283287 Preisdatenbank Los(e) gefunden, die Ihrer Suche entsprechen
283287 Lose gefunden, die zu Ihrer Suche passen. Abonnieren Sie die Preisdatenbank, um sofortigen Zugriff auf alle Dienstleistungen der Preisdatenbank zu haben.
Preisdatenbank abonnieren- Liste
- Galerie
-
283287 Los(e)/Seite
Los 869
Jacques-Antione Arlaud (1668-1743) - Swiss, portrait miniature of a young lady, seated wearing period costume and fashionable lace bonnet, a quill pen and document on a desk by her side, signed, watercolour on ivory, 4.5" x 4.25"-** The artist was born in Geneva in 1668, his father being a watchmaker. He began his artistic career painting small ornamental miniatures for the jeweller at Dijon, he also attempted some portraits which proved sufficiently successful to encourage him to move to Paris at the age of approx. twenty. He had the patronage of The Duke of Orleans who later became is pupil and accommodated the artist in his apartment at The Palace of St. Cloud. he also visited England with a letter of recommendation to the Princess of Wales afterwards Queen Caroline who's portrait he had the honour of painting. He returned to Paris, but settled in Geneva by 1729. Works by him are in Library and Museum of Geneva and his own portrait is in the Uffizi, Florence
Los 898
Arthur Rowlands (1904-2000) - portrait of a fashionable lady, head and shoulders wearing decorative costume and a bonnet decorated with a black ostrich feather; together with a further smaller portrait of a bearded gentleman wearing a brown coat and gold chain, oil on panel, 17" x 13.5" and 13" x 10" respectively (2)-** The first portrait of the lady has an unfinished oil study of flowers, verso
![English School (mid-19th century), portrait miniature, of a lady, half-length and in profile, inscribed Wybrant [...], waterc](https://cdn.globalauctionplatform.com/14209e0e-9825-4424-a4d7-ae55008e537d/321514ff-0155-43c5-ac3a-ae5500eada37/468x382.jpg)
Los 5372
Nelson and the Napoleonic Wars - English School (early 20th century), a portrait miniature, of Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté (1758 - 1805), watercolour on ivory, oval, 7.5cm x 5.5cm, ebonised frame, 13.5cm x 11cm overall; another, of a Naval Officer, possibly Captain William Crokat (Scottish 1789 - 1879), watercolour and gouache on ivory, oval 7.5cm x 6cm, ebonised frame, 15cm x 12cm overall; a silhouette (3)
Los 3221
AMENDED DESCRIPTION AND ESTIMATE Manner of L. Schunemann (act.c.1651-1681), portrait of the Countess of Rothes. Oil on canvas. Framed. Image size 119 x 99cm. Condition Report: General wear including clear flaking/cracking to entirety of canvas, as well as many other surface scratches and prominent section to the lower centre of canvas where the paint has chipped away. The canvas has been relined at some point.
Los 3245
Attributed to Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723) head and shoulders portrait of a smiling gentleman in a brown robe. Oil on canvas. Artists name inscribed on stretcher verso. 76 x 62cm. Condition Report: Good condition for its age, with some marking and surface scratches to canvas. Fairly prominent, thin diagonal line towards top of canvas, with small areas of matt discolouration in this region.
