20/11/2001

On the 20th of November a collection of modernist Irish paintings will be offered for sale by de Vere’s auction house in Dublin with a total pre-sale value of $ 700,000 (€ 791,440). The collection which includes works by Gerard Dillon, Louis le Brocquy, Jack B. Yeats and Nathaniel Hone, comes from Aer Lingus, the national Irish airline that is currently facing financial difficulties. The troubled airline is thought to be losing $ 2.8 million (€ 3.2 million) per day and announced the loss of 800 jobs on the 10th of October. Two of the paintings from the collection have been exhibited in public before, but the remainder are fresh on the market, a fact which will undoubtedly help their chances on a good day, although demand may well be low in view of the downturn facing the Irish economy. Unlike the UK art market which is dominated by dealers, the Irish market is more typically made up of private buyers. A further indication on the state of the Irish art market will come from Sotheby’s auction of British and Irish paintings on the 29th of November and Bonhams sale of Irish paintings at the James Adam premises in Dublin on December the 5th. (Elena Balzani)