Paintings worth up to €3m owned by the Jefferson Smurfit Group are to sold in May by London auction house Sotheby's.
The paintings include works by famous artists including Jack B Yeats, William Orpen and Louis Le Brocquy.
The art sales follow the acquisition of the Smurfit group by US firm Madison Dearborn, which plans to sell off non-essential assets owned by the group.
The sale of 10 paintings represents only a fraction of the estimated 500 piece art collection built up by Michael Smurfit over the past 15 years. This could be worth €100m when it is all sold.
It is thought that if all the paintings were sold at once it would flood the market and undermine the prices that could be achieved. The paintings for sale will be on display in Dublin between April 23 and 26, and Belfast between April 30 and May 2.
The auction will be held in London at Sotheby's annual sale of Irish art on May 16.
