Works by Ireland's lesser known artists will be included in Drums artauction. Eivlín Roden reports
Some fine works by some of Ireland's lesser known artists will be included in Drums of Malahide's next art auction on Sunday, April 18th.
There is a very pleasing watercolour of the Avonmore River near Laragh, Co Wicklow, with the trademark bridge leading into the composition and two small riders and ponies on the other side almost directly in the centre of the painting.
Tom Nisbet is a painter whose work concentrated on views of both Dublin streets and the surrounding countryside. He was a member of the Royal Hibernian Academy and his work spans much of the 20th century. He died in 2001 and his paintings have started to increase in price quite considerably recently. A couple of years ago, you would have been able to buy a work of his for a few hundred euro or much less if you were lucky, but in the last 18 months, it is commanding higher prices, often over a €1,000 a painting. Avonmore River near Laragh (€900-€1,100) measures 11 x 14.5 inches and is mounted, framed and signed in the lower left hand corner.
Discussing Romance (€1,700- €2,000) is a small impressionistic pastoral oil on board painting by Australian Elizabeth Brophy, who now lives in Ireland. This predominantly green composition summons up an idle summer day with a group of young girls in pastel cotton dresses sitting in a flowery meadow with trees and shrubs receding into a blue hazy distance.
On the older side, there is an 18th century Irish School pastel Portrait of a Gentleman (€1,500-€2,500). Oval in shape, it is set into an original gilt carved wood Georgian frame measuring 24 x 16 inches. Although the artist is unknown, it is considered to be possibly by Francis Robert West.