14 by 16in. (35.6 by 40.6cm)

Title: IN CONNEMARA
Note: In Connemara is a sketch painted quickly on a board by Paul Henry in the open air as notes useful for a larger finished composition. The skill and confidence with which the artist was able to incorporate his knowledge of classical training and modern techniques is impressive.Three cottages by the sea viewed from above are located in the bottom third of the image. The mountain and sky are in the background. The sun is hidden and the colours are subdued with an overall effect of a scene glimpsed through rain and mist on a windy, overcast day.Working fast in inclement weather the artist has laid out a limited palette. A small board already painted in a neutral colour, is divided up with charcoal into three horizontal bands serving as foreground, middle distance and background. Lines are drawn radiating towards the centre in the middle distance to form geometric shapes. A quick charcoal sketch is done on the spot, placing three cottages and an inlet of the sea with headlands in the foreground, the mountain in the middle distance and the sky in the background. A pathway is drawn winding through the middle of the foreground down to the sea.The background and middle distance are blocked in with a thin coat of cold, grey oil paint. The same grey with a tiny touch of crimson to encourage violet is used for the sea and to reflect the sky. Burnt umber is used to cover the bottom foreground including the cottage roofs, windows, doors and turf stacks. A thicker grey mixture composed of more white paint with a little ivory black and Prussian blue is applied to the mountain in the middle distance in diagonal strokes with the addition of patches of darker blue to suggestgullies and ridges and is used also for the headland at the foot of the mountain. The brush marks are visible due to the paint consistency and the speed of application. Wet paint is applied on wet paint.Thin grey paint is applied over the furthest headland. Burnt umber is added for warmth to bring the nearest two headlands forward and again a paler colour is stroked on top to suggest topographical features. The violet grey is applied to the background to create clouds in brush swirls. White paint highlights some clouds with the wet paint dragged at the edges and is also pulled across part of the water in horizontal lines to suggest waves and foam.The cottage walls are painted white and overlaid with a touch of added ochre. Ochre and white is pulled downwards on the rooftops, fields and haystacks to suggest the straw-like texture, leaving the umber exposed at the edges and gaps. A touch of this warmth is added to white and overlaid on the cottage walls with alternate grey patches for shadows. The grey is used for the path that winds down towards the sea and for walls and rocks around the fields. Variations of umber, yellow ochre, blue and white mixtures are applied in horizontal strokes for different features and textures in the immediate foreground.The freedom and spontaneity that this little sketch demonstrates was learnt by Henry in Paris. Thetechnique derives from the ébauche stage of the academic system of painting that affected the practice oflandscape painting in particular and led to the development of Impressionism. Henry’s genius lay in amalgamating his artist’s eye with this training whilst still leaving space for the emotion to dwell in. At the same time he was painting what he saw and what people recognised, a new realism in Irish art.Dr Mary Cosgrove,April 2024
Frame dimensions: 17.5 by 19.5in. (44.5 by 49.5cm)

Panel is slightly bowed but secured in the frame. Cracking of the panel visible through the paint. This has not led to cracking or flaking of the paint. Otherwise very good condition. Surface appears clean.

oil on panel

signed lower left; inscribed with artist and title on reverse