Whyte’s auction demonstrated the continuing confidence in the market for Irish works of rarity and quality. An outstanding painting by Mainie Jellett, Achill Horses, 1933 claimed top hammer price of €210,000. Paul Henry’s West of Ireland Bog sold for €125,000, while Anglesea Market, Dublin, 1933 by Harry Kernoff was hammered for its 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.
Other remarkable results included: Evie Hone watercolour Abstract Composition estimated €2,000 to €3,000 which made €5,400, Charles Vincent Lamb oil West of Ireland Landscape, estimate €1,500 to €2,000 which sold for €3,600, Bridget Riley Magenta And Blue, 2002 lithograph, estimate €8,000 to €12,000 took €14,500.
