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There was high drama at Whyte’s art auction on Monday evening (26 May) when a battle between two telephone bidders started at €50,000 and ended with a private collector with the winning bid of €210,000 for Mainie Jellett’s Achill Horses, 1933.

In an obituary for Mainie Jellett (1897–1944) Elizabeth Bowen recalled, with some relish, witnessing the ‘opening of Mainie’s life as an artist’.

A kaleidoscope of colour through which the history of modernism is refracted, this exhibition brings to light the creative benefits of long-lasting friendship, collaboration and experimentation.

They were artistic trailblazers, bringing modernism to the then deeply conservative country. But Evie Hone and Mainie Jellett faced huge hostility. Now a thrilling new show is celebrating their brilliance – and determination.

For the April 2025 Diary, I highlight exhibitions that include work from Mainie Jellett, Evie Hone, Francis Hoyland, Nic Fiddian-Green, Gert Swart, and Stanley Spencer. 

There are exciting exhibitions to be found all over Europe this spring.

From 14th-century Siena to female modernists, the year’s most exciting exhibitions chart an evolving Western tradition.

This is the first Art Diary of 2025. Viewing art, as with its making, involves paying attention. As Simone Weil once pointed out, paying attention equates to prayer.

The Hugh Lane Gallery and the National Gallery of Ireland are showing the work of the modernists Mainie Jellett and Evie Hone and of their predecessor Sarah Purser...

Through their London gallery, Pyms — ‘a magical wizard’s mix of culture and commerce’ — the Hobarts drove a surge of interest in modern Irish art.

The live auction presented by Whyte's will take place at the Freemasons Hall, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2 and online.

Morgan O’Driscoll will auction Sean Scully’s Raval Rojo, the most expensive artwork to hit Irish auctions so far in 2023

Whyte’s spring auction of Irish & International art promises to deliver another exciting opportunity for collectors to acquire rare artworks of outstanding quality and enduring value.

This beautifully observed watercolour is typical of the artist’s early work.

Ernie O’Malley was a proud Irishman whose private passion for art saw him forge personal relationships with major artists in America and Ireland. His extraordinary collection sold for €5.5 million on 25 November in Dublin