WHYTE'S IRISH & INTERNATIONAL ART MONDAY 26 SEPTEMBER 2022

66 40 Maurice CanningWilks RUA ARHA (1910-1984) CONNEMARA MAN oil on canvas signed lower left; titled on reverse 25 by 30in. (63.5 by 76.2cm) Frame Dimensions: 33 by 38.5in. (83.8 by 97.8cm) Provenance: Purchased in the late 1940s directly from the artist and given as a wedding present to a couple in Portadown, Co. Antrim in whose possession it remained until 2001; Andersons Auction Rooms, Belfast, 1 October 2001, lot 77; Private collection; Whyte’s, 19 February 2002, lot 82; Private collection Wilks’ depictions of the everyday people of the west of Ireland remain his most sought-after work with scenes of labourers, fishermen and turf gatherers garnering much attention when offered due to their rarity. The present work, Connemara Man, depicts the figure of a man dressed to brace the elements standing at a slight angle to the viewer and with his right arm resting on a traditional handmade willow turf basket. Beyond the stonewall in the middle distance is a cluster of cottages with turf neatly stacked to the gable end. He is rooted to his environment. Wilks further reinforces this relationship through his use of colour picking up dashes of the red from the fabric around his neck in the weave of the basket and in the fleck of red on the cottage door. Similarly, the colour range found in the sky and sea can be seen reflected back in the man’s clothes. The protagonist here shares his stage with the landscape, which recalls the work of Paul Henry, the shimmering water and the Twelve Bens bringing the eye towards a vast and changeable sky. Wilks, like Henry, was born in Belfast, albeit thirty-four years later, and was educated there at the Malone Public School. He attended evening classes at the Belfast College of Art and was later awarded the Dunville Scholarship which allowed him to attend day classes. After college Wilks lived in Cushendun and his early landscapes were dominated by views of Ulster and Connacht. He exhibited at the RHA in Dublin as well as the Royal Ulster Academy and later internationally in London, Boston, Montreal and Toronto. In his later years he painted scenes of Dublin bay from a summer studio he maintained in Sutton. His work is found in numerous public collections throughout the island of Ireland. Adelle Hughes, September 2022 €15,000-€20,000 (£12,930-£17,240 approx.) Click here for more images and to bid on this lot40