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William Conor RHA PRUA OBE (1884-1968)
Fun at the Fair
Oil on canvas, 51 x 40.5cm (20 x 16”)
Signed
Provenance:Thought to have been bought circa 1940s at exhibition in Dublin; and thence by descent
Martyn Anglesea has written about how William Conor found a
champion in John Hewitt.“...Hewitt perceptively described Conor as
‘a proletarian artist without protest.’ Angelsea observes, ‘this is a fair
point. Conor’s Belfast working classes are never abject, but usually
happy and enjoying themselves.There is no sense of exploitation...He
depicted the working people from both the Protestant and Catholic
traditions in Belfast with the same affection. In fact, as he spelled his
name with only one N, many people assumed that he was Catholic
rather than Protestant. He did not seem to mind.’ (William Conor -
The People’s Painter
, 1999, p25). John Hewitt has also written ‘For the
middle decades of the century William Conor was the representative
artist...few can have realised how representative he has been, how
broadly typical of our best moods and impulses. In the art history of
Ireland, William Conor must be placed with Paul Henry and Jack B
Yeats, as one of the first to record the life of the people in painterly
terms, without the trappings of stage-Irishry, and by himself, the
pioneer in taking his subjects from town - rather than country folk.’
(Art in Ulster I, 1977, p86)
In a similar vein to his English contemporary L. S. Lowry, William
Conor enjoyed representing Fair Days with their bustle and sense
of anticipation. Unlike Lowry’s large sweeping views of the masses
coming and going on Fair Day, Conor focused on small intimate
groups and integrated personality into his compositions.
Fun at the
Fair’
is a painterly representation, carefully arranged and it is a work
that strongly demonstrates a mark of Impressionism. Conor lived
in Paris for about six months in 1912 and would have been familiar
with the work of Renoir and Monet both of whom appear influences
on this work with its colouring, strong summer light in the middle
distance and treatment of figures.This painting is clearly a key genre
scene in Conor’s oeuvre. Harmoniously composed with plenty of
drama and depth to delight the eye, the artist has clearly considered
the perfect balance of figures and space, light and shade, colour and
line. Another painting by Conor that shows a similar compositional
strategy is
Fun of the Fair
(Lammas Fair, Ballycastle) 1935 in the
collection of the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. Although the
action in this work depicting the Lammas Fair (which dates to the
seventeenth century), is depicted on a shallower plane, it has the
same overall structure.The principal players in the scene are the man
with his back to the viewer to the left of the painting with figures
gathered, largely children, to his right. One child looks directly at
the viewer to welcome us into the happy proceedings.The figures are
all sheltered from the sun by the canopy overhead. Here in
Fun at
the Fair,
Conor again gathers the primary group at the fair under the
canopy in the foreground. Like the other painting, an old lady clad
in green to the left of the composition is a key player in this scene.
Again a child with smiling face connects directly with the viewer to
include the audience in the fair. It is a nostalgic painting but remains
somewhat atypical for Conor in its more European composition and
treatment. This is a timeless view yet it depicts a largely bygone era in
Ireland, north and south. “A noteworthy characteristic of an Irish fair
has been that its size did not necessarily bear any relation whatsoever
to the size or importance of the place in which it was held. Some
quite large towns have never at any time had either fairs or markets.
The most outstanding examples in County Antrim would be such
townships as Portrush or Whitehead, and the Ould Lammas Fair,
Ballycastle. As for Cushendall...Its fairs were eight in number and all
of them were held on dates associated in one way or other with the
Christian dispensation.”Hugh Alexander Boyd,
Fairs and Markets in
Cushendall and Ballycastle,
The Glynns Vol. 15 (1987)
It is quite remarkable that although Conor painted contemporary
subjects, even at the time he knew these scenes would not last forever.
He foretold this in somewhat singular fashion when discussing his
work; “...when we have trampled on the best of the past and sacrificed
everything of value to the much vaunted name of progress I trust
these paintings and drawings will recall a world that is quickly
disappearing and could soon be forgotten.” (Anglesea) The artist has
left us a considerable legacy of paintings, 80 within the Museums and
Galleries of Northern Ireland (MAGNI) and almost 1200 pieces in
the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. These works make up the
most comprehensive social record in visual art of Belfast in the mid
twentieth century.
Marianne O’Kane Boal
€15,000 - 20,000
