Whytes Important Irish Art 25 May 2015 - (click Date on Lot pages to add to your Calendar)

51 / 241

Lavery appears to have originally planned Ruby Peto’s portrait with the sitter facing left in a dramatic oil sketch (fig
4). This work is however signed and dated ‘1914’, possibly the date on
which it was finally sold or gifted to the sitter or one of her friends in
circumstances that remain obscure.8
What strikes the viewer in both versions of the portrait is the undoubted
presence of this young woman. Lavery submitted her portrait along with
those of Pavlova and Priscilla, Countess of Annesley (Ulster Museum,
Belfast) to the Society of Portrait Painters exhibition in 1910. When it
opened, all eyes were on the celebrity dancer, however one reviewer,
turning to Mrs Peto’s portrait felt compelled to remark, ‘... no one better
than he [Lavery] can enhance in painting the radiance of a fair face’.9 It
was confirmation, if such was required, that the Royal Academy needs to
make amends. A few months later, holidaying in Tangier, he received the
news that he had finally been elected.
Prof. Kenneth McConkey April 2015
€60,000-€80,000 (£43,170-£57,550 approx.)
This work will be among the highlights on view at Whyte’s Belfast preview, James Wray Gallery
from 6pm to 8pm Thursday 14 May and 10am to 3pm on Friday 15 May.
1 KennethMcConkey,JohnLavery,APainterandhisWorld,2010(AtelierBooks),pp.59-60,90-95
2 SelwynBrinton,‘RecentPaintingsbyJohnLaveryRSA,RHA’,TheStudio,volxlv,1909,p.176;quotedinMcConkey 1910, p. 90.
3 LadyDianaCooper,Autobiography,vol1(TheRainbowComesandGoes),1958(MichaelRussell,singlevoled,1979), p. 56, 63.
4 TheMannerssisterswereamongthebridesmaids.Petolaterjoinedthe10thRoyalHussarsintherankofmajor.
5 JohnJuliusNorwich,ed,TheDuffCooperDiaries,2005(WeidenfeldandNicolson),pp.166-7.
6 McConkey,2010,pp.109-111.PavlovaopenedinApril1910atthePalaceTheatreofVarieties.
7 ItalsofurnishedtheoccasionfortheextraordinaryAnnaPavlovaasaBacchante(GlasgowMuseums),seeMcConkey 2010, p. 110.
8 Itwasnotunusualforthepaintertopresentsuchsmallpreparatorystudiestoasitterafteraseriesofsittings.This picture was sold in Whyte’s
25 November 2013.
9 ‘Exhibiti ’,WesternDailyPress,26September1910,p.9.
IMPORTANT IRISH ART ·