This 1943 painting of Loughshinny Harbour, Co. Dublin by Patrick Leonard made a hammer price of €34,000 at Whyte’s Irish and International Art auction on May 31. It had been estimated at €12,000-€18,000 and was a new record for an oil by the artist (a pastel made €40,000 in 2006). The sale grossed just under €900,000 with 80% of the 160 lots sold. The top price was €160,000 for a Jack Yeats oil depicting a horse and jockey – Muldoon and Rattlesnake, €10,000 above the top estimate. Seán Keating’s Thinking Out Gobnet – including a portrait of Harry Clarke in the scene – made €58,000 while an ink drawn illustration by Harry Clarke sold for over twice its pre-sale estimate at €12,500.
