Dublin-born art dealer’s collection makes £28.2 million in London

The personal art collection of the Dublin-born art dealer, the late Leslie Waddington, has sold at auction in London for £28.2 million (€32.2 million). The collection went under the hammer at Christie's on October 4th and, in a "white glove" sale, all 44 lots found buyers.

Leslie Waddington was born in Dublin in 1934 and died in London last year. His father, Victor Waddington, had been a leading art dealer in Dublin but the family moved to London in the 1950s. As well as selling art, Leslie Waddington was a well-known collector especially of Jean Dubuffet, the French 20th-century painter and sculptor.

Christie's said the top lot in the auction was the painting Visiteur au chapeau bleu (Visitor with a Blue Hat) by Dubuffet which sold for £4.8 million - well above the estimate of £2 million-£3 million. Despite the Waddington family's close association with the Irish art market in the 20th century, only one Irish painting was offered in the auction: The Weir by Jack B Yeats, an oil-on-panel measuring nine inches by 14 inches and dating from 1944, which sold for £112,500 – almost double the estimate (£40,000-£60,000). London auction prices include the buyer's premium.

Christie’s said there had been “registered bidders from 37 countries across six continents” which “demonstrated the strong demand in the global art market”. It added that the auction was “a fitting tribute to Leslie Waddington whose pioneering spirit as an art dealer defined the London art landscape before the rise in popularity of the contemporary art world today”.