Adam's IMPORTANT IRISH ART 27 MARCH 2024

26 16 PAUL HENRY RHA (1877-1958) The Bog (1911) Oil on canvas, 51 x 76cm (20 x30”) Signed Provenance: Lancelot Studholm, acquired from 1912 London Exhibition; With Oriel Gallery, Dublin; With Hillsboro Fine Art, Dublin, label verso; Private Collection. Exhibited: 1911 Dublin, Leinster Hall, Paintings by Mrs Frances Baker, Grace Henry, Paul Henry, Casimir Dunin-Markiewicz and George Russell(AE) ; 1912 London, Allied Artists Association, Paintings of Co. Mayo, Ireland (Synge’s Country) by Mr and Mrs Paul Henry ; 1913 Belfast, Pollock’s Gallery, Pictures by Mr and Mrs Paul Henry ; 1922 Dublin, Dublin Painters Soci- ety, Exhibition of Pictures by Paul and Grace Henry ; 1978 Dublin, Oriel Gallery, Paul Henry (cat. addenda no.11, as Achill , repr. in colour). Literature: Paul Henry - Paintings, Drawings, Illustrations , by S.B. Kennedy, Yale University Press, 2007, p.164, cat.no.348. € 60,000 - 80,000 S.B Kennedy locates the setting of this work as almost cer- tainly Achill and it is described as such in the Dublin 1978 exhibition catalogue. Henry visited the island for the first time in 1910 and while his initial Achill paintings focused on the people of the island community, this work, made a year later, reflects a movement towards pure landscape. He had developed his painting style in London, exploring the city on foot, often making sketches that would later become fully fledged paintings. His move to Achill would signal the shift away from the London art scene and for the rest of his career he focused on exclusively Irish scenes. An earlier example, Landscape with Turf Stacks c.1910 (S.B Kennedy, p.158, cat. no.315), illustrates on a smaller scale, the workings of the same subject matter. In this present work the composition is much grander and expansive. The influence of impressionism is evident in the handling of the paint, applied in varying directions. He uses quick upright strokes for the marshy grasses of the bogland and in these areas it is thinly applied, with the grain of the canvas visible underneath. The fine lines of paint captures the linear pat- tern of the turf stacks, piled on top of one another. While as we move into the background there are longer and thicker brushstrokes as the hills and turf stacks become less de- fined. The same gleaming pool of water is seen in both works, with Henry using touches of white paint to illuminate it. It flows along deep channels dug into the ground, running through the mid-line of the composition, pooling on the left-hand side before disappearing out of view. The turf stacks are not as stark against the background as can be seen in lat- er examples, when they are drawn in an inky black. In this instance they are more in harmony with surrounding land- scape, balanced against the green and brown tones of the fields. The sky is a muted white, painted with short strokes, in varying directions, giving the impression of an overcast day, light almost breaking through the clouds. Niamh Corcoran, February 2024