Vicky Phelan portrait raises €46k at auction for charity

A triptych portrait of cancer awareness campaigner Vicky Phelan made €46,500 at auction in Durrow, Co Laois, on Thursday.

A portrait of cervical cancer awareness campaigner Vicky Phelan made €46,500 at an auction in aid of charity.

Vincent Devine is the creator of the triptych portrait of the Kilkenny woman and mum-of-two who is currently undergoing treatment as part of a US trial of the drug M7824.

The treatment at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in Maryland, has already showed some positive markers, although Ms Phelan revealed at the weekend that a scan showed she currently has 11 tumours.

The portrait was auctioned for the Heroes Aid charity, which was set up last year in response to the global pandemic, and sources and funds personal protective equipment (PPE), educational and psychological supports.

Vicky Phelan is currently undergoing cancer treatment in the US. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

The painting, lot 631, went under the hammer at Sheppards’ Irish Auction House in Durrow, Co Laois, at 2pm on Thursday with an arbitrary estimated value of between €1,234 and €5,678.

Auctioneer Michael Sheppard said the painting was inspired “by Vicky’s incredible courage. The symbolism used in this painting to my mind will be a historic reference in decades to come.” 

Mr Sheppard asked for an opening bid of €50,000, which eventually started at €15,000.

Bids were taken on the phone and online and after more than seven minutes of frenetic bidding, the painting went to a telephone bidder for €46,500, as three bidders fought it out.

A round of applause by those present in the Co Laois auction house was made following the successful pro bono sale.

Ms Phelan said of the portrait that it makes “the invisible visible” and the painting acts as a “symbol of hope”.

The artist, Mr Devine, said of the triptych portrait: ”I put the Four Courts deliberately under her foot to show her crushing her High Court case and exerting her rights.”