139
Leo Whelan RHA (1892-1956)
Estimate:
€1,000 - €1,500
Sold
€950
Live Auction
Irish & International Art
ARTIST
Leo Whelan RHA (1892-1956)
Size
48 by 33in. (121.9 by 83.8cm)
Description
Title: PORTRAIT OF WILLIAM EDWARD ELLIS M.A., LL.D (1853-1926) 1913
Note: The present portrait was the fifth ever submission by the artist to the RHA Annual exhibition. His first exhibit was a portrait also in 1911, followed by two works in 1912 and the present work in 1913; shown alongside 'The Mirror' (no. 366) a striking early self-portrait which sold through these rooms on 1 October 2012 as lot 86 for €24,000. The 1911 census records the Ellis family living at 3, Dartmouth Road, Dublin with William Edward Ellis, born in Ballylongford, Kerry, aged 57, a JP, M.A., LL.B., Barrister [not in practice]. Ellis was educated at Erasmus Smith School, Athlone and Trinity College, Dublin and was Local Government Auditor in Belfast from 1903 until retirement and Justice of the Peace. Edith Anne Ellis, his wife, was born in Jersey, Channel Islands daughter of James Graves, first Superintendent of the Transatlantic Cable Station, Valentia, Co. Kerry. In 1911 they had been married 34 years and had 6 children 5 of whom were living. In retirement he lived in Dublin and was involved in many projects including the revision of Thom's Directory and the establishment of the Graduates' War Memorial in Trinity College (his son had been killed in action at Gallipoli in WWI). Ellis is the great grandfather of Justice Catherine McGuinness (née Ellis; born 1934) a retired Irish judge who served on the Supreme Court, High Court and Circuit Court. She was appointed by President Michael D. Higgins to the Council of State in January 2012. In May 2013 she was appointed Chair of the National University of Ireland Galway Governing Authority.
Note: The present portrait was the fifth ever submission by the artist to the RHA Annual exhibition. His first exhibit was a portrait also in 1911, followed by two works in 1912 and the present work in 1913; shown alongside 'The Mirror' (no. 366) a striking early self-portrait which sold through these rooms on 1 October 2012 as lot 86 for €24,000. The 1911 census records the Ellis family living at 3, Dartmouth Road, Dublin with William Edward Ellis, born in Ballylongford, Kerry, aged 57, a JP, M.A., LL.B., Barrister [not in practice]. Ellis was educated at Erasmus Smith School, Athlone and Trinity College, Dublin and was Local Government Auditor in Belfast from 1903 until retirement and Justice of the Peace. Edith Anne Ellis, his wife, was born in Jersey, Channel Islands daughter of James Graves, first Superintendent of the Transatlantic Cable Station, Valentia, Co. Kerry. In 1911 they had been married 34 years and had 6 children 5 of whom were living. In retirement he lived in Dublin and was involved in many projects including the revision of Thom's Directory and the establishment of the Graduates' War Memorial in Trinity College (his son had been killed in action at Gallipoli in WWI). Ellis is the great grandfather of Justice Catherine McGuinness (née Ellis; born 1934) a retired Irish judge who served on the Supreme Court, High Court and Circuit Court. She was appointed by President Michael D. Higgins to the Council of State in January 2012. In May 2013 she was appointed Chair of the National University of Ireland Galway Governing Authority.
Medium
oil on canvas
Signature
signed and dated upper left; signed again and inscribed [January 1913 exhibited Royal Hibernian Academy]
Exhibited
RHA, Dublin, 1913, no. 9
