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22
WHYTES
SINCE 1783
,
I
26
William Conor OBE RHA RUA ROI (1881-1968)
YOUTH AND AGE, c. 1920-21
oil on board
signed lower left; titled on reverse
25 by 21in. (63.5 by 53.34cm)
Provenance:
Victor Waddington c.1950;
Private collection
Exhibited:
Loan Exhibition of Paintings, probably Belfast Museum, 1921, number 137 as Youth and Old Age,
lent by the artist;
Possibly Waddington Gallery, Dublin, from 15 April 1948
As a young man William Conor was apprenticed to David Allen & Sons, Ltd., Belfast, as a lithographer.The work
and method of working made such an impression on him that later when he turned to painting the lithographic
manner stayed with him.Thus, in this painting the broken textures, evident in the figure with the reddish shawl
and the treatment of the sky and landscape beyond, betray his early training at Allen’s.
Much of Conor’s work illustrates local life in the Belfast of his time.Working-class families then often lived in
close proximity with one another and helped with the upbringing of older, and younger, family members which
was more a part of life than it is now.Thus the imagery in Youth and Age, and the pathos expressed in both
faces, is entirely appropriate. Conor’s method of working was from sketches. He carried a sketchbook in his
pocket in which he noted ‘any little happening which strikes me as interesting and significant’.These sketches
he later worked up into paintings. Reviewing his exhibition at the Waddington Galleries in April 1948 - in which
this picture may have been included - the Irish Times (16 April 1948) commented that he had ‘a very rich
technique, not only is his drawing massive and solid, his colour rich and varied but he has that mysterious
quality called “touch”.’ While these attributes are quite true, it is the colour in Youth and Age that most engages
us. Many of the artist’s works tend towards the monochromatic in colour, but here the rich red of the younger
girl’s cloak contrasts with the black of the older woman’s shawl-colloquially such people were known as
‘shawlies’.The setting, which cannot be identified, may be the Mourne Mountains.
Dr S. B. Kennedy
November 2014
€
20,000-
€
25,000 (£16,000-£20,000 approx)