Adam's Important Irish Art 28th September 2022

100 100 EDWIN HAYES (1819 - 1904) French Fishing Boats Oil on canvas, 76 x 127cm (30 x 50”) Signed € 8,000 - 12,000 Edwin Hayes remains one of the most illustrious of Ireland’s maritime painters. Hayes may have been born in Bristol, but it was in Dublin that his painting skills and career blossomed. He enjoyed a long career which saw his works exhibited regularly at both the Royal Hibernian Academy and the Royal Academy from the mid-19thcentury onwards. Hayes worked on transatlantic sailing vessels and was also a keen yachtsman. This time spent at sea gave Hayes a deep understand- ing of the subject and bestowed on him a gift for handling marine subjects. Hayes was famed for his seascapes of the Channel and the Irish Sea. In the present work we see French fishing vessels navigating stormy seas off the English south coast, probably close to Folkstone. The piece focuses on the crew of a single lugger who skilfully steer clear of a rocky outcrop. The narrative creates a nervous excitement within the viewer as they fear for the safety of the crew. The life buoy in the left middle ground highlights that they are perilously close to rocks. The rocks indeed serve as a reminder of the dangers these fleets faced daily. The life buoy adds tension to the piece as the onlooker momentarily dreads that a member of the crew has fallen overboard. The white clouds are mirrored by the white capped waves crashing against the coast. The serene sky above the sailors contrasts to the incoming dark clouds that have begun to roll across the mainland. The movement of the fishing boat is mirrored by the flight of the gull that glides across the foreground with its attentively detailed black tipped wings. The tower and ruins on the headland create an elegant backdrop to the coastal scene. Daragh Geraghty-Singleton, August 2022