ACCORDING to James O’Halloran, managing director at James Adam in Dublin, the old reliables of Irish art perform best in the current market. The sale of Important Irish Art at Adams at 6 pm on September 25 contains a selection by some of Ireland’s best loved artists of the last 150 years.O’Halloran says that collectors of contemporary Irish art are well informed nowadays and only want the best that they can afford. In auctioneering terms this means fresh to market works by artists with a proven track record. In a small market this makes it very difficult for newcomers to break in. Sadly this has proved to be something of a brake on the auction development of emerging artists, whose work in Ireland is mostly promoted by galleries.On the Skibbereen Light Railway by Yeats is the auction highlight at Adams. Estimated at 150,000-200,000 the work, which explores the interaction between people on the long gone west Cork railway, was once owned by Leo Smith, founder of The Dawson Gallery, and at a later stage by the modernist architect Michael Scott. The auction features work by stalwarts like Sir John Lavery and Paul Henry. A classic west of Ireland landscape by Henry was purchased by Wilhelm Mueller, a member of the German Legation in Ireland in 1940 when the Second World War was raging. The family was granted permission to stay in Ireland after the war and did not return to their home country until the 1950’s. It has remained in their possession until now and is estimated at 60,000-80,000. The catalogue cover lot is Fighting Tinkers by Gerard Dillon (30,000-50,000). The Shelbourne Hotel has consigned a number of lots including Tony O’Malley’s Orpheus Autumn which dates from 1984 (15,000-20,000).
