CHRISTIE'S are to hold a major sale of Irish art in London on May 9th. The sale of more than 150 Irish paintings is expected to realise about £1.2 million and they will include important works by Sir William Orpen, Roderic O'Conor, John Luke, Sir John Lavery and Yeats.
It is the largest sale of Irish art to be held in London and London's gain is Dublin's loss. Christie's have been holding Irish art sales in Dublin and Belfast since 1988. But, according to Christie's director, Bernard Williams, Irish collectors have become wary of either buying or selling valuable paintings on the open market in Ireland, since the Revenue Commissioners now track sales worth over £15,000.
All the paintings in the sale will be exhibited both in Dublin and in Belfast later this month. But the move to London will give the auction a better exposure internationally. Some paintings have already been exhibited in New York, including an important self portrait by Sir William Orpen, Myself and Cupid, which is expected to make up to £250,000.
A companion painting to this is in the collection of the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburg, hence the showing in the United States. Both are part of a series of self portraits by the artist done between 1907 and 1921.
A painting by Yeats, The Frontispiece, from the collection of the late Lord Walston, is expected to make between £50,000 and £70,000. It shows an elderly man sitting at a window reading a book. Also by Yeats is A Walk Over, a scene at the finishing post at the Strand horse race at Drumeliffe in Co Sligo, a painting that has been exhibited both in London and Dublin in the past. It has a top estimate of £50,000.
Sir John Lavery's captivating La Dame aux Perles, a version of which can be seen in the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery, should make £30,000-£50,000.
An Orpen watercolour, A Day at Howth, of the artist and his wife and daughter, came from the Orpen family collection and is expected to make £20,000-£30,000.
Several important works by Roderic O'Conor carry estimates of between £30,000 and £60,000. Letitia M. Hamilton's picture of a Meath point to point, The Barbour Cup, has a top estimate of £12,000.
What Bernard Williams describes as the best Beatrice Lady Glenavy ever to come on the market, is The Intruder, estimated at £10,000-£15,000.
Erskine Nicol's Shebeen at Donnybrook, showing a drunken carry on outside a pub, is estimated to fetch up to £15,000.
Among the 20th century artists, the star lot is John Luke's The Locks at Edenderry. Christie's achieved a record price for Luke in October 1988 when The Bridge sold for £176,000. The estimate on the canal scene at Edenderry is £50,000-£80,000.
Among several works by Gerard Dillon is a self portrait estimated at £10,000-£15,000. A wood tapestry by Dillon, Hands across the Border, has a top estimate of £10,000.
The Irish Picture Sale will be exhibited at The Conrad Hotel on April 16th-17th and at Cultra Manor, the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, from April 23rd for three days.
