yet precise, with muted tones and a near-matte surface finish. Light and shadow are handled with great care, lending the objects a sculptural quality. Signed lower left, this rare oil demonstrates Luke’s deep commitment to clarity of form and calm contemplation.
Sheppards
May. 14, 2025
JOHN LUKE RUA (1906 - 1975)
Est: €400 - €600
Title: Lady Standing Medium: Pencil sketch Signature: Unsigned Provenance: Private Collection Framed Description John Luke’s Lady Standing is an elegant pencil drawing that showcases the artist’s renowned sense of design and economy of line. The sketch depicts a poised woman in full figure, likely draped in a simple long dress or coat. Luke’s approach is highly stylized yet remarkably clear: the lady’s form is outlined with clean, flowing contours, and her posture – perhaps standing in profile or slight three-quarter view – exudes a quiet confidence. There is a sculptural quality to the way Luke draws the human figure; even in pencil, one can sense the volume and presence of the woman, standing as if she might step out of the paper. He pays attention to details such as the tilt of the head, the arrangement of arms (clasped hands or one hand resting at her side), and the fall of fabric, all rendered with minimal shading and maximum effect. The background is left blank, focusing our attention entirely on the figure. Lady Standing carries with it the sophistication of Luke’s mature style – reminiscent of Art Deco refinement and Renaissance draughtsmanship combined. As a work on paper by John Luke, it is a rare and valuable glimpse into his process, likely a preparatory study or standalone piece reflecting the grace and precision that hallmark his paintings.
Sheppards
Nov. 21, 2024
John Luke, Farmhouse, Ballyaghagan
Est: £300 - £500
John Luke, Irish 1906-1975, Farmhouse, Ballyaghagan; woodcut in colours on wove, signed and titled in pencil, from an unknown edition, image: 12.5 x 17.3 cm, (framed) (ARR)
Roseberys
Jun. 26, 2024
John Luke Eastman (20th Century): Things Which Are Not
Est: $100 - $200
John Luke Eastman 20th century Things Which Are Not serigraph 1979; ed. 98/300; numbered and signed in pencil
Abell Auction
Mar. 11, 2024
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) NUDE MALE
Est: €4,000 - €6,000
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) NUDE MALE oil on canvas laid on board with Arts Council of Northern Ireland label on reverse h:27 w:9 in. Provenance: Estate of the artist; Private collection; Adam's, 27 March 2019, lot 55; Private collection Exhibited: 'John Luke (1906-1975)', Ulster Museum, Belfast and Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, 27 January to 4 March 1978, catalogue no. 4; 'John Luke: Work from The Studio', Bell Gallery, Belfast, February to March 1980, catalogue no. 23
Whyte's
Dec. 05, 2023
Large Medieval Bronze Round Seal Matrix for Mark, Matthew, Luke, John
Est: £300 - £400
Circa 14th-15th century A.D. Chessman matrix with tapering shank, gusseted collar, openwork trefoil and loop above; escutcheon with Mary and Infant Jesus and kneeling supplicant within a rosette; legend to the border 'MARCVS MAT[.]VS LVCAS IOHNIS' (Mark, Matthew, Luke, John). 29.8 grams, 41 mm (1 5/8 in.). Found Southern England. Acquired on the UK art market in the 1980s. From an East Anglian private collection.
TimeLine Auctions
Sep. 12, 2023
John Luke RUA, Carnival, 1930
Est: £15,000 - £20,000
John Luke RUA, Irish 1906-1975 - Carnival, 1930; oil on board, signed lower right 'John Luke', 57.5 x 83 cm (ARR) Note: Luke painted two versions of Carnival. He was known to make two versions of some paintings (see Shaw's Bridge (1936 and 1939) and The Road to the West (1939 and 1944)). A version of this work was included in major exhibitions of Luke, including the Ulster Museum 1978 & 2012. It was sold recently in 2022 at Sotheby's, London for £25,200 (including buyer's premium). A work under the title of Carnival was exhibited at the Leger Galleries, London in October 1930, and while it has been thought it was the aforementioned work, it is possible it is the present lot, as it is in keeping with his work at the Slade School of Art around 1930. He won the Dunville Scholarship in 1927 to study at the Slade under Henry Tonks. Of the work exhibited in 1930, the art critic P.G. Konody (Daily Mail 3rd October 1930) described it as "one of the most attractive features of the exhibition". The subject is unusual for Luke so it may have been produced for a specific Slade competition. The glow of the carnival lights in the background demonstrates his technical skills as a young artist. With thanks to Dr. Joseph McBrinn of Belfast School of Art, Ulster University and curator of 'Northern Rhythm: The Art of John Luke' at the Ulster Museum, 2012-2013, for his assistance in the cataloguing of this work.
