Adam's Important Irish Art 28th September 2016 : You can Download a PDF Version from the Bottom Menu Down Arrow Icon

165

Important Irish Art | 28th September 2016

Sanctuary

Oil on board, 40 x 50cm (19¾ x 15¾’’)

Inscribed artist’s label verso

Patrick Hennessy returned home to Ireland from Scotland

in 1939 and after travel in France and Italy he immediately

commenced a career as a full time artist. The painting ‘The

Sanctuary’ dating from the early 1940’s depicts a stone statue

framed on each side by evergreen trees. The building in the

background and the water feature, are features of Kilruddery,

Co. Wicklow, an Elizabethan revival mansion and the home of

the Earl’s of Meath. The statue is placed in front of the end of

one of the long canals where it dominates the full foreground,

an air of decay is introduced by the crumbling wall and the

invading briar, the colour is low key and muted, but the blue of

the sky is reflected in the water brightening the painting. The

statue is religious, possibly a saint rather than the Virgin Mary.

The contraposto pose increases the effect of the dominance in

the composition. The sleeveless arms and missing hands are

thought provoking. Hennessy often introduced bizarre or cryp-

tic elements in this type of painting particularly with statuary,

e.g. ‘The Oracle’ from the National Gallery of Ireland’s collection.

Early Hennessy’s were often bordering on the dreamlike or

surreal. In this painting ‘The Sanctuary’ is being offered without

hands.

Kevin A. Rutledge

€ 800 - 1,200