104
Sir John Lavery RA RSA RHA (1856-1941)
Estimate:
€8,000 - €12,000
Passed
Live Auction
Irish & International Art Auction
Size
30.50 by 25.50in. (77.5 by 64.8cm)
Description
Title: PORTRAIT OF A LADY
Note: Famous for its tragic power in a short story of 1842 by Edgar Allan Poe, the oval portrait returned to popularity at the end of the nineteenth century. At once intimate and inquisitorial, such works dispense with studio props and, by mimicking the shape of a head, encourage dedicated scrutiny of a face. Flourish, painterly shorthand in the present instance is reserved for the sitter's décolletage. Most of Lavery's oval portraits were painted in the Edwardian years, with the notable exception of Kathleen ni Houlihan - his rendition of Hazel Lavery as the ancient Irish queen, commissioned by the Note Committee for the Free State currency. Of the Edwardian pictures, a number have not been traced. Of these two can be discounted on the grounds of size, while others are identifiable from contemporary photographs of sitters or from other works. Most, unlike the present example, have verso inscriptions naming the person depicted. The identity and precise dating of the picture, painted c. 1905, thus remains a mystery and since it originally appeared in the United States, it has not been possible for it to be viewed in the real. However, from images recently supplied, it appears that the face has been retouched by another hand. Prof. Kenneth McConkeyFebruary 2020
Note: Famous for its tragic power in a short story of 1842 by Edgar Allan Poe, the oval portrait returned to popularity at the end of the nineteenth century. At once intimate and inquisitorial, such works dispense with studio props and, by mimicking the shape of a head, encourage dedicated scrutiny of a face. Flourish, painterly shorthand in the present instance is reserved for the sitter's décolletage. Most of Lavery's oval portraits were painted in the Edwardian years, with the notable exception of Kathleen ni Houlihan - his rendition of Hazel Lavery as the ancient Irish queen, commissioned by the Note Committee for the Free State currency. Of the Edwardian pictures, a number have not been traced. Of these two can be discounted on the grounds of size, while others are identifiable from contemporary photographs of sitters or from other works. Most, unlike the present example, have verso inscriptions naming the person depicted. The identity and precise dating of the picture, painted c. 1905, thus remains a mystery and since it originally appeared in the United States, it has not been possible for it to be viewed in the real. However, from images recently supplied, it appears that the face has been retouched by another hand. Prof. Kenneth McConkeyFebruary 2020
Medium
oil on canvas; (tondo)
Signature
signed lower left
Provenance
The Collection of Maidelena Estate, St. Petersburg, Florida, until 1972;With Garey Galleries, Florida, 1972;Where by the previous owner, Mr Gerrald Walden of Macon, Georgia, USA;Private collection, UK since 2019
