46
62
Paul
KEEL V
oil on
signe
18 by
Prove
Privat
Adam’
When
Exhibi
‘Painti
Russel
Literature:
Kennedy, S.B.,
Paul Henry, Paintings Drawings Illustrations
, Yale University Press, New Haven &
London, 2007, catalogue no. 342, p.162 (illustrated)
In original Waddington frame.
The form of the signature, with dots between the two words of the artist’s name and after the word Henry,
signify that this composition must have been painted shortly after the artist arrived on Achill Island in
August 1911.The village of Keel, where in his autobiography,
An Irish Portrait
(1951), he tells us he settled, is
seen from the high ground to the north-west, the long and graceful sweep of Trawmore Strand dominating
the middle distance.The scene has been rendered with remarkable economy of means, there being only
moderate impasto, but a great sense of fluidity, in the handling of the paint. As is characteristic of Henry’s
painting at this time the brushwork is rigorously descriptive of form and structure and the use of subtle
blues and greys to emphasise the recession of the landscape is a foretaste of the strong Whistlerian
influence that would soon emerge in his painting.The use of upright brushstrokes, as seen in the near
foreground, is characteristic of other Henry pictures of this time.There is an almost identical, but smaller,
composition of the same title and period to this in the Ulster Museum, Belfast. Nowadays the village of Keel
is larger, although not substantially so, so that the main thrust of the landscape can clearly be seen. Henry’s
excitement at his new-found surroundings is also evident in his rendering of the landscape.
Dr SB Kennedy
February 2013
€
50,000-
€
70,000 (£42,700-£59,800 approx.)
WHYTES
SINCE 1783
,
63
Nano Reid (1900-1981) BATHERS AT MORNINGTON, c.1945
oil on panel
signed lower left; with title in pencil and date [1948] on reverse; also with exhibition
labels on reverse 14 by 20in. (36 by 51cm)
Provenance: Purchas d directly from the ar ist c.1940
Exhibited: ʻCamille Souter / Nano Reidʼ, Droichead Arts Centre, Drogheda and
Linenhall Arts Centre, Mayo, 5 May to 26 June, 1999, catalogue no. 1 ( Bathers at
Mornington, 1945); ʻNano Reid: A Retrospective Exhibitionʼ, Droichead Arts Centre,
Drogheda, 5 April to 31 May 1991, catalogue no. 10 (illustrated on front cover of
catalogue) ʻNano Reid and Gerard Dillonʼ, Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda, 6
November to 10 January 2009 (loaned by present owner)
Literature: Mallon, Declan, Nano Reid 1900 - 1981, Sunnyside Publications,
Drogheda, 1994, plate no. 5 (illustrated on p. 57 and on dust-jacket); Ed.,
OʼConnor, Éimear, Irish Women Artists 1800-2009, Familiar but Unknown, Four
Courts Press, Dublin, 2010, p.141 (illustrated); (also illustrated on dust-jacket); Ed.,
Coulter, Dr. Riann and NicGhabhann, Niamh, Nano Reid and Gerard Dillon Curated
by Riann Coulter,Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda, 2009 (edition of 1,000), p.19
(illustrated)
€4,000-€6,000 (£3,310-£4,960 approx.)
