€450,000 for Quinlan painting

AN ABSTRACT painting of a frying pan and bowls on a kitchen table realised £385,250 (€450,000) for the National Asset Management Agency at a Christie’s auction in London last night.

Still Life Variations 2by William Scott is part of the art collection seized from developer Derek Quinlan being sold in a series of auctions by Christie's on instruction from the agency.

The auction in central London was the second in a series of three sales to dispose of 14 paintings. The proceeds will be used to pay down some of Mr Quinlan's banks debts which have been taken on by Nama. It is believed that Mr Quinlan bought Still Life Variations 2from a London art dealer four years ago for £540,000.

A second painting in last night’s auction, “Red Rocks, Brittany” by Roderic O’Conor, which Christie’s had hoped might make up to £250,000, failed to sell. The painting of the Breton coast was purchased for £80,000 at auction in Dublin in 1997. Later today, a further nine paintings from the Quinlan Collection – including works by Jack B Yeats and Paul Henry – will go under the hammer in London.