Portrait of Brendan Behan as a drinking man

A delightful series of watercolours and drawings by William Henry Brooke, who enjoyed particular success during the early years of the last century, comes up for sale next week. The four lots are included in the de Vere's auction of art and literature, to be held at the National Concert Hall, Dublin, on Tuesday evening; they have estimates between £1,000-£1,500 and £250-£350. Given the recent publication of a new biography of the writer, two lots relating to Brendan Behan are also sure to stir interest.

One is a portrait of the author in McDaids pub, painted by Tom Nisbet, who gave the work to Behan as a wedding present in 1955. The subject is shown with an unpublished short story in front of him; this manuscript was actually sold by de Vere's in March, 1996.

Another piece of Behan memorabilia is a framed French cabaret poster from Montparnasse. It was signed by both Behan and Anthony Cronin and the latter has described the visit to Paris during which this poster was acquired in his book Dead as Doornails. The portrait is expected to make £1,500-£2,000 and the poster £1,000-£1,500.

The highest price of the sale is expected to be paid for a large Roderic O'Conor oil called Red Rocks & Foaming Sea. If this looks familiar, it is because the picture was offered for sale earlier in the year but has since been meticulously cleaned - bringing out O'Conor's original rich hues - and now carries an estimate of £40,000-£60,000. One of Aloysius O'Kelly's views of the harbour at Concarneau is also in this sale (£5,000-£8,000), along with a Paul Henry oil of a west of Ireland fishing village (£9,000-£12,000), a May Guinness still life (£900-£1,200) and a Mary Swanzy oil of St Tropez (£1,800-£2,200). Another Swanzy work, Figures in a Wood, has an estimate of £8,000-£12,000.

More recent work in the auction includes a Louis le Brocquy painting showing a man at a window and dating from 1954 (£9,000-£12,000), a Barbara Warren canvas called Galway Summer (£1,000-£1,500) and a fine Cecil King study, Grey Form & Black (£400-£600).

A portrait study of Mildred Anne Butler, which came from the 1983 contents sale of Kilmurry and may have been painted by Sarah Purser, is also in this auction, with an estimate of £1,500-£2,500. Finally, as usual with a de Vere's sale, there are a number of curiosities on offer next Tuesday, such as a complete 35mm print of the only film treatment of Joyce's Finnegan's Wake, made by American film director Mary Ellen Bute in 1964 and never shown in this country (£1,000-£3,000).