Adam's MID-CENTURY MODERN 21st May 2024

20 Tuesday 21 st May 2024 JOHN HUSTON (1906 – 1987) In 1952 following the success of his historical ro- mantic drama, Moulin Rouge, the American film di- rector and screenwriter decided to seek out a place that would provide respite and privacy for him and his young family while also being large enough to accommodate his vast collection of art and arte- facts. St Clerans, a one-hundred-and-ten acre estate in County Galway was more than sufficient. Locat- ed three miles outside of the town of Craughwell, the Georgian three-storey, 17 bedroom manor house was in need of repair and Huston took on the challenge with gusto. Following the extensive restoration, mostly overseen by his wife Ricki, the Hustons moved in and John, at least, would go on to spend the next nineteen years in this west of Ireland home. St Clerans provided Huston with a much needed break from the frenetic pace of Hol- lywood. He spent his time there painting, horse rid- ing and of course, entertaining many friends, actors and writers. Huston had initially visited Ireland in 1951 on the in- vitation of Oonagh Guinness to stay at Luggala and attend a hunt ball in the Gresham Hotel in Dublin. During this trip he had become enamoured with the scenic beauty of the countryside. Despite the isolation of the house, this did not stop him from working and over the course of his time there he averaged one movie a year. Out of that only four films were made on Irish soil The List of Adri- an Messenger (1963), Casino Royale (1967), Sinful Davey (1969), The Mackintosh Man (1973). He trav- elled consistently for work coming back a few times a year to visit Ricki and their children, Angelica and Tony who lived for much of the time in the limestone cottage in the courtyard, referred to as the ‘Small House’. The ‘Big House’ was a few hundred yards away, accessed by a bridge over a stream filled with trout. It was here that Huston created a museum for his collection. Each room was filled with an incredi- ble array of objects from Monet’s Water Lily and a Greek marble horse head in the main drawing room to a pair of Mexican mermaid candelabra sculptures in the hallway. He had a full Japanese bath installed with shoji doors and mats which he enjoyed using after days spent hunting with the local Galway Blazers. Examples from this fascinating and eclectic collection can be seen in the following seven lots in this sale, which were pur- chased by the current owners from John Huston when they bought St Clerans in 1972. Three works by the Italian artist Guilio Turcato and a late work by Austrian painter Wolfgang Paalen are among the principal lots. Huston and Paalen both shared a passion for collecting, in par- ticular indigenous artwork of the pre-Colombian tradition. Both also lived in Mexico, Huston retreated there in 1975 following the sale of St. Clerans a few years earlier. He moved to the rural surroundings of Las Caletas, near Puerto Vallarta before returning to America in the 1980s. Niamh Corcoran, April 2024