'The Garden, Kilkenny' by Mildred Anne Butler – £2500 at Wessex Auction Rooms.
The winning bid on September 30, way above the estimate of £80-100, came via thesaleroom.com.
Although she trained in London and made frequent trips to England and the continent, Butler spent most of her life in the family home at Kilmurry, Kilkenny.
Scenes of privileged domesticity based around the house, its gardens and the surrounding pasture proved the key source of inspiration in her work. Many were painted en plein air – qualities that can be seen in this 7¾ x 13in (17 x 33cm) watercolour that came for sale from a Gloucestershire estate.
In 1980, many of Butler’s watercolours, drawings and sketches were sold as part of an artist’s studio sale at Christie’s in London.
