Mainie Jellett – Achill Horses, 1933.
There was a new world record for Mainie Jellett at Whyte’s in Dublin when Achill Horses, painted in 1933, sold for a hammer price of €210,000. This is the second highest price for a painting by an Irishwoman. The painting was the focus of a battle between two telephone bidders and went to a private collection. A Sarah Purser portrait of Constance and Eva Gore Booth made €240,000 in the Lissadell House auction in 2003.
Whyte’s auction demonstrated continuing confidence in the market for Irish works of rarity and quality. Paul Henry’s West of Ireland Bog sold for €125,000, while Anglesea Market, Dublin, 1933 by Harry Kernoff made the top estimate of €40,000.
William John Leech’s Gardeners Joy nearly doubled its lower estimate of €15,000 to sell at €28,000, and a Louis le Brocquy watercolour Image of Francis Bacon, 1980, made double its lower estimate of €12,000. An Evie Hone watercolour Abstract Composition estimated €2,000 to €3,000 made €5,400, Charles Vincent Lamb oil West of Ireland Landscape, estimated at €1,500 to €2,000 made €3,600, Bridget Riley Magenta And Blue, 2002 lithograph, estimated at €8,000 to €12,000 made €14,500.
The previous record for Jellett was €110,000 for The Land Éire 1940 at Whyte’s in 2019. This painting can be seen at the National Gallery of Ireland’s current exhibition Mainie Jellett Evie Hone The Art of Friendship.
(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for May 24 and May 20, 2025)