Los 3527A
Mezzotints after Sir Joshua Reynolds RA (British, 1723-1792), to include: James Watson (1740-1790), 'John Manners, Marquis of Granby', 54.5 x 45cm, with 'Portrait of a Lady' by the same printmaker, 44.5 x 34.5cm; John Dean (c.1750-1798), mother and child, 44.5 x 34.5cm; John Jacobe (1733-1797), 'Miss Meyer, as Hebe', 56 x 37.5cm. All framed and glazed. (4)
Los 528
Pablo Picasso. - Jacob, Max: Chronique des temps héroïques. Paris: L. Broder 1956. 24 x 18 cm. Mit 2 OrLithographien (Umschl., Front.,) und 3 OrRadierungen von P. Picasso sowie 24 Hz. von G. Aubert nach Zeichnungen von P. Picasso. Lose Bogen in OrUmschlag, u. OrPp.-Decke in OrSchuber. (Schuber und Decke l. angestaubt bzw. gebrauchsfleckig; Rücken etwas verfärbt.) Nr. 147 v. 170 Ex. auf Vergé Montval, im Druckvermerk von Picasso signiert. - Goeppert/Cramer 78. Monod 6297. Kat. Basel 78. Bloch 743-745 und 802-804. - „Max Jacob erzählt von den Futuristen, den Surrealisten, von seinen Freunden Apollinaire und Picasso und natürlich auch von Paul Guillaume, als Sammler afrikanischer Kunst. Picasso machte für dieses Buch zu Ehren seines früh verstorbenen Freundes am 7. September 1956 drei Kaltnadelarbeiten: 'Max Jacob beim Schreiben, in Rückenansicht und im Profil'. Ein am 23. September in Vallauris entstandenes lithographisches Portrait diente als Frontispiz. Für den Einband und für den Schuber fertigte Picasso noch zwei Farblithographien. Das Buch ist ausserdem mit 24 Holzschnitten von Georges Aubert nach Picasso-Zeichnungen illustriert ...“ (Kat. Basel).
Los 523
Zwei zylindrische Tassen auf Untertassen Frankreich bzw. Deutsch, 1. Drittel 19. Jh. Verschieden. a) Portrait einer Empiredame in Schal und Topfhut. Goldener Faltbandfries. Goldfond. Innenvergoldung. (Henkel rep.). b) Auf Tasse und Untertasse goldgerahmte Ansicht eines Wohnhauses bzw. einer Häuserzeile. Innenvergoldung. Goldrand. Beide ohne Marke. (59728)
Los 526
Tasse mit Bildnis Kaiser Franz' I. von Österreich Kaiserliche Manufaktur Wien, um 1834 Glockenform mit Volutenhenkel. Partiell königsblauer Fond. Auf der Schauseite das bunt gemalte, goldgerahmte Portrait des Kaisers in Feldmarschallsuniform und Ordensschmuck. Goldefeuborte. Goldränderungen. Gepresster Bindenschild. Eingepresste Bossierernr. mit Dat. (1)834. (59734)
Los 111
William Ashford 1746-1824 "A Landscape based on Dawson Grove, Co. Monaghan, with the artist sketching, 1785" O.O.C., 17" x 24" (42 x 62cms), Signed (on urn pedestal) 'WAshford' and dated 1785 Bears label J. S. Maas & Co Ltd New Bond Street Although William Ashford is best known today for his views of Dublin, commissioned by Viscount Fitzwilliam, in the late eighteenth century he painted landscapes and houses throughout Ireland, including at Tourin on the Blackwater River, Maynooth Castle, Powerscourt, and Charleville in Co. Offaly. In the foreground of this Claudean landscape, a view of the Dawson Grove estate in Co. Monaghan, Ashford depicts an artist; presumably a self-portrait. Seated, with a large sketchbook on his knees, the artist looks across a river valley, with woods and mountains in the distance. On the right stands a large urn on a pedestal, close to the corner of a Palladian temple. While the location is identifiable, Ashford has taken some liberties with the landscape, including moving the temple?in fact a mausoleum to Lady Anne Dawson, wife of Thomas Dawson?to a new location on the hillside. Designed by James Wyatt and built in 1770, the mausoleum was (and is) on Black Island, on Dromore Lough. Ten years later, Thomas Dawson replaced the old Dawson Grove house with a new Georgian mansion. This painting was evidently commissioned not long afterwards. Thomas?s son Richard, who followed him into politics, died young, and was commemorated also with a memorial designed by James Wyatt, in this case a classical column, erected in 1809. The urn depicted by Ashford, a copy of the Borghese Urn in Rome, may once have been at Dawson Grove, or may have been introduced into the composition for artistic effect. With building projects and improvements being carried out over the course of the eighteenth century, Dawson Grove was depicted by several artists, including Paul Sandby, whose view of the mausoleum at an early stage of its construction was engraved by William Walker and published in Sandby?s 1778 The Virtuosi's Museum. The artist Thomas Roberts also painted several views of Dawson Grove in 