53 / 196
53
Important Irish Art
,
wednesday 3rd December 2014 at 6pm
38
Maeve McCarthy (b.1963)
Francis Stuart
Oil on canvas, 50.7 x 40.6cm (20 x 16”)
Signed and dated (19)’99
Provenance:TheSandhouse Hotel Collection, Donegal
Exhibited: Royal Hibernian Academy 1999, Cat. No. 277
- N.F.S.
This portrait, which Riann Coulter described as “Mc
Cathy’s powerful portrait of Francis Stuart 1999” in an
article in the Irish Arts Review 2006, required a num-
ber of sittings before completion.
The artist herself writes :-
“This portrait of Francis Stuart was painted in 1999
and exhibited in the RHA Annual exhibition the same
year. My partner at the time, Kevin Kiely, was writing
his biography. I first met Francis in a Glenageary nurs-
ing home he was none too fond of, then later at his
home in Dundrum. Another time he was at his son
Ian’s home in Laragh, Wicklow, and then on the West
coast of Clare near Fanore which was to be his final
resting place. His Siamese cat “Min” was a constant
companion.”
Maeve McCarthy would not have been as well known
for her portraits then as she is now but in 1999 she won
the overall award at Arnott’s National Portrait exhibi-
tion for “Self Portrait” a theme she was to return to
many times over the following decade. Her best know
portrait is of “Maeve Binchy” which is in the National
Gallery of Ireland collection.
€1,500 - 2,500