Adam's IMPORTANT IRISH ART 31 MAY 2023

62 44 CAMILLE SOUTER HRHA (1929-2023) Bewley’s 8.45, Filling the Sugar (1975) Oil on paper on board, 18 x 18cm (7 x 7”) Signed; inscribed verso Provenance: With The Dawson Gallery, Dublin, December 1975 where purchased, thence by descent to the present owners; The Estates of Dr. John & Mary Esther O’Driscoll, Kildare Exhibited: Dublin, Douglas Hyde Gallery, 1980, addenda no. 11 Literature: Garrett Cormican, ‘ Camille Souter- The Mirror in the Sea ’ 2006, catalogue no. 365, full page illustration, p. 297 € 5,000 - 7,000 This is one of a relatively small number of works by Camille Souter where a human figure takes centre stage. Camille Souter is best known for her land- scapes. Part of the reason for this was her respect for other people’s privacy. If you were going to paint an- other person, particularly in a realistic way in which they might be recognized, she would have consid- ered it necessary to ask their permission. This paint- ing is, however, a more of an impressionistic genre piece. Until recent times before the proliferation of coffee shops from the mid 1990’s onward, Bewleys was something of a Dublin institution. People would go there to have their breakfast before doing their Christmas shopping, do the Irish Times crossword while having a coffee, or just going about their daily business. Trinity students would often arrive there first thing in the morning after the Trinity Ball there being nowhere else to eat open in the city centre in the early hours. The title of this work suggests a daily routine in Bew- leys of filling the sugar bowls to prepare for the day ahead and begs the question: just how much sugar did Dubliners consume daily in the 1970s? There are no figures seated in the background or to either side of the table. The sole protagonist is totally absorbed by her task. It captures a very intimate, quiet moment. While reminiscent or Bonnard’s work on one level, Souter’s palette is much more muted. This in keeping with the interior of Bewleys itself and seems reflective of the first semi-somnolent moments of day; one ima- gines while the artist waited for a first coffee. Garrett Cormican, April 2023