Good end of year boost for Irish art

Dan O’Neill’s distinctive and atmospheric oil on board with blue hues entitled Travelling Through Kerry was the top lot at Morgan O’Driscoll’s sale at the RDS on Monday. 

It sold for €35,000 over an estimate of €15,000-€20,000. This makes for a good end of year boost for the Irish art at market.

The top lot at the James Adam sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin last week — Paul Henry’s Early Morning in Donegal made a hammer price of €160,000.

After all the Irish art sales of the past few weeks the outlook for 2015 is looking better.

The gaining market is perhaps best described as solid rather than flamboyant. At Morgan O’Driscoll’s sale a bright landscape by Kenneth Webb, Wild Flowers Pollriva sold for €9,200, slightly under the low estimate of €10,000 and Camille Souter’s Basking Sharks, Achill made €10,000, just within the estimate of €10,000-€15,000.

All the works by Basil Blackshaw found buyers and sculpture proved popular. A total of 72% of lots on offer sold.