The 13¾ x 17¾in (35 x 45cm) oil on canvas board showed Slievemore peak on Achill Island and contained the trademark Henry elements – cumulus clouds, thatched cottages and cool blue palette – that collectors of his work admire.
Henry is thought to have painted it some six to 10 years after he left the island in 1919.
Offered with a €140,000-160,000 guide at Adam’s (25% buyer’s premium) of Dublin on June 2, it was knocked down to a private Irish collector for €210,000 (£181,000) against competition from a continental underbidder.
James O’Halloran, managing director at Adam’s, said the painting was “a homage to the power of the mountain” with the dominance of Slievemore peak over the cottages below representing the inconsequence of man in the face of nature.
“These existential issues dominate Henry’s work and I believe that this is what keeps his work so relevant”, he added.
The result comes eight months after a well-known landscape painted for the cover of Henry’s autobiography sold for an auction-record €420,000 (£381,820) at Whyte’s of Dublin.
