The flower sellers of Dublin and Paris

TWO VERY different but equally appealing paintings of flower sellers go under the hammer next month. The subject has long been a favourite of artists and the public.

First up is The Flower Seller– an oil-on-canvas measuring 28in by 36in. It's an attractive example of 1930s Irish art-deco-style painting and has a modest estimate of €1,000-€2,000. It is included in Drums house-contents sale at 87 Lindsay Road, Glasnevin, Dublin 9 on November 6th at 2pm. The painting is part of a small private collection of 10 pictures by the late Dublin artist Grace Barror (1907-1997) on the market for the first time. The Flower Sellerwas exhibited at the RHA in 1937 and sold for £10.

Meanwhile, next Friday in New York, Sotheby's is selling a sumptuous selection of 19th- century European art. Paintings described as Victorian fell out of fashion in the late 20th century and prices plummeted. But demand has returned and among the highlights in the sale is La Marchande De Fleurs, Rue de Rivoliby Belgium-born artist Louis de Schryver, dated 1892.

The artist had a special interest in the proliferation of flower vendors in Belle-Époque Paris and the picture shows fashionable ladies, accompanied by a poodle, purchasing bouquets from a flower seller at the intersection of Rue de Rivoli and Rue de Castiglione, near Place Vendôme. Although the oil on canvas is the same size as the Dublin painting, its estimate is $300,000- $400,000 (€210,000-€28,000).