Adam's IMPORTANT IRISH ART 1 MARCH 2023

48 31 RICHARD THOMAS MOYNAN RHA Boy on a Swing (1890) Oil on canvas, 35.5 x 25cm (14 x 10”) Signed and dated 1890 Provenance : Private Collection, Dublin € 10,000 - 15,000 This oil on canvas painting entitled Boy on a Swing (1890) is fresh to the market. It has been hidden away in a private collection for the past fifty years. The painting is in its original gold exhibition frame and it is signed and dated by the artist. The letters RHA ac- companies the signature and that dates the work to the latter half of 1890. This was an important year in the painter’s life as on the 18th of July 1890 he gained full membership of the Royal Hibernian Academy, Ireland’s elite society of professional artists. Moynan became an Associate of the Royal Hibernian Academy on the 18th of October 1889 and nine months later he was elevated to full membership. This unusually rapid promotion was a key feature of Moynan’s artistic career. He was 24 when he first embarked on his artistic training, as he had previous- ly studied for the medical profession. However, from his commencement in art-school he constantly won awards for his drawing and painting, including the Taylor and the Cowper prizes. He concluded his Irish art-education by achieving the prestigious Albert Prize for the best pic- ture shown in the Royal Hibernian Academy by a student. The painting was entitled The Last of the 24th at Isandula (1883). Gaining this award allowed him to travel to study under Karl Verlat at the Academy in Antwerp. Six months later he was the first Irishman to achieve the premier place for painting from the living model in an international com- petition called the Concours. He later travelled on to Paris where at the Academy Julian he was frequently placed first in drawing, painting and composition. Moynan began work on Boy on a Swing (1890) with a me- ticulous figure drawing executed in his careful academic style. A shy smile illuminates the child’s features as he ex- pertly brings the swing to a halt by extending his left arm. The detailed rendering of the boy’s portrait contrasts with the artist’s animated treatment of the landscape as Moynan confidently employs broad brush-strokes to por- tray the lush rural setting. This is not an affluent child play- ing on a swing in his own garden. The boy’s raggy dress and bare feet suggest a rare treat when he was given un- expected access to a swing. Children were a constant source of pleasure and inspira- tion for the artist. He painted wonderfully intimate imag- es of his own daughter, Eileen Norah and his son, Richard. Many of his large genre pieces featured children at play. Titles such as The Village Pump (1890), The Tug of War (1890), The See Saw (1891), Invitation to Go Haymaking (1892), A Travelling Show (1892), Ball in the Cap , (1893) and The Game of Marbles (1893), all depict groups of children in a village street or in a garden setting. The psychologist, Jean Piaget viewed play as being integral to the develop- ment of a child’s intelligence and social skills. Moynan’s sketchbooks in the National Gallery of Ireland illustrate his close observation of children engaging in recreational activities. Indeed, these sketchbooks demonstrates that he explored three different compositions before settling on the final narrative for his popular Leixlip street scene, Military Manoeuvres (1891), NGI Collection. This work was painted within six months of Boy on a Swing . While Military Manoeuvres tells the story of a large group of children with make-shift musical instruments pretend- ing to be a military band, the subject draws the viewer into the excitement of the children’s game. Boy on a Swing is a much smaller and more focused composition yet this painting generates a similar effect. The child has an impish quality and he is clearly aware of his good for- tune in trying out the make-shift swing. Dr. Maebh O’Regan, January 2023.