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Edward Sheil RHA (1834-1869)
Making Daisy Chains at the Corner of a Cornfield
Oil on canvas, 16.5 x 64cm (20¼ x 25¼”)
Signed and dated 1857
Edward Shiel was born in Coleraine, Co. Derry around 1834. He later moved to Cork and be-
came a student at the School of Art there later becoming second Master in 1857 and then was
appointed headmaster in 1859. However , although very successful , his term was brief as he suf-
fered from delicate health. Sheil was elected ARHA in 1861 and became a full member in 1864.
A resident of Cork, Shiel maintained a studio in Queenstown (now Cobh) from 1865 - 1868. He
died aged only thirty-five at the house of his friend,the writer and patriot Denny Lane, leaving
behind a wife and two children. He was well thought of as a genre artist and his brother who
worked at the Cork Examiner wrote favourably of his work. Works by Shiel are rare due to his
death at such a young age.
€6,000 - 8,000