1770. Destroyed by fire in 1846, the Georgian house at Dawson Grove was replaced by a large Victorian mansion, named Dartrey House, which in turn has since been demolished. Born in Birmingham, William Ashford moved to Dublin in 1764 where he worked in the Ordnance Office, a government post which involved touring around the country, inspecting munitions stores. Ashford sketched as he travelled, developing his skills as a topographical artist. However his first paintings were flower pieces, and it was not until 1772 that he began to exhibit landscape paintings, at the Society of Artists of Ireland. The following year he exhibited his first painting of Dawson Grove at the Society?s exhibition. From then on, Ashford became celebrated for his idealised landscapes, receiving commissions from several landowners to record their demesnes. He delighted in depicting lush, well-tended country scenes, complete with lakes, fields and trees, and would often use a building as the focal point for a composition, as in his view of Cloughoughter Castle in Co. Cavan (Fota House). Unlike many of the generation that succeeded him, Ashford was neither a revolutionary nor a Romantic painter, but one who delighted in depicting peaceful estates and houses. If he encountered distressing scenes on his travels, he left no visual record of them. Greatly esteemed in his own lifetime, in 1813 he was elected President of the Society of Artists of Ireland, and a decade later became President of the newly-founded Royal Hibernian Academy. He died at his home in Dublin, in 1824. Provenance: Christie's London, 3 July 1964, lot 128 (as An extensive view of Dawson Grove, County Cavan, with an artist sketching below a classical urn in the grounds of the Doric Mausoleum) With J. Maas, London (according to a label on the reverse) Private Collection, Ireland. Dr. Peter Murray, 2022
Los 115
Captain Richard Brydges Beechey , RHA (1808-1895) "Sybil Head, Near the Blaskets and Dingle, West of Ireland 1884," O.O.C., 76cms x 115cms (30" x 45"). (1) One of Beechey's finest marine paintings, Sybil Head depicts three currachs braving rough seas beneath jagged rocks at the north west tip of the Dingle Peninsula. To the left, a sailing vessel, perhaps a naval brig, bears down on the currachs, while to the right a hooker approaches from Ferriter's Cove. Cormorants take flight and seagulls land on the rough seas. A floating tree trunk lies in the path of the brig; Beechey used details such as these to introduce a sense of danger to his paintings. To the right, a mountain, one of the 'Three Sisters', is silhouetted against the stormy sky. The subject of this painting, and the Dingle peninsula itself, had become well-known to a wider audience in the 1840?s through the work of both the Ordnance Survey and the Geological Survey of Ireland. In June 1856, the geologist George Victor du Noyer surveyed the peninsula, incorporating watercolour views of Sybil Head in his maps. He also painted two dramatic views on Inishtooskert, an island near Inish Tearaght, of sharply angled cliffs on the northern side of the island. (these watercolour map are in the collection of the Geological Survey of Ireland). Born in London in 1808, the son of artists Sir William Beechey RA and miniaturist Anne Jessop (Lady Beechey), Richard Brydges Beechey was a naval officer who also became one of Ireland?s most accomplished marine painters. Aged thirteen he enrolled as a cadet at the Royal Naval College in Portsmouth, where art formed part of his training. Joining HMS Blossom in 1825, he served as a midshipman under his older brother, hydrographer Captain Frederick William Beechey, for three years in the Pacific. During this time, Richard Brydges painted watercolour views of Mexico and California. Landing on Pitcairn Island, he sketched a portrait of John Adams, last surviving mutineer from HMS Bounty. They then sailed north, into Arctic waters, as far as the Bering Straits, but failed in their objective of meeting up with Franklin?s second expedition, which was making its way north-west around Canada. Although it is generally stated that Beechey transferred to the Survey of Ireland in 1835, the chart of Lough Derg is titled ?Surveyed by Commander James Wolfe, Assisted by Lieutenant R. B. Beechey 1830?. This marked the beginning of years of surveying the coast and rivers of Ireland. As well as surveying, Beechey painted consistently, exhibiting