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Edward Sheil RHA (1834-1869)
A Day before Sending to the Exhibition
Oil on canvas, 120 x 105.5cm (47¼ x 41½”)
Original exhibition label verso
Provenance: Important Irish Art Sale, these rooms, 5/12/2001 lot 75 where purchased by cur-
rent owner.
Edward Sheil was a genre artist whose paintings dealt with themes of family life, romance,
religious subjects and emigration, and his work was informed by his religious faith and ide-
as. He was born in Coleraine, Co. Derry around 1834. He later moved to Cork and became
a student at the School of Art there; later becoming second Master in 1857 and then was
appointed Headmaster in 1859. However, although very successful, his term was brief as he
suffered from delicate health.
Sheil was elected ARHA in 1861 and became a full member in 1864. After a time spent in
Italy, he maintained a studio in Queenstown (now Cobh) from 1865 - 1868.
He died aged only thirty-five from tuberculosis at the house of his friend, the writer and
patriot Denny Lane, leaving behind a wife and two children. He was well thought of as
a genre artist and his brother who worked at the Cork Examiner wrote favourably of his
work.Works by Sheil are rare due to his death at such a young age.This is an attractive and
lighthearted image, and the dark haired woman may be the same model as that in
Home
After Work
, 1863.
€1,000 - 2,000