Roseberys
Jun. 21, 2023
JOHN LUKE EASTMAN, DANCER PORTRAIT (SPINNING IN CIRCLE), SCREENPRINT
Est: $275 - $350
Artist: John Luke Eastman, American Title: Dancer Portrait (Spinning in Circle) Year: Circa 1975 Medium: Screenprint, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 250 Image Size: 10 inch (diameter) Size: 20 x 13 in. (50.8 x 33.02 cm)
RoGallery
Apr. 30, 2023
JOHN LUKE EASTMAN SILKSCREEN
Est: $200 - $300
JOHN LUKE EASTMAN SILKSCREEN ON PAPER. LEAD ME TO THE ROCK THAT IS HIGHER THAN IFOR THOUT ART MY REFUGE. SIGNED LOWER RIGHT, ARTIST PROOF, 1977. FRAMED. OVERALL 17.5"X36.5", SIGHT 9.5"X29"
Freedom Auction Company
Apr. 01, 2023
John Luke Eastman Signed Limited Edition Serigraph
Est: -
Signed Towards The Bottom And Numbered #227/500. Frame Measures Approximately 9.25in X 9.25in. Art Measures Approximately 6.75in X 6.75in. Tm4433 Zh
EJ'S Auction & Appraisal
Nov. 23, 2022
John Hewitt. John Luke 1906-1975. 1978. Numerous illustrations and J. Campbell. Frank o'Meara and Hi
Est: €30 - €50
John Hewitt. John Luke 1906-1975. 1978. Numerous illustrations and J. Campbell. Frank o'Meara and His Contemporaries re Travelling Exhibition Dublin, Cork & Belfast 1989. Illustrated (2)
Purcell Auctioneers
Sep. 28, 2022
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) Study of a Baby Pencil, 28 x 18.5cm (11 x 7¼'') Signed and dated 17th March 1933 Provenance: The artist's studio, private collection
Est: €200 - €400
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) Study of a Baby Pencil, 28 x 18.5cm (11 x 7¼'') Signed and dated 17th March 1933 Provenance: The artist's studio, private collection
Adam's
Sep. 28, 2022
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) Study of a Standing Male Nude Pencil, 31.8 x 17.3cm (12½ x 6¾'') Provenance: The artist's studio, private collection.
Est: €200 - €400
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) Study of a Standing Male Nude Pencil, 31.8 x 17.3cm (12½ x 6¾'') Provenance: The artist's studio, private collection.
Adam's
Jul. 14, 2022
§ JOHN LUKE (IRISH 1906-1975) SHAW'S BRIDGE, c. 1934
Est: £800 - £1,200
§ JOHN LUKE (IRISH 1906-1975) SHAW'S BRIDGE, c. 1934 Linocut on japanese paper, signed with initials in plate, signed and titled in pencil to margin (image size 26.5cm x 36.5cm (10.5in x 14.25in))
Lyon & Turnbull
Jun. 02, 2022
JOHN LUKE EASTMAN. UNTITLED. 1975. SERIGRAPH.
Est: $120 - $240
Eastman, John Luke (American 20th c.). Untitled. 1975. Serigraph. Signed and editioned in l.r. A/P. Framed: 26 1/4" x 26 1/4". Condition: Sight Good. Not examined out of frame.
Quinn's Auction Galleries
May. 26, 2022
Carnival
Est: £20,000 - £30,000
John Luke 1906 - 1975 Carnival signed JOHN LUKE and dated 31 (lower right) oil on panel unframed: 41 by 52cm.; 16 by 20½in. framed: 56 by 67cm.; 22 by 26½in. Executed in 1930-31. Bid on Sotheby's
Sotheby's
Mar. 30, 2022
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) Study of a Standing Woman Pencil, 32.3 x 11.2cm (12¾ x 4½'') Provenance: The artist's studio, private collection.
Est: €200 - €400
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) Study of a Standing Woman Pencil, 32.3 x 11.2cm (12¾ x 4½'') Provenance: The artist's studio, private collection.
