WHYTE'S IMPORTANT IRISH & INTERNATIONAL ART MONDAY 22 MARCH 2021 AT 6PM

46 A lone figure stands at the water’s edge. She is conspicuous in her vivid white dress which appears out of place in the desolate surroundings. Behind her a steep bank of cliffs rises upwards creating a striking backdrop and dominating the composition. To the right of its large imposing shape, a vista opens to reveal distant rugged mountains and flashes of green marshland. To the figure’s left the saturated strand extends along the bottom of the cliff face. Bollards to the right take on an almost anthropomorphic form. But the figure is alone and her formal attire and elegant shoes appear incongruous in the harsh landscape and barren coastline in which she stands. The deep blue and purple surface of the large elemental block of the headland is made of thick pigment. Where the sunlight falls on the left-hand side of the cliff, its surface is turned into a cacophony of bright yellow and pink. The costume of the figure consists of a myriad of subtle shades of blues, pinks and yellows, reflections of the daylight on its white fabric. In the upper right, paint is thinly scraped across the canvas, indicating the blustery clouds of a stormy sky. This complex application of paint and the strong blocks of intense colour create a dynamic and rich painting that is full of light and movement. As in many of Yeats’s works, the viewer is confronted by an enigmatic scene in which a meeting or journey is intimated. Its evidently theatrical composition and aura may have prompted Helen Hooker O’Malley (1905-1993) to acquire the work from the Leo Smith at The Waddington Gallery, Dublin. She gave it to her close friend, the actor Liam Redmond, with whom she had founded the Dublin Players Theatre in 1944. Redmond was married to Barbara MacDonagh, daughter of Thomas MacDonagh who was executed after the 1916 Rising. Helen, a sculptor, painter, photographer and set designer, was married to the former revolutionary and writer, Ernie O’Malley (1897-1957). Helen and Ernie O’Malley were important collectors of Jack Yeats’ work in the 1930s and 1940s. She had requested a divorce from Ernie O’Malley in the same year she acquired this painting. Dr Róisín Kennedy February 2021