But cautious buyers have not forgotten the lessons or the pain of the Celtic Tiger, says auctioneer Ian Whyte
Art dealer Ian Whyte is more than 30 years in the business. Photo: Damien Eagers
In 2008, in the days after the Lehman Brothers Bank collapse, veteran art auctioneer Ian Whyte was holding a sale. He remembers the “hairy night” vividly because it marked the end of the boom.
“It was a total disaster,” he recalls. From then on “we had to be ruthless with our estimates. Some people were lucky to get [back] 10pc to 20pc of what they paid.”
