In September 2011, Adam's sold a painting titled A Fair Day, Mayo by Jack B Yeats for €1 million – the highest price ever paid for a picture at auction in Ireland. The painting had been consigned by the Reihill family, owners of the fuel importing business Tedcastles, who originally bought it 70 years ago for £250.
Earlier this year, the Reihills sold their home, Deepwell, in Blackrock, south Dublin and are now selling more of the art collection assembled by two generations of the family.
The Deepwell Collection, made up of some 50 paintings, tapestries and sculpture, is included in Adam’s Important Irish Art auction.
Among the highlights are four paintings by Roscommon-born Impressionist artist Roderic O'Conor (1860-1940) which hung in the dining-room at Deepwell. The artist spent many years in France and the top lot in the auction is Landscape with Road and Farm Buildings estimated at €150,000-€250,000. The oil-on-canvas, measuring 54.5 x 46cm is dated 1889 and depicts a road leading to Grez-sur-Loing, a village 70km south of Paris, which was an artists' colony in the late 19th century. It was acquired by Reihill Snr from the Godolphin Gallery in Dublin in 1978.
The other O'Conor pictures are two landscapes: Trees, Nueil-sur-Layon (€50,000 – €70,000) and Landscape with Garden and Mountain (€35,000-€45,000); and Le Drap Blanc, described as "a well-accomplished and sophisticated nude" (€60,000-€80,000).
Among other Deepwell Collection pictures in the sale are: A Dusty Rose by Jack B Yeats (€50,000-€70,000); and The Port Authority by Seán Keating (€80,000 –€120,000) described as "a monumental painting depicting the unloading of turf on Aran" . Drogheda estate Aside from the Deepwell Collection other highlights in the auction include pieces "from the estate of Gabriel de Freitas of Beaulieu House near Drogheda". A Surrealist painting titled Winter by Northern Ireland artist Colin Middleton (€30,000-€50,000); and Gerard Dillon's Footing the Turf, from the McClelland collection and last seen in Adam's summer loan show in 2013 (€30,000-€50,000).
One of the most intriguing pictures is Lot 25, a French colonial-era Moroccan scene titled The Market Place, Tangier by Aloysius O'Kelly (€4,000-€6,000). In a catalogue note, Dr Niamh O'Sullivan writes: "the concept of an Irish orientalist, especially one so militantly republican as O'Kelly, makes very interesting viewing".
A painting by Frank McKelvey titled Running Home from School (€6,000-€8,000), depicting children returning home from school in a Donegal landscape with Errigal Mountain in the background, is likely to attract considerable interest and re-kindle many memories. Adam's Important Irish Art, 26 St Stephen's Green. Viewing in the St Stephen's Green saleroom begins tomorrow, Sunday. Auction on Wednesday, May 28th at 6pm. Online at adams.ie
