Like property, Irish art prices have fallen sharply. Is now a good time to buy, asks MICHAEL PARSONS

THE PRICE of art can rise – and fall – sharply. Irish art prices have fallen (for some artists by 50 per cent and more) since the economic crisis began in 2008. Auctioneer Ian Whyte now believes “there is great value to be had”. Collectors, who are motivated by impulses other than purely financial, may find bargains. But anyone buying art for investment purposes (especially first-timers) ought to research the market as diligently as they would if buying stocks and shares.

Consider, for example, a painting titled Painting In A Garden, a self-portrait by artist William John Leech. The oil-on-canvas, measuring 27 by 21 inches, was first exhibited in Dublin in 1955 and sold for £219.

Almost half-a-century later, in 2003, it changed hands at a Whyte’s art auction for €50,000. Now, nine years later, it is back on the market, again at Whyte’s, next week, with an estimate of €20,000–€30,000.

The Soko, Tangier by Sir John Lavery – a painting of the artist’s impressions of the Moroccan city which he visited in 1891 – has an estimate of €20,000 to €25,000, which, according to Whytes is “a relatively modest price for Ireland’s answer to Impressionism”.

That’s less than half the price achieved when the picture was last on the market, five years ago, at Sotheby’s in London where it sold for £48,000.

And Swans on the Lagan, County Antrim by Frank McKelvey, with an estimate of €20,000–€25,000, last sold in 2004 for €72,000.

The auction also includes works from the collection of the late Jim O’Driscoll SC, a well-known Cork art collector, including a painting titled Pedro Barba – Isla Graciosa by Tony O’Malley (estimate €20,000–€30,000) and a Francis Bacon lithograph print of Study for Portrait of Pope Innocent X, 1989 with an estimate of €6,000–€8,000.

As well as executor sales, the current economic crisis is also resulting in some corporate collections coming to market. Whyte said: “a sign of the times is a Northern Ireland corporate collection offered on behalf of the liquidator” and claimed that because “it is a buyers’ market, estimates are incredibly attractive and will offer today’s collector excellent value for money”. He cites, as examples from this collection, two paintings by Paul Henry at “both ends of the price point”: Cottage, West of Ireland estimated at €60,000–€80,000 and the smaller Maam Valley, Connemara, €20,000–€25,000.

Seán Keating’s painting Past Definite, Future Perfect, depicting an elderly lady and a young woman over a card game, was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1928, purchased there and remained in England until now. It is estimated at €25,000–€35,000.

Viewing begins at 10am today at the Serpentine Hall in The RDS (Anglesea Road entrance) where the auction takes place on Monday evening at 6pm.