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William Conor RHA PRUA ROI OBE (1884-1968)
Beero (1956)
Oil on board, 66 x 81.5cm (26 x 32”)
Signed
Provenance: Commissioned by John P. Reihill Snr directly from the artist in 1956; Deepwell, Blackrock, Co. Dublin
Exhibited: RHA Annual Exhibition, Dublin, 1957, Cat. No. 19
The National Gallery of Ireland, NewMillenniumWing Opening Exhibition of 20th Century Irish Art. January 2002 - December 2003;
‘’Collector’s Eye’’ Exhibition,The Model Arts and Niland Gallery, Sligo, Jan/Feb 2004, Cat. No. 3
Literature: ‘’Collector’s Eye’’ 2004 Exhibition Catalogue, illustrated p3
‘
Conor (originally ‘Connor’) was a working-class Protestant who
had Gaelicized his name in response to his encounter with the Celt-
ic Revival in Belfast at the start of the century.’ (Fionna Barber,
Art in Ireland Since 1910, London: Reaktion Books, 2013) What
distinguishes William Conor from other genre painters of the late
nineteenth and early twentieth century is the gaiety and happiness
evident in his compositions of groups of people. The artist consid-
ered himself as a ‘portraitist, landscapist and genre painter,’ and did
not simply want to be categorised as ‘the painter of working class
life,’ his close friend John Hewitt wrote in 1981. ( JCWilson, Conor
1881-1968: The Life and Work of an Ulster Artist, Belfast, 1981)
Yet it was in these studies of ‘working class life’ that the artist im-
mersed himself in his sketches and paintings. It was in this category
that he produced his most prodigious output and in the evident
jovial atmosphere of the works, it was a focus that he thoroughly
enjoyed. He wrote his own assessment of his work ‘All my life I
have been completely absorbed with affection in the activities of
the Belfast people...Being a Belfast man myself it has been my am-
bition to reveal the Spiritual Character of its people in all vigour,
in all its senses of life, in all its variety, in all its passion, humanity
and humour...’ (Ibid) He is clearly enthralled with his fellow cit-
izens in Belfast and captures this through his use of terms such
as ‘affection,’ ‘spiritual character,’ ‘vigour,’ ‘passion,’ ‘humanity,’ and
‘humour.’ Conor believed that the artist should understand ‘his own
epoch and give expression to that which is happening around him.’
(Máirín Allen ‘Contemporary Irish Artists XIV, William Conor’,
Father Mathew Record, October 1942). In 2002, Eileen Black
wrote ‘As regards Conor’s position in the local art world, his images
of the working classes made him unique among artists in the North;
indeed, few painters in the whole of Ireland pursued such genre themes,
with the exception of Jack B Yeats and Paul Henry...’(Irish Arts Review
Yearbook, 2002).
This painting was commissioned in 1956 directly from the artist and
subsequently exhibited in the RHA in 1957 (cat. No. 19). John Rei-
hill Snr commissioned the work due to his connection with Tedcastles,
the largest coal importer in Ireland in its day. Although the Irish flag
flies outside the window it is thought among the family that Conor
took artistic license and these workers are in fact Belfast rather than
Dublin coalmen. This is particularly likely if one considers works by
Conor such as
The Launch
1922, where the placement of shipping and
tonal treatment is strongly echoed in the left background of ‘Beero.’
The British flag in
The Launch
is replaced here by the Irish flag but the
artist’s inspirational setting is clearly Belfast.“Beero”was the slang term
used by coalmen who worked the Docks to describe their break dur-
ing the day’s work which was invariably spent in one of the local pubs
located near the quays. Compositionally
Beero
is strong; the figures are
symmetrically arranged and treated in an impressionistic manner. The
colour range is effective and there is a restraint in detailing that com-
municates the scene with immediacy.The flavour of fun and camarade-
rie is similar to a work of the same time by Conor
Lamp-post Swinging
1957. Indeed the smile of the gentleman seated on the left is echoed in
that of one of the girls swinging.The continuity of expression goes back
further into Conor’s wartime works, again this particular smiling ex-
pression can be seen in
Off: The Ulster Division
1915 and
Bugler, Ulster
Division
c1933. Although, this mode of painting was not what Conor
was limited to, he certainly excelled at it and
Beero
further demonstrates
his interest and engagement in these group studies.
Marianne O’Kane Boal
€30,000 - 50,000
