Artist auctions full collection in effort to beat recession

AN internationally acclaimed artistwho has spent more than a decade painting on an idyllic island retreat has decided to auction his entire studio collection in an effort to beat the recession.

Ian Humphreys, 55, whose work is held in many private and public collections including Allied Irish Bank, Burma Castrol, British Rail Board, Glaxo Smith Kline, Trinity College, and the University of Cambridge, has lived with his family on Heir Island off west Cork since 1999.

But like other artists, he has been affected by the economic downturn.