Tracey, who died in 2004, came from Avoca. His big breakthrough came when he caught TB and was a patient at Newcastle hospital. Liam was painting away and his doctor, Noel Browne, recognised his talent.
He offered to introduce him to Yann Goulet, the Breton sculptor and painter, who was forced to flee France with his wife and children after he was sentenced to death in his absence. The family lived in Bray.
Liam studied under Goulet and became a world renowned name, his work held in collections all over the world. In an interesting twist, Goulet’s daughter, Armelle, spent the last ten years of her life living in Avoca village.
The two paintings set to go under the hammer, a watercolour of Venice and an oil painting of Derrygimla, Connemara, have been donated for the auction, which is to raise funds for the Avoca parish, by Liam Tracey’s family.
His son, Darragh, who is also a well known artist, has donated one of his own paintings, an oil entitled ‘Towards the 12 Bens, Connemara’. He said the family had donated their father’s paintings because “we wanted to do something for the community. We grew up here and you have to try and give something back.”
Darragh explained that his father’s work rarely comes up for sale now.
An oil painting of Derrygimla, Connemara by Liam Tracey which is set to go to auction.
“It might appear occasionally in the sale of a collector’s estate but that’s not very often.”
Darragh recalled that his father had died “at the peak of his painting.” He remembered looking after his exhibitions at the Wexford Opera Festival and “people would arrive very early to try and buy them.”
The auction, led by local auctioneer, Pat O’Neill, will take place at the Woodenbridge Hotel on Friday, September 5 at 8pm.
Other lots in the auction include vintage china and glass, jewellery, turf, silage and bales of hay.