Adam's
Mar. 30, 2022
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) Studies of a Standing Female Nude Pencil, 24.5 x 15.4cm (9¾ x 6'') Provenance: The artist's studio; private collection.
Est: €200 - €400
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) Studies of a Standing Female Nude Pencil, 24.5 x 15.4cm (9¾ x 6'') Provenance: The artist's studio; private collection.
Adam's
Jan. 01, 2022
John Luke Eastman Print
Est: -
Print measures approximately 16 x 20 inches and is encased in a protective wrap. TM4333 AG
EJ'S Auction & Appraisal
Dec. 08, 2021
John Luke RUA (1906 - 1975) Untitled Watercolour, 26 x 35cm (10¼ x 13¾) Signed
Est: €2,000 - €4,000
John Luke RUA (1906 - 1975) Untitled Watercolour, 26 x 35cm (10¼ x 13¾) Signed
Adam's
Nov. 24, 2021
John Luke (Irish, 1906-1975) Mountain Composition 18.6 x 25.6 cm. (7 1/4 x 10 1/8 in.)
Est: £15,000 - £20,000
John Luke (Irish, 1906-1975) Mountain Composition signed and dated 'J. LUKE/39' (lower right) oil on thick card 18.6 x 25.6 cm. (7 1/4 x 10 1/8 in.) For further information on this lot please visit the Bonhams website
Bonhams
Oct. 26, 2021
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) Portrait of a Young Girl
Est: €4,000 - €6,000
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) Portrait of a Young Girl oil on canvas signed lower right h:61 w:51 cm. Provenance: Butterfield & Butterfield Auctions, San Francisco, USA, early 1970's; Private Collection, California, USA; Private Collection, Ireland Almost no early oil paintings by the Irish artist John Luke are thought to have survived. Born into a working-class part of Belfast at the end of its industrial heyday his entry into the city's School of Art, following an accident at the shipyard where he worked, was secured through his prodigious gifts in drawing and draftsmanship rather than painting. From 1923 to 1927 Luke produced very few oil paintings, aside from the still life works which were required for examination purposes. He seems to have preferred to work in pencil, charcoal or watercolour or a combination of these. Oil painting becomes a feature of his work later after he moved to the Slade School of Art in London to study on a prestigious three-year scholarship. At the Slade he produced a group of complex figurative and allegorical compositions and a series of remarkable self-portraits, all showing an increasing technical mastery of oil paint. After his return to Belfast he began his life-long experimentation with tempera and fresco and increasingly subordinated oil paint to these. In September 1946 when the Belfast Museum and Art Gallery held the first major retrospective of his work only a handful of early oil paintings made between 1923 and 1929 were included. These numbered 7 compared to over 30 oil and tempera paintings made after 1930. Early oil paintings by Luke are extremely rare. This curious painting of an infant is definitely a student work and pre-dates his London period (the style of the signature, for instance, suggests the mid-late 1920s and before an interest in calligraphy and typography led Luke to a more modernist style of letting). Yet it anticipates something of his later work in its flattened and decorative modulations of colour and form. It owes something to his much older Belfast contemporaries Paul Henry and William Conor, in its bold and broad painting style redolent of their Francophile interests (as well as their dark, and sometimes sombre, palettes). The cross-hatching brushstrokes reveal something of Luke's own study of Post-Impressionist painting and printmaking and anticipate the distinctive style (minus the startlingly luminous colouration) of his major works of the 1930s. It was probably painted during his early studies at Belfast School of Art and may depict a child of one of his three older brothers. Dr. Joseph McBrinn, Belfast School of Art
Morgan O'Driscoll
Sep. 02, 2020
John Luke RUA (1906 -1975)Circus Comes to TownWatercolour, 60 x 50cm (23½ x 19¾'')SignedProvenance: Sale, these rooms, 25/3/2007, lot 59a, where purchased by the current owner.
Est: €4,000 - €6,000
John Luke RUA (1906 -1975)Circus Comes to TownWatercolour, 60 x 50cm (23½ x 19¾'')SignedProvenance: Sale, these rooms, 25/3/2007, lot 59a, where purchased by the current owner.