both at the Royal Academy and the Royal Hibernian Academy. Seven years later, the survey of Lough Ree was complete, and their attention turned to the more hazardous West of Ireland coastline. Prompted by dangers they had encountered in navigating the coast of Cork and Kerry, Wolfe?s report, published in 1846 ?On the want of Lights, Buoys and Beacons on the Coast of Ireland? led to the building of new lighthouses on Sybil Head and at other locations. Although Beechey painted this view of Sybil Head decades later, he would likely have used notes and sketches made during his survey of the Kerry coast in the early 1840?s. After retiring from the Navy in 1864, with the rank of Admiral, Beechey settled for a time at Monkstown, Co. Dublin and four years later was elected HRHA. In 1874, he was living at 110 Pembroke Road, and in that year painted Eagle Island, off Erris Head, West of Ireland, a work exhibited a decade later at the Royal Hibernian Academy. By 1885, he was living at Plymouth, where he continued painting. There are works by Beechey in collections both in Ireland and abroad. His Mail Boat ?Connaught? is in the National Gallery of Ireland, while a view of the Blasket Islands is in the Royal St. George Yacht Club, along with a panoramic view of Kingstown Harbour. Fastnet Rock, and Lights, off Cape Clear, shown at the RHA in 1877, is now in the collection of the Royal Ocean Racing Club, while HMS Erebus passing through the chain of bergs (1842) is in the Maritime Museum in Greenwich. Provenance: The Joe McGrath Collection, Cabinteely House, Dublin. Dr. Peter Murray, 2022
Los 120
John Butler Yeats, RHA (1839-1922) "Portrait of a Woman ," O.O.C., 76 h x 61 w cms (30" x 24")(1) In addition to portraits of political and cultural leaders such as John O'Leary, Douglas Hyde, Ruth Lane and George Moore, John Butler Yeats often sketched and painted portraits of family members and relatives. The sitter in this portrait has not been identified, but may be a member of the Pollexfen or Cottenham families. Painted with Yeats?s characteristic finesse and sensitivity, the portrait depicts a woman in early middle age, dressed in a fur coat or stole, wearing a white blouse and jewelled pendant necklace. The Pollexfens were important in Yeats?s life, with much of his early education taking place while he lived with them in Sligo. In 1857, he was a student at Trinity College Dublin and during a visit to Sligo in 1862, aged twenty-three, he and his cousin Susan Pollexfen became engaged. The following year the couple married. Yeats then studied law in Dublin, but became dissatisfied and elected to move with his wife and young children to London, and take up a career as an artist. He enrolled first in Heatherley?s School of Art, afterwards attending the Slade. Initially the family spent summers in Sligo together, but by the early 1870's, John Butler was staying on alone in London while his wife and children went to Ireland. The following years of moving between Ireland and London were not easy: after suffering a stroke in 1887, Susan became an invalid. She died in 1900 and Yeats formed a friendship with Rosa Butt, daughter of the Irish politician Isaac Butt. The American lawyer John Quinn then helped Yeats to settle with his daughters Susan (Lily) and Elizabeth (Lolly) in Dublin, and in 1901 he had a joint exhibition with Nathaniel Hone. The following year, Hugh Lane commissioned Yeats to paint portraits of people influential in the Irish literary revival: these were to form the nucleus of a new museum of modern art in Dublin. After accompanying Lily to New York in 1908, Yeats decided to settle in Manhattan, where he lived and worked until his death in 1922. Dr. Peter Murray, 2022
Los 121
Frank McKelvey, RHA, RUA (1895-1974) "Portrait of a Man," O.O.C. 92 h x 71 w cms (36" x 28") An understated and dignified portrait by Frank McKelvey, depicting a man dressed in a grey business suit, with matching waistcoat, white shirt and grey silk tie. The identity of the sitter is not known, and few clues are provided by the setting, in terms of architecture or context. Seated in a wooden chair beside a desk, the man?perhaps a senior civil servant, accountant or bank manager?is pleasant looking, with thinning hair. He wears a wedding ring, wristwatch and horn-rimmed spectacles. He has a candid and open expression, and although seated at an angle, with his hands folded, his head