Among the highlights of a sale with something for everyone by Fonsie Mealy in Castlesomer on November 16 is an artwork by Jack B Yeats which focuses the mind on people with little or nothing. The Ballad Singers’ Children depicts the children of an itinerant singer left to fend for themselves in a makeshift tent while their parent tries to make a living at a race meeting nearby. A barefoot girl, the eldest of the three, looks out at a torrential downpour from a shelter made of tarpaulin spread over branches. The oil on board of a not untypical scene from the west of Ireland in the opening years of the 20th century speaks to our 21st century world with its growing numbers of dispossessed refugees. In this poignant work Yeats sides with the poor and the oppressed. It was exhibited in Dublin in 1902 and at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool in 1903. Acquired in that year by his patron the New York lawyer John Quinn it is now estimated at €10,000-€15,000.
The west of Ireland features in a trio of Aran Island works by Sean Keating. From a private institutional collection they are on the market for the first time. Waiting for the Steamer, Aran Islands is estimated at €50,000-€70,000, Man and Woman collecting Seaweed is estimated at €30,000-€40,000 and Village on the Aran Islands is estimated at €15,000-€20,000, Milking the cows by Maurice MacGonigal dates to around 1934 and is estimated at €7,000-€9,000. An 1880’s portrait of the artist Walter Osborne, who died of pneumonia aged just 43, by his friend and fellow artist August Burke is estimated at €5,000-€7,000. Eruption of Mount Vesuvius by William Sadler c1825 is estimated at €4,000-€6,000.
Lovers, an Aubusson tapestry by the late Pauline Bewick shows a couple locked in a passionate embrace on a seashore beneath the stars with a lighthouse in the background. In a catalogue note Dr. Peter Murray describes it as one of her finest works which sums up her affirmation of life and love. Composition by Evie Hone dates to 1925 and is estimated at €4,000-€6,000. There is more than 400 lots including prints, drawings, sketches, watercolours, oils and sculpture including work by John Behan, Edward Delaney and Brid Ni Rinn. Collectibles include a limited edition of Ulysses by James Joyce signed by Henri Matisse, Sumo by Helmut Newton and The Tain illustrated by Louis le Brocquy. A selection of wines and whiskies includes some rare Midletons.
