Hope was expressed yesterday that one of the earliest known paintings of Cork city might be retained in Cork when it goes up for auction in the city today with a guide price of between €700,000 and €1. 2 million.
Crawford Municipal Gallery curator Peter Murray said he remained hopeful that A View of Cork by John Butts, which was painted in 1755, might somehow find its way back to the gallery where it has hung on loan for the past 35 years.
"We're very grateful to the Daly family who have loaned us the painting since 1970 which is a very long time and we fully respect and accept their right to put it up for sale, but clearly we're hoping that we can somehow retain it in the gallery," said Mr Murray.
Mr Murray said he would be bidding on behalf of the Crawford Municipal Gallery for the painting at the Lynes & Lynes auction at the Clarion Hotel in Cork today but it was far too early to speculate on what possible outcome there might be to proceedings.
"We've had some very sincere offers of support from people but it's another thing to try and translate all that goodwill into a realistic success - it's all depends on what happens on the day," said Mr Murray. He said there was "nothing like it to document how Cork looked in the mid-18th century".
