30
William Conor OBE RHA RUA ROI (1881-1968)
Estimate:
€20,000 - €30,000
Sold
€42,000
Live Auction
Important Irish Art
Size
20 by 24in. (50.8 by 61cm)
Description
Title: THE WHIRL OF THE DANCE
Note: This Belfast artist had an extraordinary capacity to produce AND contain movement in his compositions. Alliedto his early training as a Poster Artist for David Allen & Co with his unique vision, his skill with movement anddomestic detail is not unlike the 17th century Dutch artists who essayed the same themes and often sidebarhumour.Conor disguised his real pictorial delivery by making accessible through domestic imagery the mood as well asthe preoccupations of the Ulster people. But he did so knowing that so much of what he imagined for us, hisviewers was also known, if unobserved, by us. So, he brought it into view or, if you will, foregrounded it for andto his audience. His almost unique technical skill in mixing oil pigment with wax, water colour and the lead pencil has given us vivid creations of memories, movement, vivacity and so often great charm.Here, in this work, of a ‘Ceilí‘ in the kitchen of a farmhouse the dancers exude fun, energy and happiness, the traditional musician plays out his heart for dancers as well as onlookers to create a conspiracy of happiness andjoy. John Reihill senior and R.M. Smyllie the famous editor of the Irish Times would both have enjoyed the giving and receiving of this charming and evocative painting. It will long continue to delight its viewers.I can remember my father as Keeper and later President of the RHA remarking after the Ulster Artists works arrived and being unpacked some members of the ‘hanging’ sub-committee absenting themselves to call palsto say that the Conor works had arrived, and they’d best be into the RHA Varnishing or Opening days early to purchase. I think I only met him once, briefly, with Frank McKelvey RHA at an Opening Day. My Mother had acquired two smallish works by him of ‘Musicians’. Alas they went missing in one of our many house movings.Ciarán MacGonigalMay 2024
Frame dimensions: 26.5 by 30in. (67.3 by 76.2cm)
Note: This Belfast artist had an extraordinary capacity to produce AND contain movement in his compositions. Alliedto his early training as a Poster Artist for David Allen & Co with his unique vision, his skill with movement anddomestic detail is not unlike the 17th century Dutch artists who essayed the same themes and often sidebarhumour.Conor disguised his real pictorial delivery by making accessible through domestic imagery the mood as well asthe preoccupations of the Ulster people. But he did so knowing that so much of what he imagined for us, hisviewers was also known, if unobserved, by us. So, he brought it into view or, if you will, foregrounded it for andto his audience. His almost unique technical skill in mixing oil pigment with wax, water colour and the lead pencil has given us vivid creations of memories, movement, vivacity and so often great charm.Here, in this work, of a ‘Ceilí‘ in the kitchen of a farmhouse the dancers exude fun, energy and happiness, the traditional musician plays out his heart for dancers as well as onlookers to create a conspiracy of happiness andjoy. John Reihill senior and R.M. Smyllie the famous editor of the Irish Times would both have enjoyed the giving and receiving of this charming and evocative painting. It will long continue to delight its viewers.I can remember my father as Keeper and later President of the RHA remarking after the Ulster Artists works arrived and being unpacked some members of the ‘hanging’ sub-committee absenting themselves to call palsto say that the Conor works had arrived, and they’d best be into the RHA Varnishing or Opening days early to purchase. I think I only met him once, briefly, with Frank McKelvey RHA at an Opening Day. My Mother had acquired two smallish works by him of ‘Musicians’. Alas they went missing in one of our many house movings.Ciarán MacGonigalMay 2024
Frame dimensions: 26.5 by 30in. (67.3 by 76.2cm)
Condition
Excellent condition.
Medium
oil on canvas
Signature
signed lower left; titled on artist's handwritten label on reverse
Provenance
Presented by Mr Rehill, Coal Merchant, to R. M. Smyllie; By descent to T. Sheehan, nephew of R. M. Smyllie;Private collection
Exhibited
RHA, Dublin, 1956, catalogue no. 82 (lent by Mrs K. Smyllie);Memorial Screen, RHA, Dublin, 1968, no. 1
