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21
CAMILLE SOUTER HRHA (B.1929)
Calary Bog
Mixed media, 44 x 59cm (17¼ x 23¼’’)
Signed and dated 1958
€ 4,000 - 6,000
22 CAMILLE SOUTER HRHA (B.1929)The House at Dalkey
Oil on paper, 57 x 57cm (22½ x 22½”)
Signed and dated 1972
Provenace: The Dawson Gallery where purchased by Mrs H. Jameson
Camille Souter (Born 1929) grew up in Sandycove and has good memories of the Dalkey area, particularly the secret tunnel out to Dalkey Island, dangerous even in her
childhood but completely collapsed now; and time spent exploring the forbidden Dalkey Quarry. The house at the centre of this painting, she remembers as a nice family
house, although she had no personal connection with it. However Souter has always been interested in the connection between, nature, the landscape and the human
presences that have worked on it. In this case the house with its adjoining greenhouse are represented lightly, just a few swift grey lines for the house itself, set against the
rugged terrain of its natural surroundings, yet it holds its place solidly within the composition. The blend of monochrome ‘drawing’ with vigorous areas of colour that define
the landscape in which it sits is a signature motif of Souter’s. She employed it again and again in her paintings especially in the 1960s and early ‘70s. It can be seen in classics
from that period, such as
Calary when we came back
(1964),
My Father’s Garden
(ca 1970),
Near Dublin, Grand Canal
(1971).
The scale of the work is also very typical of Souter’s practice at that time. She worked on a small scale, very frequently on paper, usually on a flat table top, rather than an
easel, but the small scale is never allowed to limit the grandeur of her conception. This painting combines topographical accuracy with a sense of the underlying geology and
the human history of the place.
Camille Souter is self-taught, having trained initially as a nurse. Her art education was derived from the company of fellow artists and her keen observation of the Old
Masters, of whom Rembrandt remains a particular favourite. She is one of the most highly regarded of Irish artists, a Saoi of Aosdána, recipient of the IMMA/Glen Dimplex
Award for long term contribution to the arts (2000) and was conferred with an honorary doctorate from Trinity College, Dublin, in 2015.
Catherine Marshall
€ 12,000 - 16,000