WHYTE'S EXCEPTIONAL IRISH ART MONDAY 7 DECEMBER 2020

86 53 Seán O’Sullivan RHA (1906-1964) PORTRAIT OF SEÁN Ó FAOLÁIN, 1963 oil on board signed and dated lower right 23.25 by 19.50in. (59.1 by 49.5cm) Frame Size: 29.5 by 25.5in. (74.9 by 64.8cm) Condition: This work appears to be in very good condition. Some minor cracking visible on close inspection in the subject’s forehead. Provenance: Estate of Leo Smith, Dublin; Private collection Literature: Harmon, Maurice, Sean O’Faolain A Life, Constable, London, 1994 Seán Ó Faoláin (1900-1991) was one of the most influential figures in 20th-century Irish culture. A short- story writer of international repute, he was also a leading commentator and critic. Born John Francis Whelan in Cork City he came under the influence of Daniel Corkery, joining the Cork Dramatic Society, and increasing his knowledge of the Irish language, which he had begun in school. Shortly after entering University College, Cork, he joined the Irish Volunteers and fought in the War of Independence. During the Irish Civil War, he served as Censor for the Cork Examiner and as publicity director for the IRA. After the Republican loss, he received M.A. degrees from the National University of Ireland and from Harvard University where he studied for 3 years. He was a Commonwealth Fellow from 1926 to 1928; and was a Harvard Fellow from 1928 to 1929. He wrote his first stories in the 1920s, eventually completing 90 stories over a period of 60 years. From 1929 to 1933 he lectured at the Catholic college, St Mary’s College, at Strawberry Hill in Middlesex, England, during which period he wrote Midsummer Night Madness published in 1932, a collection of stories partly based on his Civil War experiences. Afterwards he returned to his native Ireland and published novels; short stories; biographies; travel books; translations and literary criticism. He served as director of the Arts Council of Ireland from 1956 to 1959, and from 1940 to 1946 was a founder member and editor of the Irish literary periodical The Bell. The list of contributors to The Bell included many of Ireland’s foremost writers, among them Patrick Kavanagh, Patrick Swift, Flann O’Brien, Frank O’Connor and Brendan Behan. His Collected Stories were published in 1983. He died on 20 April 1991 in Dublin. €3,000-€5,000 (£2,670-£4,440 approx.) Click here for more images and to bid on this lot53