Adam's Important Irish Art 27th March 2019

78 ings with steep roofs, including the uneven structure of the barn and an old cart with large wheels. Although the sky in the background is overcast, here Osborne was inspired by the rich tones of English buildings that glowed warmly in the sunshine: reds and russets of brick walls, brown of timber and maroons of roof tiles, as well as ochre clay and verdant foliage. A Bit of Sut- ton Courtney is enlivened further by little points of colour; the mauve of the woman’s apron, reds, greens, blues, whites and yellows in the barge and reflected in the water; the stripes of the upright post; red in the boy’s cheek and pocket; the mauve patch on the railing; and the blue of the float. Equally, Osborne’s brushwork is lively and varied: crisp and controlled in some areas, fluid and expressive in others. The ‘square brush style’ is employed, for example, in parts of the boy’s clothing, the woman’s apron and the walls of the barn. Meanwhile, the ripples are painted in a softer, more lyrical way and parts of the foliage and undergrowth are more ‘blurred’, for instance, in the rough grass draped over the river bank. If we look closely at the painting, we notice an interesting detail: the impastoed brushstrokes that depict the fence are visible beneath the figure of the boy. This suggests that Osborne may have added him to the picture at a later date than the land- scape. This was not an unusual practice amongst painters, such as Canaletto or Caspar Friedrich (6), but Osborne may have decided to include the figure to give a greater sense of focus, psychological interest and human warmth to his composition. The motif of the figure, viewed from behind, looking into the picture, the Rückenfigur of German Romanticism, can be seen in the paintings of Caspar Friedrich and in Realist pictures by François Bonvin, Henri de Braekeleer and Joseph M. Kavanagh. As in several Osborne pictures of the period, for instance ‘Counting the Flock’, 1887 (sold at Adam’s, 30th May 2018) (7), the figure viewed from behind is an individual, but also an archetype, engaging the viewer and adding a sense of mystery. ‘A Bit of Sutton Courtney’ is painted on a wood panel and is signed lower right with the squared capital letters which the artist employed in this period. Osborne exhibited the picture at the Dublin Art Club (of which he was a co-founder), in 1887, modestly priced at twelve guineas. He made a tiny pencil drawing after the painting, the figure being outlined in ink (in sketchbook in NGI, catalogue number 19, 202, p.14). Sutton Courtenay continued to attract Irish and other artists and writers. John Lavery painted Asquith in an 1891 Eliza- beth boat on the river in 1917 (Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane). George Orwell fished there as a boy. Francis S. Walker illustrated a book on the Thames in 1891 (8) and, as noted above, Robert Gibbings passed through Sutton Courtenay and wrote lyrically about it. Julian Campbell, January 2019 1) Robert Gibbings, Sweet Thames Run Softly, London 1940, p.106. 2) Jeanne Sheehy, Walter Osborne, NGI, 1983, p.77; and J. Sheehy, Walter Osborne, Ballycotton, 1974, p.22. 3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutton_Courtenay 4) Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England. Berkshire, Penguin 1966, All Saints’ Church and the Norman Hall were built in the late 12th century, and the Abbey about 1300. 5) Eg. A Glade in the Phoenix Park, exhibited RHA 1880. 6) Canaletto seems to have painted the background of his Grand Canal series first, then added the figures afterwards. See also Joseph M. Kavanaggh, Sheep in a Snowy Field, 1895, where the horizon line is visible beneath the bodies of the sheep. (‘Exhibition of Irish Paintings and Sculptures’, Gorry Gallery, Dublin 2018, no.50.) 7) See Counting the Flock, 1887, Important Irish Art, Adam’s, 30th May 2018, lot 32; and Newbury, 1887; Joe the Swineherd, 1890; and The Railway Station, Hastings. 8) William Senior, The Thames from Oxford to the Tower, with illustrations by Francis Sylvester Walker, London 1891. I am very grateful to Niamh MacNally, Anne Hodge and Andrew Moore, National Gallery of Ireland; John Hutchinson; and Maria O’Mahony for assistance in my research. JC. Photograph courtesy of The National Gallery of Ireland