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Patrick Hennessy RHA (1915-1980)
THE WILD PONIES OF CONNEMARA
oil on canvas
signed lower left; titled on reverse; with Ritchie Hendriks Gallery label also on reverse
38 x 50in. (96.52 x 127cm)
Provenance:
Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner
My soul was an old horse, offered for sale in twenty fairs … Patrick Kavanagh’
A strange and exotic presence in Irish art’, ‘standing alone’, ‘very un-Irish’… were some of the adjectives used by critics
to describe the work of Patrick Hennessy RHA (1915-80), one of Ireland’s most successful realist painters in the post-
war period. A prolific artist, he created portraits, landscapes, equine studies and still-lifes that found a steady market in
Ireland, the UK and the USA. Hennessy was educated at Dundee College of Art and in 1937 won a scholarship to Paris
where he worked under Fernand Léger. He fused the Surrealist subjectivity he learned there with realism to create works
unlike anything being made in Ireland at the time.
Horses, birds and other animals often feature in his work. His equine studies are unlike those by George Stubbs (1724-
1806) that celebrate Derby winners or the possessions of rich aristocrats. Hennessy’s horses tend to be Connemara
ponies or the white horses of the Camargue. He depicts wild horses, always unbridled and free. When he shows a horse
and rider, it is without saddle or with a rudimentary harness. These characteristics are symbolic; he communicates the
cooperation between animal and man. The animal hasn’t been broken, it remains proud and independent; similarly Man
should hope to attain that position relative to society. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) argued that ethics emerged
from the emotions - not reason or morals. His famous quote ‘Man is born free, but is everywhere in chains’, expresses the
idea that man is inherently good and compassionate, but corrupted by society.
Hennessy adopted these Romantic ideals and inserted them within the landscapes, around the west of Ireland
and Killarney, which had been immortalised by Paul Henry. The wild horse placed there is a gentle critique of the
interference of Church and State in the everyday lives of Irish people.
Seán Kissane
January 2016
Patrick Hennessy De Profundis - curated by Seán Kissane - will be held at IMMA from 24 March to 24 July 2016. The
exhibition forms part of the IMMA Modern Masters Series, a strand of programming that looks at the post-war period
to shed light on artists who have been critically neglected; but also to reflect on what their work might mean to an
audience today.
€8000-€10000 (£6080-£7200 approx.)
Large Image & Place Bid Lot 61