A horseman enters a town at night by Jack B Yeats - Est.£300,000 - £500,000

‘A Horseman Enters a Town at Night‘ pictured above was painted by Jack B Yeats, at the age of 77, in 1948 and has never been seen in public. The oil on canvas measures 24in x 36in and had a pre-sale estimate of £300,000-£500,000. It was eventually knocked down for £349,250 (including the buyer’s premium) at Christie’s sale of 20th Century British & Irish Art today. Yeats, who died in 1957, is one of the most-collected – and expensive – of Irish artists. The highest price paid for one of his paintings was achieved in 1999 when Sotheby’s in London sold ‘The Wild Ones‘ for just over £1.2 million. To my untutored eye he is also one of the most overrated artists and I wouldn’t give this primitive daub wall space. Talking of daubs the 1987 pastel work below by Sean Scully – untitled – fetched an incredible £32,450 (including buyer’s premium)!

An untitled work by Sean Scully - Est.£25,000 - £35,000