WHYTE'S IRISH & INTERNATIONAL ART MONDAY 2 DECEMBER 2024 FROM 6PM

50 31 Paul Henry RHA (1876-1958) MOUNTAINS AND LAKE, c.1930-6 oil on board signed lower left 7.50 by 11in. (19.1 by 27.9cm) Frame Size: 20 by 23.5in. (50.8 by 59.7cm) Provenance: Charles Gilmore Gallery, Belfast, 2011; Private collection Literature: Kennedy, Dr S.B., Paul Henry: Paintings, Drawings and Illustrations, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2007, p. 253, catalogue no. 769 (illustrated in colour) Dated 1930 to 1936 on stylistic grounds in Dr SB Kennedy’s catalogue raisonné, Mountain and Lake (numbered 769) depicts a small cluster of whitewashed cottages before a body of water with a blue grey mountain range and an expanse of sky in the distance. Compositionally, the painting bears similarities to a number of slightly earlier works such as the larger, A Village in Connemara c.1922-29 (sold through Whyte’s, 30 November 2004, lot 55 €120,000). That example, Kennedy suggests, depicted Achill Sound with Corraun in the background and uses a similar device to the present work to draw the viewer into the scene; the strategic positioning in the foreground of the grey rocks protruding from the grass to the left of centre. In the present work, a still body of water - reflecting the static clouds above it - and the modest dwellings with their neat turf stacks to the right complete the first part of the painting which is executed in coarse, impastoed brushstrokes that evoke the harsh reality of life in the west. A dark middle ground stretches the length of the board dividing the painting in two. There is a noticeable difference between the handling of the paint to the upper portion of the composition, which is softer in tone and with a more delicate application of the medium. The late 1920s and early 1930s were tumultuous years in Paul Henry’s personal life, many of which were spent on Achill. The break-up of his marriage to first wife, Grace, was a drawn-out affair and the stresses, both financial and emotional, took their toll. Professionally however, his reputation was secure, due in part to the mass distribution of posters based on his paintings, which became lasting images of the Irish landscape. Two striking examples from the 1930s can be found in the collection of the National Gallery of Ireland (NGI 4077 & 4734) one of which was bequeathed by his second wife, Mrs M. Henry (née Young) in 1974. Adelle Hughes November 2024 €50,000-€70,000 (£42,020-£58,820 approx.) Click here for more images and to bid on this lot31