`How much for the three Wicklow cows?" Ian Whyte asks J.P. Donleavy. "Not for sale," replies the author-turned-painter-turned-cow-farmer. New York-born Donleavy has become a seasoned dairy farmer and stone-wall builder in Mullingar. Apparently, his neighbours are not quite as enamoured with his 60-strong herd as he is.
Donleavy's painting, Wicklow Cows, is part of Monday's private showing of Irish art prior to Tuesday's auction at the RDS. This is the first public viewing by the author of The Ginger Man in 10 years. Also on show is a portrait in oils of poet and friend Patrick Kavanagh, signed and dated 1950.
Dublin solicitor Rory O'Connor and his wife Mary are here to view the works, as are Gerard Brady and Richard Keatinge, and Lorcan and Pamela Wall. At auction, a crayon and chalk drawing by William Conor, entitled Over The Fences and depicting a steeplechase, fetches £23,000. Percy French's watercolour landscapes prove very popular. Of great local interest is Andrew Nicholl's Kingston Harbour and Dublin Bay, which sells for £12,500.