IMPORTANT IRISH ART 1 DECEMBER 2025

28 14 George Russell (“Æ”) (1867-1935) PORTRAIT OF LIA CLARKE pencil signed in monogram lower left 14 by 9.50in. (35.6 by 24.1cm) Frame Size: 16 by 11.5in. (40.6 by 29.2cm) Provenance: The sitter’s family by descent; Whyte’s, 24 November 2008, lot 103; Private collection Novelist, playwright, art critic and psychic medium, Lia Clarke (1889-1943) was a woman of many parts. Born Cornelia Comyn (or Cummins) the daughter of Nicholas Comyn of Balinderry, Co. Galway, her mother’s family were Blakes from Co. Cork, from whom she inherited a private income derived from her grandfather’s business as a glass maker. She was raised in Waterford by an aunt’s family, the Jennings, but later moved to Dublin, where she became involved in literary and theosophical circles. Possibly it was her experiments in automatic writing that interested Æ, who has captured her here with an inspired yet far away expression. In 1920 she married Austin Clarke, but the marriage lasted barely a fortnight. She later settled in Nassau Street, where she wrote articles for the Irish Press. A later portrait of her, by Gaetano de Gennaro, sold through these rooms (27 May 2006, lot 135). €2,000-€3,000 (£1,750-£2,630 approx.) Click here for more images and to bid on this lot14