ADAM'S IMPORTANT IRISH ART 25 MARCH 2026

56 40 WILLIAM JOHN LEECH RHA ROI (1881-1968) The Apple Orchard Oil on canvas, 52 x 63.5cm (20.5 x 25’’) Provenance: Sale, Taylor DeVeres 26/5/1992, lot 55; sale, these rooms, 30/5/2012, lot 102 where purchased by current owner. € 20,000 - 30,000 W.J. Leech paints the apple orchard, bathed in the warm summer’s sun. The nearest row of trees forms a diagonal which sweeps down to the red brick apple shed at the bottom of the orchard. Leech used the top floor of this barn as his studio, which afforded views of the Devon countryside. He had come to stay with his brother Cecil and family in Devon, after the blitz had severely damaged his studio in London in 1941, which also prevented him from sending any work to the R.H.A. that year or for the next two years. Dr. Denise Ferran