Next Wednesday's auction of Irish art at the James Adam salerooms in Dublin contains many familiar names, but is notable also for the presence of a number of artists whose work may be less well-known. There are, for example, no less than five works by the landscape watercolourist Bingham McGuinness, who after initially working with the successful architect John Mulvany, eventually turned to painting.
Coincidentally, the sale also offers a work by Mulvany's father, Thomas James, a founder member of the RHA of which he eventually became Keeper; his oil, lot 53, is called The Sea Roamer and is expected to go for £3,000-£5,000.
A regular exhibitor at the RHA (of which he also became a member in 1884 at the age of 35) and a resident of Dublin, Bingham McGuinness nonetheless regularly travelled - and painted - in Europe. A number of the pictures being sold by Adam's bear testimony to this peripatetic life, such as number 5, a view of Ludwig II's Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria and number 132, another lakeside castle, this time unidentified, perhaps in Switzerland, (both £1,500-£2,000 each).
Number 25, however, is a delightful view of one of Waterford city's most notable landmarks, Reginald's Tower on the quays, which carries an estimate of £1,000-£1,500.
Just as fascinating is lot 54, a portrait of a blind piper by the relatively obscure artist George Grattan. Born in Dublin in 1787, Grattan attended the Dublin Society's Schools during which time it was noted that were the painter to receive sufficient encouragement, "he will at a future day prove an honour to his Country and the Arts".
However, his career was cut short by ill-health and he died in 1819 at the age of 32. This portrait is an early work, dating from 1801 when it was first exhibited in Dublin; Adam's hopes that it will fetch £10,000-£15,000 next week.
Also worth examining are a couple of lots carrying attributions. Lot 130, Fortune Telling by Cup Tossing, for example, is believed to be by Dublin-born Nicholas Joseph Crowley, whose life was almost as short as that of Grattan. The original of this work was produced by Crowley in 1841, and while this version may also be from his hand, it carries the modest estimate of £2,500-£3,500.
Likewise, a pair of watercolours showing biblical scenes are attributed by Adam's to Daniel Maclise. One of the pictures carries this artist's initials, but even so the two are expected to make £800-£1,200.
In case it seems that the majority of work dates from the 19th century, there are plenty of lots of more recent origin. Lot 18 is a very attractive cubist landscape oil by Mary Swanzy (£15,000-£18,000), lot 33 a Landscape Near Malahide, with Cattle Resting by Nathaniel Hone (£15,000-£25,000), lot 88 - a female nude called Summer Night - one of several important works by Daniel O'Neill (£28,000-£34,000) and lot 101, a Jack B Yeats oil, Driftwood in a Cave (£80,000-£120,000).
Wednesday's sale begins at 2.15 p.m.
