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Celebrated Irish art goes under the hammer A SERIES
of celebrated Irish paintings will go under the hammer in London next
month.
Among the rare items that will feature in Christie’s Annual Irish
Sale is an early Jack B Yeats painting which has never been on public
display before.
The Last Corinthian was only recently rediscovered some 60 years after
the artist sold it to a private collector. It depicts a lone figure standing
at the ropes of a boxing ring and, despite being painted only shortly
after Yeats started working with oils, it is expected to fetch in excess
of ?100,000.
The 1910 oil painting is part of a showcase of art which is predominantly
Irish but also includes English and other works, which is on view in the
Merrion Hotel Dublin ahead of the major auction on May 10.
Christie’s Irish art international director Bernard Williams hopes
the pre-auction showing in Ireland will give people a taste of what to
expect.
He said: “It’s really just an opportunity for people to come
and see some of these fabulous paintings which they might not otherwise
get the chance to do.
“The Last Corinthian was sold by Yeats to Ireland’s first
ambassador to London John Whelan Dulanty in 1942. It has been in the family’s
possession since that time. It’s just a stunning painting, depicting
this lone figure.”
The exhibition is expected to bring in ?15million in sales. A Roderic
O’Connor still life is expected to make in the region of ?880,000
and a John Lavery is likely to fetch up to ?370,000. Last year’s
two-day exhibition attracted in the region of 1,000 people to viewings.
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