Irish paintings fared badly at the Christie’s sale of 20th Century British and Irish art in London on May 27. The auction house was hoping to achieve a price of over a million pounds for a 1949 Yeats entitled Until we meet again. The painting, which was probably over estimated, failed to sell.
In fact only three of the 13 Irish lots found buyers in a sale which was largely unpromoted in Ireland. The view in this country is that the new policy at Christie’s of mixing Irish with British 20th century art in the same auction does not work. One of the four works by Paul Henry, his only known still life, entitled Chrysanthemums, sold. It made 51,600. The Music has come by Yeats made 55,000. A William Scott, entitled Together, made 22,500 and another Scott failed to sell. Christies failed to sell works by Louis le Brocquy, Sir John Lavery, Colin Middleton, Sir William Orpen and William Conor.