JAMES ADAM achieved some exceptional prices at its fine art sale on Wednesday, with a Harry Clarke watercolour selling for over twice its top estimate at £11,000.
The Swineherd was originally commissioned by the publisher George Harrap as one of a series of illustrations for a book of fairy tales by Hans Christian Anderson. In the event the picture was not used and so it survives as a rare example of the artist's early work.
Several bidders competed for the picture, which was eventually knocked down to a private buyer in the room. The top selling painting of the day was a strong portrait by Sean Keating, Man of the West, which sold for £16,000.
James Arthur O'Connor's A View in The Devils Glen sold for £15,000; James LeJeune's Children Playing on a Beach made £8,700; and the same price was paid for Patrick Hennessy's still life study of roses. All sold well above estimate, as did a James Humbert work, Craig of Cows at Sessiagh Lake, Co Donegal, which made £7,000. Another James LeJeune, this time a hunting scene, sold for £5,500.
At Adams in Blackrock last Monday evening the first Yeats painting to come on the market in many months, a small work entitled Drama, sold for £21,000 under the hammer. Several Yeats drawings and watercolours sold well in the same sale, with an ink and watercolour picture of fishermen fetching £5,200.
In the same sale, a Daniel O'Neill portrait, Cecilia, sold for £4,000 (a similar portrait, also of Cecilia, made £3,800 at James Adam's sale); two James Le Jeunes, of children playing in Percy Place and on a beach, made £4,000 and £3,700 respectively; a typical Paul Henry of Connemara lakes sold for £3,000; and James Humbert Craig's Bringing Home the Tumade £2,200.
