WHYTE'S IRISH & INTERNATIONAL ART MONDAY 26 SEPTEMBER 2022

79 IRISH & INTERNATIONAL ART - 26 SEPTEMBER 2022 AT 6PM 50 Norah McGuinness HRHA (1901-1980) BLACK SEAWEED, 1969 oil on canvas signed with initials lower right; titled and dated on reverse 18 by 26in. (45.7 by 66cm) Frame Dimensions: 28 by 36in. (71.1 by 91.4cm) During the late 1950s Norah McGuinness had returned to live in Ireland and resided at a cottage in the Dublin Mountains. It was from this location she would travel to the shores of Sandymount Strand to paint scenes such as the present work. Black Seaweed, 1969 is typical of her work at this time and brings together a number of recurring elements in her work in both subject, colour tone and technique. Having been formally trained at the Metropolitan School of Art, Dublin, the Chelsea Polytechnic, London, and on Mainie Jellett’s advice, under André l’Hôte in Paris, McGuinness, who was originally from Derry, proved to be a rounded, well travelled and informed artist at this point in her career. The present works brims with this confidence from the fluid brushwork to the carefully constructed perspective. The lozenge shaped pools of water - also a familiar motif - lend a romantic quality to the work while the upright rocks anchor the composition and link its different elements together. McGuinness expertly uses dashes of white in her palette to ‘lift’ the canvas and create movement through the composition from the swirling pools to the bright bills of what appear to be three oystercatchers. The black outlines lend a textile quality and a theatricality to the present work which is unsurprising given the artist’s expertise in these disciplines. McGuinness created illustrations for Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar and designed windows for Altman’s department store on Fifth Avenue, New York as well as for Brown Thomas in Dublin. A major retrospective exhibition of the artist’s work was held in Trinity College in Dublin in 1968 and the show travelled to the Crawford in Cork and later Brooke Park Gallery in Londonderry in 1969 the year Blackseaweed was painted. Adelle Hughes, August 2022 €10,000-€15,000 (£8,620-£12,930 approx.) Click here for more images and to bid on this lot50