8.50 by 10.50in. (21.6 by 26.7cm)

Title: STUDY FOR A FAMILY, 1951
Note: Study for A Family is one of a series that culminated in the celebrated painting, A Family (1951), in the collection of the National Gallery of Ireland. The artist has been recognised as one of the most significant Irish artists of the twentieth century, and A Family as one of the most iconic images in the Irish context, in its challenges to the social and cultural mores of the time as well as its radical departure from traditional methods of representation. As part of Ireland's participation at the Venice Biennale in 1956, it was awarded a prestigious prize in recognition of its wider relevance. In this context, the studies for a major painting can be revealing of a theme's evolution for the artist; comparison with the final work can highlight the particular character of a study. Study for A Family presents the figures in a more naturalistic, less stylised manner than the painting, and so suggest the lived experience of the dramatic narrative. As with the painting, the arrangement reflects traditional reclining nude images, and was particularly influenced by Manet's Olympia. However, the Study utilises flesh tones, rather than the stripped back greys and whites, and cubistic angularity that were soon to dominate le Brocquy's work. In its response to fleshy embodiment, Study appears preliminary to the Odalisque paintings that formed part of the Homage series produced by the artist more than fifty years later.Unlike the intense dejection evident in t the painting, in Study the male seems preoccupied with practicalities, his upper torso seen from behind. Rather, it is the child here who appears dejected, compared to the painting where the child symbolises hope and innocence. In Study, the geometries of the bed are swathed in the glowing sweep of drapery - an effective contrast to the woman's body, and set in a room rather than the bunker-type space intended to evoke post-War insecurities in an era of atomic military power, and the displacement of people in the wake of conflict. Thus, in Study, there is no evident external context to the events within. In addition, the artist has not included here what he described as a feral cat. The Study does though hint at the disintegrating relationship, evidently a recurring concept: the woman turns towards the viewer, the man is preoccupied and distant, and the child shows signs of the emotional trauma of circumstances. While still emerging as a narrative, it is nonetheless a sensitive, empathetic response, evident in the tonal harmonies, and organisation of intimate space, before its evolution into the irreconcilable emotional trauma of the finale.Dr. Yvonne ScottJanuary 2019

pencil, pen and ink and wash on paper

signed and dated [22.1.51] lower left