Irish art is set to continue rising in value next year, according to leading auctioneers in Ireland and Britain.
During the past 12 months, work by Irish artists has enjoyed unprecedented success in the sale-rooms. Works by at least 26 painters - including Jack B. Yeats, Paul Henry and Mildred Anne Butler - achieved record prices at auction in 1999.
There were also major surprises when little-known artists came to public attention, thanks to the price their work commanded. Last May, a picture called Reverie, by the 19th-century Irish painter Frank O'Meara, caused a sensation when it sold for almost £500,000 in London; it had been expected to make only a tenth of that.
Auctioneers say 2000 will bring more records for Irish art. "I do think it is going to continue," says Mr James O'Halloran, of the James Adam Sale-rooms, Dublin. "There is an almost insatiable appetite for art here at the moment. A lot of people around have money and they're looking for an extra investment vehicle. I just can't see things slowing down."
In London, Mr Jonathan Horwich of Christie's, which hosts an annual Irish art sale every May, agrees that painting from here is enjoying a boom.
He says one reason why the thriving market will continue is thanks to "a lot of thought and consideration going into each purchase. There's no speculation here.'
This contrasts sharply with the last time Irish art experienced a growth in demand in the late 1980s. Then, speculators with little or no knowledge of their purchases entered the market and caused prices to rise sharply. Those prices could not be sustained and the value of many Irish artists' work fell in 1991-92. Mr Horwich says the buyers he now meets "are very considered and careful".
The same point is made by Ms Sarah Kenny of Irish auctioneering house Hamilton Osborne King. She says the emphasis among new collectors here is on quality, and gives a number of instances where, thanks to judicious purchasing, prices have shown a sustained rise in the past decade.
Among the artists she cites is the late Letitia Marion Hamilton, one of whose paintings, A Fair Day, Clifden, was sold last May by HOK for £24,000.
According to Ms Kenny, the work would have been worth £5,000 in 1990. She does not see Hamilton or any other Irish artist with an established reputation suffering at auction during 2000.
If Irish art is going to face a problem in the coming year, it will be caused by shortage of supply to meet the growing demand.
Mr O'Halloran says that "at the moment, unless people have to sell, they're not going to do so. Although 1999 was a very good year for us, there weren't as many interesting things coming onto the market as before, and that is likely to continue. There's a sense among vendors that prices are going to stay good and so they're not rushing to sell."
However, one probable response to this shortage of material on the market may be a growth of interest in hitherto neglected areas.
At Christie's, Mr Horwich says the traditional Irish taste for figurative and narrative painting may now have to end, simply because work of this kind is no longer available. He suggests both Louis Le Brocquy and the late William Scott remain undervalued at auction because "there has been a degree of resistance to abstract art among Irish collectors. The minute that changes, a whole new vista opens up."
Alternatively, Mr Horwich, in common with Ms Kenny and Mr O'Halloran, believes that Irish 18th-century art could experience growth in popularity and price.
"There is a way to go with 18th-century painters," says the Christie's expert. Taking as examples the work of two landscape artists from the period, William Ashford and George Barret, he describes their style as being "obviously Irish, decorative and narrative".
For this reason, they should find favour with Irish collectors and help to ensure the art market retains its present buoyancy.