COLLECTOR: A sale of Irish artists includes works by Paul Henry, Roderic O'Conor and John Lavery. The Lavery painting is a small one and an ideal purchase for someone who wants a "trophy Lavery"
The Irish art season gets off to a home start next week with an auction featuring works by Paul Henry, Sir John Lavery, Roderic O'Conor, Cecil Maguire and William Conor.
A highlight of Whyte's auction at the RDS, Dublin, next Wednesday, May 8th, is Cecil Maguire's A Start in the Country - Galway Races, a 1972 oil painting estimated at €8,000 to €10,000. It celebrates the old start for many of the Galway Races at Ballybrit. Maguire, born in 1930, and one of many artists in this sale from Northern Ireland, is a well-established and popular painter.
The work most likely to achieve the highest price is by Paul Henry (1876-1958), another Ulster painter. Trees, County Wicklow circa 1930-1931 is unusual. Normally known for his scenes in the West of Ireland with cottages, mountains and sky, this picture depicts just trees, flatland, water and sky. Estimated at €50,000 to €60,000, it exudes a mellow tranquillity and lightness of touch.
Roderic O'Conor (1860-1940) features with Woman in a Turquoise Cardigan, Holding a Book, probably one of the last pictures he painted. Completed in the mid-1930s, it is more representational than his earlier works. One of a pair of portraits devoted to the same sitter, who bears a distinctive 1930s look, it carries an estimate of €50,000 to €60,000.
The auction boasts Cigarette Factory Girl, Seville by Sir John Lavery (1856-1941), one of Ireland's foremost painters, estimated at €25,000 to €30,000. An oil on canvas laid on board, it is described by Prof Kenneth McConkey, in his monograph on Lavery, as "a rather lovely sketch and it appears entirely characteristic of Lavery's oeuvre at that period".
Mr Ian Whyte, director of Whyte's auction rooms, told The Irish Times: "This is a nice small Lavery. People pay up to a million pounds for Laverys . This one is a nice entry-level Lavery for someone who wants to start off, who wants a trophy Lavery. It's boldly signed as well. It's good to have a good signature on a painting."
A wax crayon on cardboard picture by William Conor (1881-1968) - another Ulster artist - of a crowd scene, with a second work depicting children at a carnival on the reverse of the picture, is expected to realise €20,000 to €25,000. A further atmospheric crayon drawing by Conor, Men from Harland & Wolfe, is estimated at €10,000 to €12,000.
One that may be of particular interest to The Irish Times' readers is Harry Kernoff's (1900-1974) Portrait of Flann O'Brien. A signed pastel on paper portraying Brian O'Nolan a.k.a. Myles na Gopaleen, author of At Swim Two Birds and the Cruiskeen Lawn column in this newspaper, it is modestly estimated at €2,000 to €3,000.
"Most paintings, the interest is there because it's the picture. In this instance, the subject matter is just as interesting as the painting. It's probably more of literary interest than of artistic interest," said Mr Whyte.
A large wool pile tapestry by William Scott (1913-1989), hand-knotted in India, is estimated at €8,000 to €9,000. Its bold, attractive design grew from studies made for an oil painting Still Life with Orange Note, which is in the collection of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
Last year, Whyte's sold a Louis le Brocquy tapestry for some €106,000.
Daniel O'Neill (1920-1974), another Northern artist, features in the auction with Puppets, estimated at €18,000 to €22,000. A somewhat spooky-looking picture, it is nevertheless attractive in its own way.
The auction includes a collection of pictures by Christy Brown, author of best-selling autobiography My Left Foot, the film version of which earned Brenda Fricker an Academy Award. Prices in the Brown collection start from as little as €1,000.
