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Grace Henry HRHA
(1868-1953)
HORSE DRINKING AT POND IN
ACHILL
oil on board
signed lower right; with
Jorgensen retrospective
exhibition label on on reverse
11 by 14in. (27.94 by 35.56cm)
Exhibited:
’Grace Henry HRHA 1868-1953,
Retrospective Exhibition’,
Jorgensen Fine Art, Dublin,
7-27 January 2010
Literature:
Cruickshank, J.G., Grace Henry, The
Person and Artist, published in
association with Jorgensen Fine
Art and Designroom, Dublin, 2010
(illustrated p.43);
Cruickshank J.G., ‘Grace Henry’,
Irish Arts Review, Vol 9, 1993 p.178
(illustrated)
€3,000-€4,000
(£2,459-£3,278 approx).
WHYTESS I N C E 1 7 8 3
,
James Cruickshank Collection
Lots 109-132 come from the collection of Dr James Cruickshank. A copy
of his text Grace Henry, The Person and Artist, published in association
with Jorgensen Fine Art and Designroom, Dublin, 2010, accompanies
each of these lots.
Dr. James G. Cruickshank, formerly of the Queen’s University of Belfast,
is the author of books and articles on Irish geography and is a
practising amateur artist. He is a native of Aberdeen, Scotland and has
been a passionate collector and researcher of Grace Henry for many
years. He was first introduced to her work in the 1970s through Una
Whyte of the Magee Gallery, Belfast who established the connection
between the two Aberdeen natives both of whom had spent their
adult lives in Belfast. Dr Cruickshank’s first painting by Grace Henry, a
gift fromWhyte, was Bringing In The Turf (lot 110) and thus the journey
began. Dr Cruickshank has written several papers on the artist. He gave
one of the lectures during the ‘Paul and Grace Henry exhibition’ at
Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane in 1991 and more recently,
published Grace Henry – The Person and Artistin association with
Jorgensen Fine Art, Dublin, in 2010. This collection is testament to his
devotion and support for an artist of unique talent and vision.
Born in Peterhead, Aberdeen, as Emily Grace Mitchell, she studied art at
the Blanc Garrins Academy, Brussels, and the Delecluse Academy, Paris.
She was also a pupil for a while under André L’hote. In Paris she met
the Irish painter Paul Henry whom she married in 1903. They settled in
England and Grace began exhibiting in London at the RA, the Leicester
Galleries, and the Fine Art Society. Along with her artist husband, she
sent works to the RHA from 1910 onwards, and two years later they left
England for Achill Island, where they spent seven productive years
painting the local people and landscape. In 1922 she was represented
at the Irish Exhibition in Paris with five works; later she was included in
a similar loan exhibition in Brussels in 1930. Both she and Paul were
founder members of the Dublin Painters group. They exhibited
together at the Stephen’s Green Gallery, Dublin, and the Magee Gallery,
Belfast. However, the pair were formally separated in 1934. Grace took
to travelling and painting in France. Her work was boldly conceived in
vibrant colours and decisive brushwork; “her painting”, commented the
Studio in 1939, was “all poetry”. She continued to exhibit both in
London and Dublin, notably with the Waddington Galleries and at the
RHA. Although never made an Associate, she was elected an Honorary
RHA in 1949.
For further reading on the artist see: Cruickshank J.G., Grace Henry –
The Person and Artist.