WHYTE'S IRISH & INTERNATIONAL ART 9 MARCH 2020

IRISH & INTERNATIONAL ART ·9 MARCH 2020 AT 6PM 133 104 Sir John Lavery RA RSA RHA (1856-1941) PORTRAIT OF A LADY oil on canvas; (tondo) signed lower left 30.50 by 25.50in. (77.5 by 64.8cm) Provenance: The Collection of Maidelena Estate, St. Petersburg, Florida, until 1972; With Garey Galleries, Florida, 1972; Where by the previous owner, Mr Gerrald Walden of Macon, Georgia, USA; Private collection, UK since 2019 Famous for its tragic power in a short story of 1842 by Edgar Allan Poe, the oval portrait returned to popularity at the end of the nineteenth century. At once intimate and inquisitorial, such works dispense with studio props and, by mimicking the shape of a head, encourage dedicated scrutiny of a face. Flourish, painterly shorthand in the present instance is reserved for the sitter’s décolletage. Most of Lavery’s oval portraits were painted in the Edwardian years, with the notable exception of Kathleen ni Houlihan - his rendition of Hazel Lavery as the ancient Irish queen, commissioned by the Note Committee for the Free State currency. Of the Edwardian pictures, a number have not been traced. Of these two can be discounted on the grounds of size, while others are identifiable from contemporary photographs of sitters or from other works. Most, unlike the present example, have verso inscriptions naming the person depicted. The identity and precise dating of the picture, painted c. 1905, thus remains a mystery and since it originally appeared in the United States, it has not been possible for it to be viewed in the real. However, from images recently supplied, it appears that the face has been retouched by another hand. Prof. Kenneth McConkey February 2020 €8,000-€12,000 (£6,780-£10,170 approx.) Click Here for Large Images & To Bid Lot 104