AN unpublished story by Brendan Behan will be included in de Vere's forthcoming sale of Irish art on Tuesday, March 12th. The eight-page short story is entitled Christmas Eve in the Graveyard, and it is based on a conversation between a group of inner-city Dublin types at a wake, with plenty of racy language for the time.
Behan gave the story to the painter Tom Nisbett, who had painted his portrait in 1952. The painting shows Behan in McDaids pub with the story in front of him. At that time Behan was virtually unknown as a writer, his first major play, The QuareFellow, still two years away. John de Vere is hoping to sell the story for £1,000-£3,000, but it could well fetch more.
Story apart, there will be just over 120 lots of paintings in the auction, including some very good pictures, plenty of average, decorative paintings and a few regrettable ones. Estimates are modest, and if they prove true, then this is a good opportunity to start collecting lesser works by Harry Kernoff, Letitita Mary Hamilton, Father Jack Anion, Torah McGuiness, Colin Middleton and others are estimated in hundreds of pounds as opposed to thousands.
Starting at the top, Charles Lamb's The Turf Cutter is expected to be one of the best selling lots, with an estimate of £9,000-£12,000, while a view of Killiney Hill by William Leech carries the same estimate. The Leech work is a fine painting, a grey and silver misty view of the bay with the barest outline of Sorrento Terrace in the distance. It's worth noting that the National Gallery has requested the loan of this picture for its Leech exhibition next October.
Eva Henrietta Hamilton's delightful painting of people strolling through a park (where the park actually is no one is very sure, but John de Vere is tentatively titling the picture A Sunny Day in a French Park) is estimated at £4,000-£6,000, while a striking Kernoff painting, Sailing to the Blaskets, Kerry from Dunquin has a top estimate of £3,000. In the same price bracket is a gorgeously coloured abstract by Evie Hone, called simply Abstract Composition, and a jolly picture of people relaxing at the seaside by Maurice MacGonigal called Summer.
Admirers of Mary Swanzy will love The Wedding, which depicts a proud and pregnant bride being led up the aisle to a gormless groom. It has a top estimate of £3,500.
There are several works by Gerard Dillon in the £1,000-£3,000 bracket and some early Brian Bourke paintings. Typical works by Peter Collise are estimated at under £1,000 and there are a couple of interesting portraits by the late Niccolo Caracciolo. Bargains may well be had on the night, so its worth dropping by to look. Viewing is from next Sunday at the National Concert Hall.
