A new publication, A Buyer's Guide to Irish Art, describes itself as "the definitive, long-awaited record of over 7,000 paintings by 700 Irish artists which have gone to auction in Ireland and the UK over the past five years." It also claims to list every Irish artwork to go under the hammer during the same period at all major auction houses.
However, the 415-page book, published by Ashville Media Group, proves to be an incomplete alphabetical listing of Irish artists and the prices their pictures have made. Members of the antiques business who have already seen the guide point out what they perceive to be flaws in the publication. It does not, for example, include the pre-sale estimate for any work, except in instances when no buyer was found.
In a burgeoning market such as that enjoyed by Irish art at the moment the difference between what a picture is perceived to be worth and what it actually fetches can sometimes be spectacular. Last month, for example, a hitherto unknown watercolour by 19th-century Irish artist Sir Frederick William Burton was offered for sale by Christie's in London, where it was expected to make between £60,000 and £80,000.
In fact, the picture went for £265,000, a new record for both the artist and an Irish watercolour. In recent years many familiar names have made new records of this kind at auction; among those who have done so over the past 12 months are Lavery, Luke, Henry, Yeats, Middleton and O'Meara.
The Buyer's Guide includes all of these artists, although regrettably it never mentions that a new world record had been achieved for the artist in question.
More seriously, it omits all details of some very important sales. The most expensive Irish painting at auction, Sir John Lavery's The Bridge at Grez, for which £1,321,500 sterling was paid at Christie's on December 8th 1998, somehow fails to feature in the listing of this artist's work.
There are many other instances of such gaps in the book. James O'Halloran of the James Adam Salerooms in Dublin points out that the painting which illustrates his company's advertisement in the guide, Beneath St Jacques by Walter Osborne (sold for £345,000 in December 1997) is not included in the artist's listing. Nor, he notes, is there any mention of Mildred Anne Butler's Green Eyed Jealousy, sold by Adam's in March this year for a new record for the artist of £28,000.
He also cites several more instances where paintings from Adam's auctions have not been included in relevant listings.
The guide was compiled and edited by American-born Roberta Reeners, who says she is "not specifically involved in Irish art" but was asked to undertake the job by the publishers.
Asked why neither estimates for pictures sold nor new records for individual artists were included, she points out that in both instances these matters "were discussed and choices were made". More fundamentally, on the question of how sales such as that of the Lavery painting could go unmentioned, she responds, "It's obviously an auction I missed.
I was always terrified of this. What can I say? It's human error; I'm human and I erred." Ms Reeners admits that much of the material included in her book may also be found in the annual Irish Arts Review, although each volume of the latter includes a listing only of the past year's sales, whereas the Buyer's Guide covers a longer period.
However, the review not only shows a photograph of every Irish painting which has made a new record (18 in all during the past year) but also manages to avoid omitting details of important sales.
