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Paul Henry RHA (1876 - 1958)
West of Ireland Scene 1934-8
Oil on canvas 15 x 18 in. (38 x 45.5 cm.)
Signed
Provenance: Louis Kinlen, Dublin, acquired in the 1930s; thence by descent; Private
Collection.
Literature: S. B. Kennedy, Paul Henry: with a catalogue of the Paintings, Drawings,
Illustrations, New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 2007, catalogue number
897, p. 277, reproduced
The setting is almost certainly County Kerry, in which case the painting is one of
Henry’s pictures of the Iveragh Peninsula (for a discussion of these paintings see S. B.
Kennedy, ‘Paul Henry’s Iveragh Paintings’, in John Crowley and John Sheehan (eds.),
The Iveragh Peninsula, Cork University Press, 2009, pp. 441-4). Henry first went to
County Kerry in late 1932 or early 1933, staying at Glenbeigh. The visit marked a
watershed in his affairs after the domestic upsets of the previous decade.Thus, when
he again visited Glenbeigh in September 1933 his mood was lighter and so was his
palette both in terms of tone and colour.These things can be seen clearly in West of
Ireland Scene, where the sky, distant mountain and hills in the middle distance are
especially settled, the warm glow generated by the setting sun determining the mood
of the whole composition. The topography may represent the same landscape as in
Henry’s
Western Bogland
(Kennedy, 2007, catalogue no. 1016), but of this one cannot
be certain. Dated 1934-8 on stylistic grounds.
Dr S.B. Kennedy November 2014
€40,000 - 60,000