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Walter Frederick Osborne RHA ROI (1859-1903)
NEAR SAINT PATRICK’S CLOSE DUBLIN, c. late1890s
oil on board
inscribed on reverse, By Osborne / Bought after his death at his studio sale from Dermod O’Brien his Executor””
7_ x 11in. (19.05 x 27.94cm)
Provenance:
Acquired 8 June 1903, after the artist’s death, from Dermod O’Brien PRHA, one of his executors;
Taylor de Veres, 26 May 1992, catalogue no. 100;
Where purchased by previous owner;
Private collection
Literature:
Sheehy, Jeanne, Walter Osborne, Gifford & Craven, Ballycotton, Cork, 1974, full page illustration plate 42, catalogue no.
561
Many of Walter Osborne’s paintings of Dublin are set in and around St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the Liberties, St. Patrick’s Street,
Marsh’s Library and St. Patrick’s Close. He was attracted to this historic area of Dublin for a number of reasons. Living in
Rathmines, he may often have travelled through this district on his way into the city. He was of Church of Ireland faith,
and his brother Charles had been ordained a clergyman. He evidentially had an interest in St. Patrick’s, which was then
the largest church in Ireland, and painted several pictures of its impressive interior. Moreover, Osborne was fascinated by
the bustling street life and markets which he observed around this area.
The church had originally been built in 1191 on the site of a pre- Norman church of St. Patrick, and was promoted to
cathedral status on 1213. In 1300 its status became over-shadowed by that of Christchurch Cathedral, and during the
Reformation it was demoted as a church. Over the centuries it suffered much damage but, during Osborne’s childhood,
restoration work was carried out by his architect Thomas Drew (1838-1910), partially funded by MP and philanthropist
Benjamin Lee Guinness (1798-1868) and St. Patrick’s was restored to its full glory. After the disestablishment of the
Church of Ireland in 1869 St. Patrick’s was set apart as the ‘national cathedral’ of the Church of Ireland.1
Some of the surrounding streets in the Liberties had become among the most deprived parts of Dublin. But Arthur
Guinness and Edward Cecil Guinness, sons of Benjamin, contributed much to the renewal of this area, with the clearance
of old tenements and the construction of new residential buildings.
Thus, during Osborne’s life St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the surrounding streets were undergoing much change. The life on
the streets, the little markets,street traders,shawledwomen,musiciansandchildren, provided the subject-matter for many
of this paintings. Two of the most popular of these are Near St. Patrick’s Close, 1887 (National Gallery of Ireland) and Life
in the Streets, Musicians, 1893 (Dublin City Gallery, Hugh Lane). A few years earlier than Osborne, Rose Barton had also
depicted this area in her bustling, colourful watercolour St. Patrick’s Close, 1881 (Ulster Museum, Belfast).
The view of the present small painting Near St. Patrick’s Close is taken near Marsh’s Library, looking across the Close
with part of the Cathedral on the right, and buildings with hipped roofs and tall chimney stacks in the background.
A few figures are shown going about their business, including women with shawls, a carriage or cart, perhaps with a
coachman, beside the porch of the Cathedral, seated with aprons across the road, and in the foreground right, a woman
bustling along beside the wall or railings. Although the tonality of the picture is dark Osborne captures a glimpse of
Dublin at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
He employs a palette of greys, maroons, viridian, and raw umber, perhaps to convey the tones and sparse light of a grey
wintry day. Yet the forms of the buildings are represented by broad brushstrokes and the surface is lifted by lively marks
in the foreground. Thus we note, for example, the bold stroke of white in the woman’s dress,
IMPORTANT IRISH ART ·
25 MAY 2015 AT 6PM