Flowers bloom on day Irish stars faded

Indeed it was left to the buoyant perfomance of furniture and ceramics sold on July 7 by HOK Fine Art (15% buyer’s premium) at the Royal Dublin Society to compensate for two high-profile picture failures.

The picture section was kept tight at just 26 lots but had two potential stars. One was an oil on canvas board The Kingdom of Kerry, Bringing Home the Turf, by Sir John Lavery (1856-1941) and the cover lot Kitchen, West of Ireland, the other was an oil on canvas by the less well-known Aloysius O’Kelly whose dates are given in The Snoddy (Dictionary of Irish Artists by Theo Snoddy) as 1853-1920.

The Lavery oil was painted in 1924 when he and his wife Hazel made a trip to Kerry to stay with Lord Castlerosse at Kenmare House.

The paintings he made in the garden at Kenmare are well known but the paintings of the Kerry countryside are only beginning to be reassessed.

Perhaps it was just a bit too dark for some or maybe there was concern about the what looked like extensive craquelure and paint flaking in the upper reaches.

But, for whatever reason, it was bought in against an estimate of €50,000-70,000.

Aloysius O’Kelly’s Kitchen, West of Ireland met the same fate going unsold against an estimate of €20,000-30,000. The painting was unsigned, which may have gone against it, although the auctioneers were keen to point out that O’Kelly was in the West at the time of the picture’s execution. The painting was also unfinished which may also have put off potential buyers.

In the absence of successes from these two potential big hitters, it was left to George Collie’s (1904-1975) oil on board Still life of flowers in a vase, with Chinese ornaments on a table to lead the pictures.

Measuring 2ft 10in by 2ft 2in (88 x 66cm), it was in good condition and sold at €6500 (£4300) against hopes of up to €3000.