43
Gretta Bowen (1880-1981)
Starting Bid: €640
Estimate:
€800 - €1,200
Ended
Timed Auction
Online Summer Art Sale
ARTIST
Gretta Bowen (1880-1981)
Size
15 by 18in. (38.1 by 45.7cm)
Description
Title: FESTIVAL ("THE TWELFTH")
Note: Born in Dublin on New Years’ Day, 1880, Gretta Bowen began painting quite late in life. Having experimented with left-over paint belonging to her sons George and Arthur Campbell, her talent as an artist was discovered and much to her surprise, lead to her first solo show in Belfast in 1955. Rather than trade on her sons’ artistic reputations, she decided not to sign her name as Gretta Campbell but instead with her maiden name, Bowen. In describing her unique style, The Times wrote in 1955: “Rhythm and movement are the characteristics of her work. There is nothing static in it. She will paint children at play, a fun fair, nuns in procession, children on their way to confirmation, a Twelfth of July Orange procession, a military band or dockside scene – and whatever she paints conveys a feeling of brightness, of delight in life”. (See Snoddy, page 40). Numerous successful solo shows followed at the David Hendriks Gallery, Dublin, the Bell Gallery, Belfast, the Tom Caldwell Gallery, Dublin and Belfast and also at the Oireachtas, the RHA and the Ulster Society of Women Artists.Other depictions of "The Twelfth" (also called the Glorious Twelfth or Orangemen's Day) is an Ulster Protestant celebration held on 12 July each year) have been painted by the artist, one other example was exhibited through the Emer Gallery in their major show of her work in autumn 2009.
Frame size: 24 by 21in. (61 by 53cm.)
Note: Born in Dublin on New Years’ Day, 1880, Gretta Bowen began painting quite late in life. Having experimented with left-over paint belonging to her sons George and Arthur Campbell, her talent as an artist was discovered and much to her surprise, lead to her first solo show in Belfast in 1955. Rather than trade on her sons’ artistic reputations, she decided not to sign her name as Gretta Campbell but instead with her maiden name, Bowen. In describing her unique style, The Times wrote in 1955: “Rhythm and movement are the characteristics of her work. There is nothing static in it. She will paint children at play, a fun fair, nuns in procession, children on their way to confirmation, a Twelfth of July Orange procession, a military band or dockside scene – and whatever she paints conveys a feeling of brightness, of delight in life”. (See Snoddy, page 40). Numerous successful solo shows followed at the David Hendriks Gallery, Dublin, the Bell Gallery, Belfast, the Tom Caldwell Gallery, Dublin and Belfast and also at the Oireachtas, the RHA and the Ulster Society of Women Artists.Other depictions of "The Twelfth" (also called the Glorious Twelfth or Orangemen's Day) is an Ulster Protestant celebration held on 12 July each year) have been painted by the artist, one other example was exhibited through the Emer Gallery in their major show of her work in autumn 2009.
Frame size: 24 by 21in. (61 by 53cm.)
Condition
Good, no apparent faults.
Medium
oil on board
Signature
signed lower left and titled on reverse; titled on Tom Caldwell Gallery label on reverse; also inscribed "No. 5" on reverse
Provenance
Tom Caldwell Gallery;Private collection
