This portrait of Sinead O’Connor as a young girl was consigned to Whyte’s sale on November 26 by the singer herself.
Her father was well connected to artists and had
his daughters painted by both Sean Keating and Tom Ryan
(b.1929) who was the artist here.
The sale came about as O'Connor wanted to raise
awareness and funds to support the The Penny Dinners, an old Dublin
charity providing for the needy, and it was one of two pictures
which she put into the auction.
The 23 x 19in (57 x 48cm) pastel on tinted paper
was signed by both artist and the sitter (long before she adopted
her trademark shaved head hairstyle) and was dated November
1974.
Estimated at €5000-7000, it was knocked down at
€8500 (£7205).
The other work was Upon Small
Shoulders, a large oil on canvas painted last year
by Neil Condron (b.1956), which is due to
feature in the singer's forthcoming autobiography. It sold at
€19,500 (£16,525).
The auctioneers also donated their fees to the
charity.
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