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Nathaniel Hone RHA (1831-1917)
Mediterranean Harbour Scene
Oil on canvas, 61 x 101.5cm (24 x 40”)
Signed with initials
Exhibited:
The French Connection
exhibition,The Ava Gallery Clandeboye August/September 2010 ,The Hunt Museum Limerick,
September/October 2010 Cat. No. 9.
Literature:
The French Connection
by Aoife Leach 2010 illustrated P 15
In this large, horizontal canvas by Nathaniel Hone, the sunlight falling upon the rough stonework of the buildings, the bare landscape,
the calmness of the sea, and the line of snow capped mountains, conveyed with a restricted palette, evoke an unusual, ‘timeless’ mood,
suggesting that this could be an Egyptian or North African subject. Hone brings together several much-loved features of his painting
career: sailing vessels at sea, sunlit buildings, snow capped mountains, and a mood of airiness, to create a tranquil, element Mediterranean
scene.
In his balance of simple shapes, contrast of sunlight and shadow, and restrained palette, Hone demonstrates a painterly breadth and
mood of harmony. Being a yachtsman himself, Hone is unusual in that several of his Mediterranean coastal subjects were taken from
the sea, on board ship, rather than from the shore. In spite of its ‘Eastern’ atmosphere, it is likely that the setting here is the French or
Italian Riviera coast, for example, Villefranche, Menton or Bordighera, to which he made several excursions.
The broad, heavy, wooden fishing boats are similar to those depicted in paintings such as
Villefranche from the East
(NGI no. 1361) or
Menton, Evening
(RHA 1879 no. 109; Sotheby’s ‘Irish Sale’ 16 May 1996, no 443), although the furled sails in the present picture are
not nearly as tall. Villefranche, for example, just east of Nice, was notable for its old stone houses and sheltered, deep water harbour, with
the Alpes Maritimes, often covered by snow, visible to the north. Hone is at home with the subject of boats. He observes the furled sails,
masts and rigging and hulls painted a cerulean blue, with evident pleasure. The small figures of fisherman or women, in the shadows,
at work, are visible on board. Some wear blue smocks, white blouses or red scarves, which catch the sunlight. A rowing boat is moored
alongside.
To the left, the harbour wall in shadow, and the reflections, which it casts, form simple abstract shapes. In the centre of the composition
the pale stone houses and fort above the harbour catch golden sunlight at early morning (or perhaps evening). Behind, a line of snow
capped mountains floats above smoky blue shadow like a frieze. A light haze of cloud covers the sky.
Close examination of the canvas reveals Hone’s natural painterly touches: the scuffed surface of the weathered sunlit buildings, which
has an unusual expressiveness; the fluid line of paint which conveys the sunlit beach; and a little strip of creamy paint where the harbour
wall meets the sea in the centre of the canvas, which could almost be a small white rowing boat in a pool of light.
Dr. Julian Campbell
€30,000 - 50,000