Adam's
Sep. 02, 2020
John Luke RUA (1906 -1975)Untitled - Men at Work on a BoatPencil and wash, 44 x 67cm (17¼ x 26¼'')SignedProvenance: Sale, these rooms, 3/7/2007, lot 191, where purchased by the current owner.This drawing is one of a handful of surviving example
Est: €2,000 - €3,000
John Luke RUA (1906 -1975)Untitled - Men at Work on a BoatPencil and wash, 44 x 67cm (17¼ x 26¼'')SignedProvenance: Sale, these rooms, 3/7/2007, lot 191, where purchased by the current owner.This drawing is one of a handful of surviving examples that show John Lukes meticulous process of squaring up his compositions for either easel paintings or larger decorative murals. He would first prepare small sketches, using sheets from a sketchbook, of individual figures, buildings, etc., and when the final design was worked out it was then divided into a grid. Each square of this grid was then transferred onto a larger canvas or primed wall. Luke learnt this process of squaring up from his two principal teachers - Ivor Beaumont at Belfast School of Art and Henry Tonks at the Slade. Beaumont, who was a member of the Society of Painters in Tempera, encouraged Lukes interest in mural techniques (such as tempera and fresco) and engaged him as an assistant in his own mural commissions in Belfast. Tonks was one of the principal advocates of mural painting in the inter-war years and encouraged Luke to seek mural commissions in London. This drawing of a circus arriving in a city is not known to have been developed into an easel painting by Luke and it is more than likely a design for a mural. It can be dated to the 1930s. The frieze of elephants, giraffes, circus folk and onlookers, enfolding like a mediaeval pageant or an intricate Indian miniature, recalls the work of Lukes slightly older Slade contemporaries, Mary Adshead and Rex Whistler, and also something of Lukes older Irish contemporary Jack B. Yeats who, like Luke, would return to the circus as a theme throughout his career.Joseph McBrinn, February 2020
Adam's
Apr. 14, 2020
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) Portrait of a Young Girl
Est: €7,000 - €10,000
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) Portrait of a Young Girl oil on canvas signed lower right h:61 w:51 cm. Provenance: Butterfield & Butterfield Auctions, San Francisco, USA, early 1970's; Private Collection, California, USA; Private Collection, Ireland Almost no early oil paintings by the Irish artist John Luke are thought to have survived. Born into a working-class part of Belfast at the end of its industrial heyday his entry into the city's School of Art, following an accident at the shipyard where he worked, was secured through his prodigious gifts in drawing and draftsmanship rather than painting. From 1923 to 1927 Luke produced very few oil paintings, aside from the still life works which were required for examination purposes. He seems to have preferred to work in pencil, charcoal or watercolour or a combination of these. Oil painting becomes a feature of his work later after he moved to the Slade School of Art in London to study on a prestigious three-year scholarship. At the Slade he produced a group of complex figurative and allegorical compositions and a series of remarkable self-portraits, all showing an increasing technical mastery of oil paint. After his return to Belfast he began his life-long experimentation with tempera and fresco and increasingly subordinated oil paint to these. In September 1946 when the Belfast Museum and Art Gallery held the first major retrospective of his work only a handful of early oil paintings made between 1923 and 1929 were included. These numbered 7 compared to over 30 oil and tempera paintings made after 1930. Early oil paintings by Luke are extremely rare. This curious painting of an infant is definitely a student work and pre-dates his London period (the style of the signature, for instance, suggests the mid-late 1920s and before an interest in calligraphy and typography led Luke to a more modernist style of letting). Yet it anticipates something of his later work in its flattened and decorative modulations of colour and form. It owes something to his much older Belfast contemporaries Paul Henry and William Conor, in its bold and broad painting style redolent of their Francophile interests (as well as their dark, and sometimes sombre, palettes). The cross-hatching brushstrokes reveal something of Luke's own study of Post-Impressionist painting and printmaking and anticipate the distinctive style (minus the startlingly luminous colouration) of his major works of the 1930s. It was probably painted during his early studies at Belfast School of Art and may depict a child of one of his three older brothers. Dr. Joseph McBrinn, Belfast School of Art, February 2020
Morgan O'Driscoll
May. 27, 2019
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) FARMHOUSE, BALLYAGHAGAN, 1940 (A PAIR)
Est: €800 - €1,200
each signed in pencil in the margin lower right
Whyte's
Mar. 27, 2019
John Luke RUA (1906 -1975)Nude MaleOil on board, 69 x 23cm (27 x 9'')Provenance: Estate of the artist; Private Collection.Exhibited: John Luke (1906-1975), Ulster Museum, Belfast and Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, 27 January-4 March 1978 (no. 4);
Est: €4,000 - €6,000
