THE sale of a Brendan Behan short story for over £5,000 made the headlines after de Vere's art auction last Tuesday evening, but it was by no means the only item to sell well above estimate on the night, writes Orna Mulcahy.

According to John de Vere White, this was one of his most successful sales in recent years. Over 80 per cent of the pictures were sold, a sign, he says, that confidence is creeping back into the Irish art market.

Irish art has been absolutely static for the last four years, and this sale was the first indication that things are beginning to change." He went on to explain that a number of pictures which had failed to sell in his last auction in December found buyers on Tuesday evening, including a gouache by Mainie Jellett which reached its top estimate of £2,900. It was withdrawn at £1,500 just three months ago. Similarly, a portrait of a lady by William Leech which had failed to sell at a recent action in London was sold for £2,900 on Tuesday.

Leech's A view of Killiney from the Obelisk was one of the very best pictures in the sale and it sold for £9,000, just meeting its lower estimate. However, the top price overall was the £19,000 paid for Charles Lamb's The Turf Cutter, which had been estimated at £9,000-£12,000.

Mary Swanzy's delightfully funny painting of a pregnant bride and her husband to be, The Wedding, made almost twice its top estimate at £6,400, while a rare painting by Millicent Barclay, The Violet Girl, sold above estimate at £2,400.

A striking portrait by the late Niccolo d'Ardia Caracciolo also sold for more than its top estimate, making £2,100. Harry Kernoff's Sailing to the Blaskets made £3,400 against a top estimate of £3,000 but even so its new owner should consider this wonderfully strong painting a very good buy.

Though the top pictures sold well, there was still good value to be had lower down the price level, with a large scale work by Gerard Dillon, Goodbye Old Paint, making £2,000, half its top estimate.

Contemporary artists such as Brian Bourke, Charlie Brady and Peter Collis fetched good prices too, and the next sale that John de Vere White will hold will be one dedicated to living artists. This sale will take place in May.