IMPORTANT IRISH ART 3 MARCH 2025

The 1930s was a critical decade for Paul Henry which saw him exhibit extensively at home, in Europe and the United States. Combridge’s Gallery in Dublin hosted the first of two one-man shows at the beginning of the decade and became his regular Dublin venue for the next twenty years. The late Dr SB Kennedy, author of the catalogue raisonné of Henry’s work, noted, “This period in Henry’s oeuvre demonstrates his particular understanding of the landscape borne through the experience of living in such places, a consciousness of the soft subtle terrain and dankness of the bog, the meagre lifestyle of the people it supports and the paucity of any crops grown there, the moody stillness of the scene with its suggestion of a life unchanged for centuries.” Regarding the present work Kennedy notes, “An almost identical composition to ‘Cottages by the Lake, Outer Killary, Connemara (catalogue no. 848) [12 by 16in., Private collection] and ‘A Blue Day’ (catalogue no. 920) [18 by 22in., Private collection]. Possibly a scene in Co. Kerry. Dated 1933-1936 on stylistic grounds.” Lake and Mountains in Connemara, 1933-1936 is an exceptional example from the artist’s later work. The foreground is flooded with a wide expanse of water that stretches the breath of composition, which is significantly wider (8 inches) than it is tall, immersing the viewer into the scene. This device creates an immediacy to the painting, as though it were a snapshot of a moment of fine weather captured swiftly by the artist. The reality however could not have been further from the truth and the artist’s sketchbooks, now held in the collection of the National Gallery of Ireland (NGI), demonstrate Henry’s meticulous planning, attention to detail and the discipline required to create such deceptively simple masterpieces. The gently rippling water binds the composition reflecting both the neat cluster of white-washed cottages and their turf stacks as well as the pale, cumulus clouds in the backdrop. The body of water is punctuated on either side by grassland executed in brisk upward brushstrokes of delicately impastoed paint. A strip of still water, handled in a brighter blue, marks a change to the movement of the water and halts the eye before it reaches the focal point of the scene. Centre stage, the tight dwellings emphasise the isolation of communities in the west and their reliance upon each other and the land which surrounds them. Thicker and more vigorous brushstrokes here ‘push forward’ the middle-ground and contrast with the smoothly finished blues and greys in the upper portion of the canvas. When the present work was painted, Paul Henry’s reputation in Irish art was secured and this was partly as a result of the mass distribution of tourism posters incorporating images of his paintings as well as the sale of photolithographic prints from his original oils, many of which were sold through Combridge’s during this time. His views of the landscape also coincided with the need to create a new visual identity for the country after 1922, Kennedy writes, “the new state urgently required a sense of identity and cultural history that would link its ancient past in a morally unbroken way with the present. Thus, with the subsequent espousal of the West in particular the landscape qua place suddenly assumed an importance it had never had before… In this process, Henry’s work fitted the bill beautifully.” Saorstát Eireann, the Irish Free State Official Handbook published in 1932 the year before this work was painted, was among the publications to use Paul Henry’s images to project this popular vision of Irish identity. The quality of his painting and his role in the creation of Ireland’s modern history - almost 100 years on - is what has helped etch his work into the Irish psyche so much so that, even though his images no longer represent what the country means today (and perhaps they never did) they are still inextricably linked to what is considered quintessentially Irish. And therein lies their enduring appeal. Work from his later years is among the most highly sought after in the artist’s oeuvre with the NGI, Irish Museum of Modern Art and the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin among other significant public collections all holding examples from this period. The appearance of an example of this quality on the market today represents an exceptional opportunity to acquire a museum quality painting of lasting appeal. For further reading see Kennedy, chapters nine and ten, p67-73.