Editing Percy French (section)

== Watercolours by Percy French and the Oriel Gallery ==
Artworks by French have increased in value. On 20 September 2005, the Percy French watercolour landscape ''Where ever I go my heart turns back to the County Mayo'' was sold by Dublin auctioneers Whyte's for a then-record price of €44,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://visual-arts-cork.com/irish-artists/percy-french.htm|title=Percy French Art |publisher=Visual-arts-cork.com|access-date=22 December 2012}}</ref> It is also known as "The Iveagh Percy French" as it came from the Guinness family collection. The story goes that the purchaser had "buyer's remorse", and the painting was purchased immediately by a gallerist. Some ten days after this auction, the Apollo Gallery sold this iconic painting on to an American collector for €65,000.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

Oliver Nulty (d. 2005) established the Oriel Gallery in Clare Street, Dublin in 1868, which opened with a Percy French and [[George William Russell|George Russell]] exhibition. Nulty promoted French from the day he opened the gallery in 1968 and mounted at least 15 solo exhibitions of French and several group shows featuring French, one opened by [[Peter Ustinov]]. Nulty had been a collector for years before opening a gallery but he had a particularly fondness for French as his parents had met French in London in 1913 when they attended one of his matinees and met him afterwards. Nulty noticed that Irish visual art was neglected. He once witnessed that a George Russel had only been sold when a coal scuttle was thrown into the lot which sold for 2/6. As well as mounting several solo exhibitions of French's paintings he published several catalogues of French's watercolours. French's daughters, Joan and Ettie were regular visitors to the Oriel Gallery from the early 1970s and the gallery possesses their letters to Oliver. Peter Ustinov opened the 1986 French exhibition in the Oriel to a thronged audience.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

French's archive currently resides in the [[North Down Museum]], [[Bangor, County Down]] where researchers are welcome to view material by appointment with the museum.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.northdownmuseum.com/Collections/Percy-French |title=Percy French |access-date=18 February 2020 |archive-date=18 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218123133/http://www.northdownmuseum.com/Collections/Percy-French |url-status=dead }}</ref>