LONDON—An exhibition of 10 fantastical, lusciously colored original illustrations, one of which is shown at left, for Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales by the Irish illustrator and stained-glass artist Harry Clarke (1889–1931) sold out hours before it opened at London’s Fine Art Society on June 4. The buyer was the National Gallery of Ireland, in Dublin, which hasn’t disclosed what it paid. But it’s easy to arrive at a ballpark figure: The pen, ink and watercolor images, which remained on view through July 3, were priced from £24,000 to £35,000 ($48–70,000), bringing the collective total to just under £300,000 ($599,000). This may seem an astounding amount. The market for Irish works, however, is buoyant—a Clarke pen-and-ink drawing sold for £17,300 ($35,000) in May 2008 at Christie’s London. And there’s keen interest now in the golden age of illustration, the first half of the 20th century.

Just out of art school, Clarke sought work in London as an illustrator only to be turned down by the first 11 publishers he approached. The 12th, George G. Harrap & Co., took Clarke on, commissioning him to illustrate a deluxe limited edition of Andersen’s tales. Brentano’s bookstore in New York took 125 copies of the book along with the original illustrations, which it exhibited in 1925. Unlike many of Clarke’s intricately detailed originals, which have been destroyed, these have remained safe, most recently in the hands of the Kentucky collector Alfred Shands. Shands sold, the Fine Art Society bought, and now Ireland has gained the work of an exceptional native son.

"Picture This" originally appeared in the September 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's September 2008 Table of Contents.