The most intriguing lot in Morgan O’Driscoll’s art auction in the RDS on Monday night was an untitled painting inscribed on the back: “Watercolour by Louis le Brocquy done at St Gerard’s School, October 1930”. It sold for €2,800, below the estimate of €3,000-€5,000.
Louis le Brocquy, who went on to become one of Ireland’s best-known artists of the late 20th century, was just 14-years-old at the time. He died in 2012 aged 95.
The auctioneer said: “This drawing is one of Louis le Brocquy’s earliest known works.”
Early proof, perhaps, of his talent or a warning – unheeded by his teachers and parents – that he wasn’t suited to a career as an artist?
Overall, 72 per cent of lots sold with the top price achieved for Travelling Through Kerry by Daniel O'Neill which made €35,000 (€20,000-€30,000). A still-life of daffodils wrapped in pages of The Irish Times titled Spring Times by Desmond Hickey made €550. Robert Taylor Carson's Lighting Up (Old Dan), estimated at €6,000-€9,000 failed to sell when bidding stalled at €5,000.