is turned slightly so as to look directly at the observer. Although a leading member of the Northern landscape painters, and best known for his Impressionist/Realist views of coastline and countryside, from the outset of his career McKelvey was also a talented portrait painter. In 1918, while a full-time student at the Belfast College of Art, he won the Taylor art competition with his painting The Grandmother. In Queen?s University there are ten portraits by him, while in the Ulster Museum there are thirteen portrait drawings, of US presidents of Ulster extraction. Born in Belfast in 1895, McKelvey attended evening classes at the Belfast College of Art, before enrolling in 1911 as a full time student. He also trained as a poster designer for David Allen and Sons. Over the following years he painted views in the vicinity of Bessborough, Co. Armagh, where his in-laws had a farm. While the Realism of his early work gradually gave way to a more Impressionist palette and approach, McKelvey never swayed from providing an authentic depiction of life of the Irish countryside and coastline, and this ability to capture likenesses is evident also in his portraits. Early in his career, McKelvey was commissioned by Thomas McGowan to paint a series of views depicting the older parts of Belfast city: these are now in the collection of the Ulster Museum. In 1920 he established a studio in Royal Avenue and over the following years became a member of the Belfast Art Society, the Ulster Society of Painters and, in 1930, the Royal Hibernian Academy. In 1924, after marrying he settled in Co. Down, but two years later moved back to Belfast. In New York McKelvey was one of a number of Irish artists shown at the Hackett Gallery, while in Dublin, in 1937, he had his first exhibition at the Victor Waddington Gallery. A founder member of the Royal Ulster Academy in 1930, he last exhibited with the RUA in 1969. McKelvey?s favourite locations for painting landscape were Co. Armagh, the Antrim Coast and, in later years, Co. Donegal. Dr. Peter Murray, 2022
Los 122
William Orpen, RA, RI, RHA (1878-1931) "Portrait of the Artist's Wife, Grace Knewstub,1912," O.O.C., 58 x 36cms (23" x 14"). Signed and dated 'Orpen Dublin 1912' Depicting the head and shoulders of a young woman?almost certainly the artist's wife Grace Knewstub this portrait by William Orpen, painted in Dublin in 1912, dates from a time when significant events were taking place in their lives together. While the head is well-finished, Orpen blocked out the area of the dress with broad brushstrokes of brown and black, evidently with the intention of finishing the portrait at a later date. However Grace?s eyes are downcast, and she appears to have been a reluctant sitter. Her hair is not combed, nor is she wearing the fashionable clothes and jewellery that adorned so many of Orpen's sitters. Nonetheless, the portrait shows the artist's brilliance in capturing not only a likeness, but also a sense of life, a gift he shared with his contemporary Augustus John. This is no formulaic society portrait; Grace is instantly recognisable as an individual, with a strong personality. That the painting remained unfinished is no surprise. That same year Orpen painted one of his finest society portraits, that of his long-term lover, the wealthy American Mrs. Evelyn St. George. In January of that year St. George had given birth to their child, Vivien. This would have caused scandal in the middle-class Dublin milieu in which Orpen had grown up, and immense upset to his wife Grace, with whom he had two children. The ramifications would have spread to England, where Grace?s sister was married to the artist William Rothenstein. Also dating from 1912 are Orpen's Portrait of Gardenia with a Riding Whip, depicting the teenage daughter of Evelyn St. George, and several portraits of another American, Vera Brewster, who had married the Irish writer Joseph Hone and lived next door to the Orpens. The artist was clearly fascinated by Vera, who sat for him on several occasions that year: in The Angler, she holds a fishing rod, while in The Blue Hat, she is wearing fashionable headgear. In 1912 also, his portrait of Vera, The Chinese Shawl, was exhibited at the New English Art Club and later purchased by the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne. Other portraits from that summer include Portrait of Kit, his daughter, a cheerful young