John Luke RUA (1906 -1975)Nude MaleOil on board, 69 x 23cm (27 x 9'')Provenance: Estate of the artist; Private Collection.Exhibited: John Luke (1906-1975), Ulster Museum, Belfast and Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, 27 January-4 March 1978 (no. 4); John Luke: Work from The Studio, The Bell Gallery, Belfast, February-March 1980 (no. 23).Born into a working-class part of north Belfast John Luke initially left school to work in the citys shipyards and then its linen mills. His extraordinary talent at drawing brought him to Belfast School of Art when he was still a teenager. After enrolling in evening classes his teachers encouraged him to become a full-time student. In 1927, after wining prizes at the Sorella Art Exhibition and the Royal Dublin Societys Taylor Art Competition, Luke won the prestigious Dunville Art Scholarship, which would enable him to study at the Slade School of Fine Art in London for the next three years. This Male Nude was painted at the Slade under the tutelage of Henry Tonks, one of the most influential teachers of drawing in the early twentieth century. It was completed in the life painting class and its combination of incredibly fine drawing and tiny feathery cross-hatched brushstrokes, to build up light and shade, demonstrates Lukes outstanding abilities as a draughtsman. Luke later recalled that Tonks had initially been critical of his drawings, stating these are rather good, as far as they go, but theres no form in any of them, and subsequently Luke concentrated all his efforts to perfect his drawing skills. The striking facial features of this male nude would later be re-used for the central figure in Lukes painting The Rehearsal, which was commissioned by the Belfast Museum and Art Gallery (now Ulster Museum) in 1948 as a demonstration of the tempera technique. Its anatomical fidelity also recalls Tonks drawings especially the male nudes he made as part of his work recording wounded veterans during the First World War. Tonks had initially trained as a surgeon and according to his biographer used his anatomical knowledge to teach life drawing as a swift and intelligent activity. Luke drew and painted many male nudes at the Slade employing a variety of different materials. A further example is his Seated Figure (lot 54 above) which is quickly, and brilliantly, sketched with chalks. Tonks encouraged his students to work with pastels and chalks when drawing from life (like the old masters). Whether in chalk or oil paint Luke fully realized Tonks desire to see the model as a corporeous unity, to render the flesh so it was almost tactile. Dr. Joseph McBrinnBelfast School of ArtUlster UniversityBorn into a working-class part of north Belfast John Luke initially left school to work in the citys shipyards and then its linen mills. His extraordinary talent at drawing brought him to Belfast School of Art when he was still a teenager. After enrolling in evening classes his teachers encouraged him to become a full-time student. In 1927, after winning prizes at the Sorella Art Exhibition and the Royal Dublin Societys Taylor Art Competition, Luke won the prestigious Dunville Art Scholarship, which would enable him to study at the Slade School of Fine Art in London for the next three years. This Male Nude was painted at the Slade under the tutelage of Henry Tonks, one of the most influential teachers of drawing in the early twentieth century. It was completed in the life painting class and its combination of incredibly fine drawing and tiny feathery cross-hatched brushstrokes, to build up light and shade, demonstrates Lukes outstanding abilities as a draughtsman. Luke later recalled that Tonks had initially been critical of his drawings, stating these are rather good, as far as they go, but theres no form in any of them, and subsequently Luke concentrated all his efforts to perfect his drawing skills. The striking facial features of this male nude would later be re-used for the central figure in Lukes painting The Rehearsal, which was commissioned by the Belfast Museum and Art Gallery (now Ulster Museum) in 1948 as a demonstration of the tempera technique. Its anatomical fidelity also recalls Tonks drawings, especially the male nudes he made as part of his work recording wounded veterans during the First World War. Tonks had initially trained as a surgeon and according to his biographer used his anatomical knowledge to teach life drawing as a swift and intelligent activity. Luke drew and painted many male nudes at the Slade employing a variety of different materials. A further example is his Seated Figure which is quickly, and brilliantly, sketched with chalks. Tonks encouraged his students to work with pastels and chalks when drawing from life (like the old masters). Whether in chalk or oil paint Luke fully realized Tonks desire to see the model as a corporeous unity, to render the flesh so it was almost tactile. Dr. Joseph McBrinnBelfast School of ArtUlster University
Adam's
Mar. 27, 2019
John Luke RUA (1906-1975)Seated FigurePencil and chalk, 39.5 x 31cm (15½ x 12¼'')Provenance: Estate of the artist; Private Collection.Exhibited: John Luke (1906-1975), Ulster Museum, Belfast and Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, 27 January-4 March 1
Est: €1,000 - €1,500
John Luke RUA (1906-1975)Seated FigurePencil and chalk, 39.5 x 31cm (15½ x 12¼'')Provenance: Estate of the artist; Private Collection.Exhibited: John Luke (1906-1975), Ulster Museum, Belfast and Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, 27 January-4 March 1978 (no. 79); John Luke: Work from The Studio, The Bell Gallery, Belfast, February-March 1980 (no. 23).
