Art worth millions to change hands at Dublin sales

Irish Examiner

24-05-2025

An array of exciting choices will come up at major sales of Irish art in Dublin by Whyte's, deVeres and James Adam on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Art worth a couple of million euro is set to change hands at sales headed by Paul Henry (Whyte's), Gerard Dillon (de Veres) and Roderic O'Conor (Adam's). All are on view this weekend.
A spectacular 1933 oil, Achill Horses (€70,000-€100,000) by Mainie Jellett, will create interest among serious collectors. This modern abstract style was in marked contrast to the prevailing realist mode of her contemporaries like Paul Henry and Charles Lamb. Jellett was chosen to create murals of the life and people of Ireland for the Free State Pavilion at the Empire Exhibition, Scotland, of 1938 in Glasgow. Another version of Achill Horses is included in the Mainie Jellett and Evie Hone exhibition at the National Gallery until August 10.
The most expensively estimated work at all three sales is West of Ireland Bog by Paul Henry (€120,000-180,000). It is one of three works by the artist at Whyte's, where Cottages, West of Ireland (€60,000-€80,000) and Keel Bay, Achill (€50,000-€70,000) also feature. In Hill Fair at Achill Island by Letitia Hamilton (€15,000-€20,000), the viewer joins the busy scene through an uneven path between two large limestone rocks.
'West of Ireland Bog' by Paul Henry at Whyte's.
There is international art by John Atkinson Grimshaw, Ferdinand Roybet, Paula Rego, Bridget Riley and Maurice Poirson as well as a sketch of James Joyce by his close friend Frank Budgen. The auction offers major works by William Leech, Dan O'Neill, Colin Middleton and George Russell, Dublin scenes by Flora Mitchell, prints by Patrick Scott, William Scott and Louis le Brocquy, sculpture by Rowan Gillespie and John Behan and work by popular artists like Kenneth Webb, Graham Knuttel, Cecil Maguire and Arthur Maderson.
'Achill Horses' by Mainie Jellett at Whyte's.
The piece Little Girl's Wonder by Gerard Dillon is the top lot at the art and sculpture sale by deVeres next Tuesday. In tune with the naive style and strong use of colour for which Dillon is known, it was shown in 1955 at the Irish Exhibition of Living Art in Dublin, which was established in 1943 to promote modernism in Ireland. This work is estimated at €50,000-€80,000
The sale at deVeres offers art by Louis le Brocquy, Colin Middleton, Daniel O'Neill, Patrick Collins, John Shinnors, Peter Curling, Lillian Davidson, George Russell (AE), May Guinness and Mainie Jellett. The sculpture in the auction, on view in the garden of The Merrion Hotel, includes work by Rowan Gillespie, FE McWilliam, Patrick O'Reilly, Jason Ellis and Michael Warren.
'Black and White Scarecrows' by John Shinnors at Adams.
A reclining nude and a night scene of a boat in a storm, both by Roderic O'Conor and estimated respectively at €40,000-€60,000 and €15,000-€25,000, lead the sale of Important Irish Art at James Adam on Wednesday evening. A dreamlike image by Hughie O'Donoghue, The Sea, The Sea from 2003, is estimated at €15,000-€20,000.
Among 100 lots on offer is The Path of the Lamb (1966), an oil on canvas commissioned by the Dominican Order for St Saviour's Church on Dominick Street in Dublin (€10,000-€15,000). The work Figures Asleep by Mary Swanzy from the 1940s (€10,000-€15,000) shows a makeshift arrangement that possibly depicts neighbours sheltering during air raids. Two arresting and contrasting works by renowned artists are the dense and restrained Black and White Scarecrows by John Shinnors (€5,000-€8,000) and Silent Gardens, a colourful piece from 1985 by Tony O'Malley (€12,000-€15,000).
A bronze by Rowan Gillespie, Convict Woman (€8,000-€12,000) is based on one of the life-size figures by the artist unveiled in Hobart, Tasmania in 2017, known as the footsteps-toward-freedom statues. It represents the 13,000 convict women and 2,000 of their children who were transported to Van Diemen's Land. A selection of sculptures by John Behan and Oisin Kelly is also on offer. Viewing is underway and all catalogues are online.