Gentleman's collection at Whyte's

An anonymous businessman is to sell his art collection at Whyte’s this week

ON MONDAY evening, Whyte's will sell Important Irish Artcollected over the past 40 years by an anonymous gentleman "based in an old estate house outside Dublin". The fine art auctioneers will only reveal that he's originally from the north-west of Ireland and moved to the city where he set up a successful, nationally-known business.

They also say the man has a discerning eye that is second to none. His collection, A Place and Time, which includes paintings depicting Irish life, spans a century from the 1850s to the 1950s.

The highlight is Paul Henry's Fisherman in a Currach, 1911-1913 which Whyte's described as "a museum-worthy piece and an impeccable example by the Irish master" with an estimate of €100,000-€150,000. The collection also features a second Paul Henry and includes pictures by William Percy French, Harry Clarke, Nathaniel Hone, Mildred Anne Butler and Jack B Yeats.

Others to watch are Patrick Leonard, especially for On the Beach, Co Dublin(€10,000-€15,000); William Conor's The Musician, 1923 (€8,000-€12,000) and, of interest to anyone who has walked the Camino, an extraordinary portrait of a pilgrim (Lot 22) by Edward Daniel Leahy (€5,000-€7,000).

The second phase of the auction will feature mainly contemporary art and includes The Amnesty Collection– work by visual artists created for From the Republic of Conscience, a book which began life as a series of essays in The Irish Timesto mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Proceeds from the sale of these lots  – among them a framed copy of Seamus Heaney's handwritten poem (€3,000-€5,000) – will go to Amnesty International.

Viewing from today at The Clyde Rooms, RDS, Dublin 4 until the auction on Monday at 6pm.