Adam's
Dec. 05, 2018
John Luke RUA (1906 - 1975)Coastal LandscapeWatercolour, 15.5 x 24cm (6¼ x 9)Signed and dated (19) '47
Est: €800 - €1,200
John Luke RUA (1906 - 1975)Coastal LandscapeWatercolour, 15.5 x 24cm (6¼ x 9)Signed and dated (19) '47
Adam's
Sep. 11, 2018
JOHN LUKE | Self-Portrait
Est: £7,000 - £10,000
oil on canvas laid on board
Sotheby's
Sep. 11, 2018
JOHN LUKE | Pax
Est: £80,000 - £120,000
tempera and oil on board
Sotheby's
Jul. 09, 2018
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) FARMHOUSE, BALLYAGHAGAN, 1940
Est: €600 - €800
each signed in pencil lower right
Whyte's
May. 28, 2018
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) LOOKING THROUGH THE WINDOW, 1929
Est: €4,000 - €6,000
signed upper left; signed and inscribed [School of Art, Municipal College of Technology, Belfast, Ulster] on reverse
Whyte's
May. 12, 2018
John Luke Eastman Psychedelic Art Print Butterfly
Est: $100 - $150
John Luke Eastman Psychedelic Art Print Butterfly. An open edition lithograph from 1973, this vintage psychedelic piece is titled "Wings of a Dove", and depicts a butterfly girl. The prose at the bottom of the image reads "o that I had wings like a dove, I would fly away and be at rest, yea I would wander afar" . John Luke Eastman was a Southern California artist who became recognized during the mid 60's for his unique styles. This particular piece is framed in wood with a metal interior frame, with glass, and has an overall size of 13" x 25".
Gulfcoast Coin and Jewelry
Feb. 26, 2018
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) FARMHOUSE, BALLYAGHAGAN, 1940
Est: €1,500 - €2,500
both signed in pencil in the margin lower right
Whyte's
Dec. 04, 2017
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) Female Nude
Est: €10,000 - €15,000
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) Female Nude watercolour signed top right h:100 w:67 cm. Provenance: Estate of the artist; Christie's Sale, Belfast, 31st May 1989 Lot 429; Private Collection Exhibited: John Luke Retrospective - Arts Council of Northern Ireland: Catalogue No.58 (label verso). Originating from the estate of the artist, this work is a hauntingly beautiful female nude study, with naturalistic pose in a classic setting. The palette is both subtle and striking, and the skin tones are remarkable in their realism.
Morgan O'Driscoll
Nov. 27, 2017
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) FARMHOUSE, BALLYAGHAGAN, 1940
Est: €2,000 - €3,000
two signed in pencil in the margin lower right; one with title faintly printed in margin lower left
Whyte's
Oct. 23, 2017
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) FARMHOUSE, BALLYAGHAGAN, 1940
Est: €600 - €800
both signed in pencil in the margin lower right
Whyte's
Oct. 23, 2017
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) FARMHOUSE, BALLYAGHAGAN, 1940
Est: €600 - €800
both signed in pencil in the margin lower right; one titled lower left
Whyte's
Sep. 27, 2017
JOHN LUKE | Northern Rhythm
Est: £100,000 - £150,000
tempera on board
Sotheby's
Jun. 27, 2016
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) Female Nude
Est: €700 - €1,000
John Luke RUA (1906-1975) Female Nude coloured pencil signed lower right h:49.50 w:27.50 cm. Provenance: Mrs Sadie McKee (artist's sister) Collection of Robert Gould Private Collection
Morgan O'Driscoll