A Jack Yeats' painting dating from 1920 made €300,000 at Adam's Irish artsale. Eivlín Roden reports.
Wednesday's Irish art sale at James Adam achieved some very good prices, with a Jack B Yeats oil painting making the top price at €300,000, almost double the estimate of €150,000-€200,000.
The oil on canvas, Thraw Bawn, depicts a kelp gatherer and dates from 1920. A pen and watercolour sketch, The Pilot, also by Jack B Yeats, sold for €36,000 (€20,00-€30,000), while another Jack Yeats' sketch called George Moore as 'King of Ireland' sold for €6,500 (€6,000-€8,000).
Two oils by Sir John Lavery of Moroccan scenes sold for €176,000 and €135,000, just below their higher estimates.
A Paul Henry oil painting of a woman in red sold for €85,000 (€70,000-€90,000) while St Patrick's Purgatory by Sir John Lavery sold for €90,000 (€90,000-€120,000).
A few paintings did not sell including, surprisingly, Nathaniel Hone's Woman and Donkey on the Rocks at Kilkee and two Walter Osborne animal works which were withdrawn just below their reserve prices.
James Adam ends the season with a contemporary art sale on Tuesday's with a wide range of paintings at reasonable and affordable prices.
A series of etchings by Hector McDonnell with various estimates starting at €200 are of interest, while Michael Wann's Tall Tree 2 and Woodland Three are beautifully rendered carbon ink-on-canvas studies of trees.
Both consist of three panels, one positioned vertically, and the other a triptych. They are estimated at €1,200-€1,500 and €1,400-€1,800 respectively.
The second part of this sale consists of Northern Irish artist Max McCabe's Studio with some 75 five paintings, including oils and watercolours, pastels and pen and ink studies.
Max McCabe, who died in 2000, spent most of his adult life promoting art around Northern Ireland with his wife Gladys McCabe. Estimates for his work range between €200 and €600.