WHYTE'S IRISH & INTERNATIONAL ART MONDAY 26 SEPTEMBER 2022

26 17 Sir John Lavery RA RSA RHA (1856-1941) MOONLIGHT - THE BRIDGE, 1912 oil on canvas signed lower right 25 by 30in. (63.5 by 76.2cm) Frame Dimensions: 32 by 37in. (81.3 by 94cm) Provenance: Collection of Lord Lucas; Thence by descent to his sister, Lady Lucas; Phillip’s, London, 7 June 1994, lot 36; Whence purchased by the Jefferson Smurfit Group; Private collection, Dublin; Whyte’s, 26 April 2005, lot 110; Private collection; Whyte’s, 1 October 2018, lot 23; Private collection Exhibited: ‘A Retrospective Exhibition of the works of John Lavery, 1880-1914’, Grosvenor Gallery, London, 1914, catalogue no. 146 During his sojourns in Tangier Lavery painted many ‘nocturnes’ which, for the most part, depict the bay and the flat slab-like architecture of the old walled city. Overlooking the sea at night, noting subtle transitions of grey and blue, he adopted the vocabulary of Whistler, an artist he greatly respected. As a landscape nocturne, the present canvas is however, unusual. Although Lavery frequently painted in the hills around the city from the flat rooftop of his villa, he seldom ventured forth into these areas at night. ‘Protected’ by the Great Powers, on account of its strategic importance, the city was surrounded by brigands and rebel groups who reaped rich rewards from kidnapping prominent western visitors. In March 1912 with the French invasion of Morocco, conditions improved and order was restored. It may have been at this point not long before his return to London that the present canvas was executed. The scene depicted is likely to be in close proximity to Lavery’s villa and studio on what was then known as Mount Washington, a secluded area now completely transformed by modern houses. Lavery’s house, studio and extensive hillside garden, later owned by the de Laurier family, has now passed to S.A.R. Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, as a private residence, and access is no longer possible. The present picture’s companion, a late afternoon landscape from the same vantage point, titled My House in Morocco (Kirkcaldy Galleries) also dates from 1912. Smaller in size to the present work, it too was painted from the bridge over Oued-el- Youd, then known as the Jews’ River. Here the river, little more than a stream, snakes across the picture, forming an indigo pool to the side of the bridge, and balancing the dark shapes of the trees on the right. The inky hillsides and warm grey of the sky are combined to create the eerie sense of moonlight, picking out the tiny figures on the bridge and the houses in the distance. A single star twinkles in the sky and all is still. The impression was sufficiently haunting for Lavery to wish to recall the painting from its then owner, Lord Lucas, for his major retrospective exhibition at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1914. Liberal politician, and keen flyer, Lucas was killed in a dogfight with enemy aircraft over the German lines in 1916. Unmarried, his titles and estate passed to his sister. Professor Kenneth McConkey €30,000-€40,000 (£25,860-£34,480 approx.) Click here for more images and to bid on this lot17