50
29
William John Leech RHA (1881-1968)
Still Life of Flowers in Mirror
Oil on canvas, 96.5 x 81cm (38 x 32”)
Signed
Another finished work verso
View of Town from a French Window
(see illustration), which some
people prefer.
Provenance:The Collection of Dr. Eileen McCarvill; later in the Collection of George and Maura Mc
Clelland and on loan from them to IMMA from 1999 - 2004;
Private Collection Dublin
Exhibited:
RHA Annual Exhibition
1932, Cat. No.179;
William J. Leech
Exhibition,The Dawson Gallery, Dublin, May/June 1945, Cat. No.25;
Irish Art 1943-1973
, ROSC Cork, Aug/Nov 1980, Cat. No.70 (label verso); and
William John Leech: An Irish Painter Abroad
, National Gallery of Ireland, Oct/Dec 1996,
Musée des Beaux Arts, Quimper, Jan/March 1997,The Ulster Museum, Belfast, March/
June 1997, Cat. No.82
Literature:
William John Leech: An Irish Painter Abroad
by Denise Ferran 1996,
full page illustration p247;
The Hunter Gatherer
, Irish Museum of Modern Art 2004, illustrated Fig.27 p.39
After nearly a decade spent in France, when Leech settled in London he found himself concerned
with colour, and especially in ‘trying to evolve sunlight and reflections’.When in France he had been
able to capture the effects of sunlight while painting en plein air, but in London he concentrated
instead on interior and flower studies and still lives.
Flowers in a Mirror
allowed Leech to demonstrate his command of the depiction of colour, light,
shape and form. The light on the orange red gladioli and the mauve hued daisies doubly sparkle in
their reflected glory, captured in the mirror behind, confusing the viewer, leading to the question
what is real or reflected, what is casual or contrived.
Leech’s virtuoso skill in composition also manifested itself. Though the viewer is drawn in to the
many faceted light reflections, Leech focused attention on the slightly off centre dominant vertical
created by the earthenware vase and the stems of the flowers which is repeated in the reflected image
and divides the work on the golden median principle. Similarly the deep shadow behind the edge of
the white tablecloth, divides the work horizontally. The strong diagonal, created by the edge of the
tablecloth, is repeated a multiplicity of times, in the bottom edge of the mirror, the reflected window
frame and the reflected folds of material. This formal structure underpins this image of colourful,
beautiful flowers which capture the summer sunlight for all time, long after it and the flowers and
the artist have gone.
We would like to acknowledge Dr. Denise Ferran, whose research and writings formed the basis of
this catalgoue entry.
€20,000 - 30,000
