UNDERLINING the increased prices Irish pictures are now fetching, two paintings by Sir John Lavery respectably exceeded their estimates at an auction held by Phillips in London last Tuesday.

A large canvas painted by tee artist at Wengen, Switzerland, in 1912, and depicting his wife, Hazel, and daughters, was expected to make in the region of £30,000-£35,000 it finally sold for £150,000.

Another Lavery picture, a portrait of Mrs Arthur Franklin, estimated at £15,000-£20,000, went for £24,000.