Whyte’s Sale of Important Irish Art on Monday grossed over €1.3 million. The star of the show was (Lot.47) the Louis le Brocquy Táin tapestries which sold for €245,000.

Generally prices met expectations but some of the big names only reached their lower pre-sale estimates. “The Pontoon” by Jack B Yeats (see pic further down this page) failed to set the world alight reaching only €49,000 against its pre-sale estimate of €50,000 – €70,000 ; probably more to do with the present economic climate than good taste! Even Paul Henry’s wonderful “Cottages, West of Ireland” Est.€60,000 – €80,000 only reached €56,000. Bucking the trend were works by Francis Bacon (Lot.27) “ Est.€6,000 – €8,000 sold for €25,000 and Sean Keating (Lot.69) Est.€25,000 – €35,000 which sold for €42,000.

Realisation list here: http://www.whytes.ie/AuctionPDFs/20120521PR.pdf