Many of this country’s finest painters and sculptors from the last 250 years feature at the James Adam evening sale of Irish art in Dublin on March 27. The Children’s Fairing by Erskine Nicol is a masterpiece of Victorian artistic storytelling which brings a sense of luxury to a muddy harbour market. It is an atmospheric work where the viewer becomes a spectator as the seller offers fruit to a passer by and possible purchaser. Dating to 1870 and exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1871 it was once in the collection of the Lady Lever Gallery at Port Sunlight at The Wirral and is estimated at 15,000-20,000.Art of a different order is available in FE McWilliam’s Leg Figure. The bronze dates to 1977 and is estimated at 6,000-10,000.The earliest work in the sale is a large oil by George Barret senior dating to about 1760. The spectacular landscape, probably by the Dargle on the Powerscourt estate, features anglers and figures including a baby and a dog. It carries an estimate of 50,000-80,000.
The catalogue is online. Among 166 lots is work by sculptors like John Behan, Rory Breslin, Bob Quinn, Stephen Lawlor and Patrick O’Reilly.