girl sitting with her arms folded and wearing a white knitted hat and scarf. Nevertheless, amidst all these coquettish poses, arch expressions and fashionable accessories, the portrait of his wife Grace stands out for its down-to-earth directness and honesty. Born in Stillorgan, Co. Dublin, William Orpen was the son of a solicitor, while his mother Anne was the eldest daughter of the Rev. Charles Caulfeild, Bishop of Nassau. After attending the Metropolitan School of Art, he went on to the Slade School of Art in London, winning the composition prize of 1899 with The Play Scene from Hamlet (Houghton Hall, Norfolk). From the outset, Orpen eschewed experimentation and flirtations with Modernism. He revered seventeenth-century painters such as Rembrandt, Velasquez and Chardin, and sought to emulate their Realist style. In terms of his own peers, he admired the work of Augustus John, and joined the New English Art Club. His Homage to Manet depicts members of the NEAC, sitting below Manet?s portrait of Eva Gonzalès. In 1902, in cooperation with John, he opened an art school in Chelsea and also began to teach at the Metropolitan School in Dublin, a position he held until 1914. He was a friend of the collector Hugh Lane, with whom he travelled to Paris and Madrid in 1905. Three years later he began to exhibit regularly at the Royal Academy in London. Elected a member of the Royal Hibernian Academy, he rapidly became one of the most successful portrait painters in London and Dublin, being overwhelmed with commissions. Many of Orpen's portraits are painted in his characteristic bravura style, and yet he seems to have grown to dislike the elite social circles in which he moved. On the outbreak of World War I, he was appointed an Official War Artist and was given the rank of Major in the British Army. Some of his best paintings were done as a war artist, and his images of the Somme, of injured soldiers and ruined cities, remain today amongst the most powerful works of art depicting that conflict, while his portraits of key negotiators at the Treaty of Versailles are a valuable record, reflecting also his privately-held views on the politics of the time. After the war ended in 1918, Open resumed his successful portrait practice. Although he did not return to Ireland after 1915, his artistic legacy at the Metropolitan School of Art continued for many years. Provenance: Originally owned by Lady Yarrow (née Eleanor Barnes) a leading promoter of the Arts and Crafts Revival, this drawing was gifted to the McDonnell family of Dalguise in Monkstown, Co. Dublin. Dr. Peter Murray, 2022
Los 123
William Orpen, RA, RI, RHA (1878-1931) "Portrait of James Hugh Smith-Barry, after Swinton (1904)," O.O.C., 61.1 x 46cm (24" x 18"). (1) From Anglo-Norman times onwards, the Barry family were prominent in county Cork and further afield. Closely associated with Barryscourt Castle and Fota estate, through the Elizabethan and Tudor periods, and the turbulent seventeenth century, the family survived many vicissitudes. However, in 1823, with the death of the 8th Earl of Barrymore, the title became extinct. It was revived in 1902, when Arthur Hugh Smith-Barry (1843-1925) was created Baron Barrymore and took his seat in the House of Lords. Anxious to affirm his position in society, Arthur Hugh commissioned Sir William Orpen to paint a posthumous portrait of his father, James Hugh Smith Barry (1816-56). The painting was to be hung at Fota House, surrounded by portraits of Barry ancestors. It was to be based on a chalk pastel sketch made in 1854 by James Rannie Swinton (1816-1888), a Scottish portraitist whose sitters included the Countess of Dufferin and other wealthy patrons. The resulting portrait is a testament to Orpen?s skill as an artist. Although based on Swinton?s pastel sketch, it is spirited and full of vitality, the paint applied with the artist?s customary verve. On 20th December 1904, Orpen wrote to Baron Barrymore from Forthampton Court, Tewkesbury, informing him that he had sent the portrait to him, and trusting it was ?to your liking?. On 28th December, Orpen wrote again, from 13 Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, thanking Barrymore for a cheque for eighty four pounds and ten shillings. He mentioned how he had completed the portrait, working from photographs. Barrymore was so pleased with the portrait he asked some years later if he could have a copy made. Orpen