Paul Henry – Early Morning in Donegal.
Paul Henry’s Early Morning in Donegal was the top lot at the highly successful James Adam sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin last night. It sold for a hammer price of 160,000 over a top estimate of 100,000 in an auction that realised 1.3 million at hammer, and 1.6 million with fees.. No less than 86 per cent of lots sold. Sleep by Falling Water, a 1948 oil by Jack Butler Yeats made 155,000. A tapestry by Louis le Brocquy, Adam and Eve in the Garden, sold for 77,000 at hammer and Walter Osborne’s Portrait of Mrs. Meade sold for 80,000. Tinkers in the Spring, a watercolour by le Brocquy, made 11,000 over a top estimate of 7,000 in a sale where prices were strong and most lots found buyers. A Cubist Landscape by Mary Swanzy made 15,500, a still life by Norah McGuinness made 20,000, a West of Ireland scene by Paul Henry made 60,000, Sunday Morning, Bloody Foreland by James Humbert Craig made 10,000, Gathering Seaweed, Mayo Coast by Jack Yeats made 30,000, a portrait of May Leech by William John Leech sold for 16,000 and Six Musicians by John Brian Vellely made 20,000 over a top estimate of 8,000.
Jack Butler Yeats – Sleep by Falling Water.
A delighted James O’Halloran, Adams managing director, commented: “Good art, interesting art that has not been seen before, did very well. There were good prices across the board, and notably for contemporary works by artists like John Boyd and Ciaran Lennon, a very positive sign”.