Bank's art auction switched to hotel over demand

THE VENUE for this evening’s auction of works of art from Bank of Ireland’s collection has been switched to Dublin’s Shelbourne Hotel due to “phenomenal interest”.

Adam’s managing director James O’Halloran said yesterday that the sale has attracted more interest from both collectors and the general public than any other sale held by the auctioneers, and over 3,500 people had visited the public viewings, which began last Saturday.

The sale will take place in the hotel’s Great Room with a later start of 6.15pm, in the interests of safety and comfort. The sale had been due to take place at 6pm at Adam’s offices nearby.

The auction is the first step in the disposal of Bank of Ireland’s collection, which contains about 2,000 items, with the remainder to be sold at future auctions over the next few years.

The 145 works to go under the hammer include paintings by some of Ireland’s best-known artists, including Paul Henry, Louis le Brocquy, Tony O’Malley and Basil Blackshaw.

Adam’s expects the sale to raise €1 million. The bank has said it would not profit from the sale and that all proceeds would be donated to community-based arts organisations.

Ten works that appear in the catalogue have been withdrawn from this evening’s sale. Five paintings and four sculptures have been donated by the bank to the Irish Museum of Modern Art and will form part of the national collection in public ownership. The 10th, a painting by Robert Ballagh, was withdrawn by the bank following representations from the artist, who opposes the sale.

In a letter to The Irish Times last month, Ballagh criticised “the retrograde decision by the Bank of Ireland to flog its art collection” and said he would “sever all business connections with that financial institution”.