78 / 241
50
Father Jack P. Hanlon (1913-1968)
PATCH-WORK QUILT, 1949
oil on canvas
signed twice and dated lower right
17_ x 23_in. (44.45 x 59.69cm)
Provenance:
Family of the artist;Thence by descent;James Adam & Bonhams, 25 May 2005, lot 131, as Woman and Cat; Private
collection
Exhibited:
Irish Exhibition of Living Art, Dublin, 1949, catalogue no. 58 (£21-0-0)
Throughout his relatively short life the painter Fr. Jack P. Hanlon (1913-1968) explored many styles and techniques and
was always open to new ideas. His oeuvre included landscapes, still life studies, religious paintings and quite frequently
genre studies.
One of the four works which he submitted to the 1949 Irish Exhibition of Living Art was entitled Patchwork Quilt. In oil
on canvas, this is one of his more extravagant genre scenes. While the subject matter is an ordinary task, the ensemble is
very rich and evocative. The painting shows a woman in an interior setting, working on a patchwork quilt, accompanied
by a cat. This was probably a fairly common scene in the 1940s. Fr. Hanlon, however, has chosen to place the figures in
what could best be described as a very ‘busy’ setting. He was known to have loved bright colours and frequently used
them in his paintings to create an atmosphere
of lightness and charm, when this was appropriate. The woman in the painting appears to be concentrating on her task,
but all around her is a riot of patterns and shapes.
The quilt, of its nature, is composed of colourful patches of fabric, both square and rectangular; the couch to her left
is covered in a striped material in different hues, which echo the stripes on the wallpaper at the back of the room; the
cushions, both square and round, display a multitude of patterns and colours. A container to the woman’s right holds
different coloured balls of wool or thread. Likewise, the top of the sideboard at the back of the room is crammed with
objects in different shapes, sizes and colours, and even the pictures on the walls are varied.
It is necessary to look very closely at this work in order to distinguish the various elements, which tend to become
confused in the overall effect. Even the two figures can be drawn into the seething mass of textural activity. Once
this distinction has been made it is interesting to see that Fr. Hanlon has succeeded in creating a tension in the work
between the apparent calmness and tranquillity of the woman and the cat, and the wildly patterned setting.
As a work of Fr. Hanlon’s mid-period, Patch-work Quilt is reminiscent of the style of Matisse, who was said to have had
an influence on him. There was a suggestion that he actually took lessons from Matisse during one of his trips to France,
but there is no evidence for this.
Mary Reilly April 2015
Mary Reilly’s MA thesis was on Jack Hanlon and she has written extensively and given lectures on his work over the past
decade.
€ 8,000.00- € 12,000.00 (£5,970-£8,960 approx.)
Large Image & Place Bid Lot 50IMPORTANT IRISH ART ·
25 MAY 2015 AT 6PM