delegated this task to his assistant, the young artist Sean Keating from Limerick. The original by Orpen was hung at Fota House in Cork, while the copy, by Keating, hung in the study at Marbury in Cheshire. Barrymore was also keen to have his own portrait painted by Orpen, who, in an undated letter to the Baron, outlined his prices. A head and shoulders was five hundred pounds, half-length was seven hundred while a full length portrait would set Barrymore back a thousand pounds. ?Of course I should like to try and paint you very much ? but it would have to be done here in London, as I will not be able to leave here this summer or autumn.? wrote Orpen. On 7th February, he wrote again, from 8 South Bolton Gardens, thanking Barrymore for a cheque for five hundred pounds which had arrived safely. Orpen had enjoyed painting the portrait: ?it gave me great pleasure doing it, as it is always nice being with nice people, and strange as it may seem people who get painted very often are far from it! and treat one as a business proposition!!? Together with a collection of letters from Sir William Orpen to Lord Barrymore relating to the work. Dr. Peter Murray, 2022
Los 129
George William Russell ('AE') (1867-1935) "Portrait of a Young Girl in a white Dress holding Flowers," O.O.C., 62 x 51cms (24 1/2" x 20"). (1) The term 'Celtic Twilight' accurately describes the art of George Russell, with many of his paintings depicting scenes of childhood. He delighted in creating a fantasy world, peopled with mythological beings. In such paintings, suffused with the glow of wistful nostalgia, his figures, generalized rather than specific portraits, are enveloped in a haze. This portrait of a young girl however is more formal, and depicts an actual rather than an imagined person. Dressed in a white muslin pinafore dress over a blue blouse, her dark hair tied with a bow, the girl sits in a chair looking out at the observer with a curiously determined expression. In her hands she holds a small spray of flowers. The background is a uniform brown deepening to a dark shadow behind the girl, and the initials of the painter ?AE? are painted the top right corner. The identity of the sitter is not known; it may be an early portrait of Kitsy Franklin, whose mother Victoria Franklin was the sister of the writer Susan Mitchell, who edited the Irish Statesman and was a close friend of Russell. Adopting the initials ?AE? as his signature or monogram, Russell is remembered today as one of the leading cultural figures of the Irish Literary Revival. In addition to being a painter, he was also an influential economist, editor, and promoter of rural development. Practical, and well versed in politics and economics, Russell nonetheless also believed in the existence of a spiritual world, inhabited by ethereal beings. Influenced by Symbolist artists such as Gustave Moreau and Puvis de Chavannes, he espoused Theosophy and esoteric religions, giving expression to this vision through a prolific output of paintings, novels, plays and poetry. Born in Lurgan, Co. Armagh, as a child Russell moved to Dublin with his family. After studying at the Metropolitan School of Art, in 1887 he began working for the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society, and edited the IAOS newspaper, the Irish Homestead. Alongside these practical concerns, he found time to study esoteric religions, joining the Dublin Theosophical Society in 1888, and later forming the ?Hermetic Society?. He was also involved with drama, in 1902 becoming vice-president of the Irish National Theatre Society (later the Abbey Theatre Company). His plays include Deirdre, (1902), while his first book of poetry, Homeward: Songs by the Way, published in 1894, was followed by his 1913 Collected Poems. In addition to painting, plays and poetry, Russell wrote on agricultural policy and political theory, in The Building up of a Rural Civilisation (1910), and The National Being (1916). He was highly regarded as an artist, and, in 1913, with the support and encouragement of the lawyer John Quinn, his paintings were shown at the Armory Show in New York. Encouraged also by William Butler Yeats, Russell painted murals depicting his mystical visions, at 3 Upper Ely Place, headquarters of the Theosophical Society. He also painted portraits, of Yeats, Lady Gregory and others. Dr. Peter Murray, Febrauary 2022
Loading...-
283287 Los(e)/Seite