Paul Henry RHA (1876-1958) Old People Watching a Dance (191...
Paul Henry RHA (1876-1958) Old People Watching a Dance (1910-11) Oil on board, 30 x 29cm (11¾ x 11½") Signed Provenance: Sir Hugh Beaver; sale, Christie's London, 13/06/1980, lot 178; Collection of Reeta and Frank Hughes, Warrenpoint, thence by descent. Exhibited: Belfast, Pollock's Gallery, Donegal Place, Paintings of Irish Life: Mr & Mrs Paul Henry, 14-27th March 1911, cat.no.29; Dublin, Leinster Hall, Paintings by Mrs Frances Baker, Grace Henry, Paul Henry, Casimir Duncan-Markiewicz and George Russell (AE), 16-21st October, 1911, cat.no.26 as Old People at a Dance; London, Allied Artist's Association, Paintings of Co. Mayo, Ireland (Synge's Country) by Mr and Mrs Paul Henry, February 1912; Oxford, Ryman's Studios, Pictures by Paul and Grace Henry, December 1920; London, Leicester Galleries, Paul & Grace Henry: Irish Life and Landscape, January 1921; Dublin, Dublin Painter's Society, Exhibition of Pictures by Paul and Grace Henry, 6-20 June 1921; New York, Hackett Gallery, Paintings by Paul Henry, 10-22 March 1930; London, Office of Irish High Commissioner, 'Dublin Painter's Society, group exhibition, 11 June- 9 July 1938; Dublin, Waddington Galleries, Paintings and Charcoals: Paul Henry RHA, Feb-Mar 1952; Dublin, Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Paintings by Paul and Grace Henry, Nov-Dec 1991, cat.no.42 (illus); Belfast, Ulster Museum, Paul Henry: An Irish Portrait; Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland, Paul Henry Feb-May 2003, cat.no.16 (illus.p.48); Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland, A Time and a Place, cat.no.9 (illus.p.38). Literature: Thomas Bodkin, Twelve Irish Artists, Dublin, Victor Waddington Publications, 1940; Edward Hickey (Ed), Paul Henry, Further Reminiscences, Belfast, Blackstaff Press, 1973; Julian Campbell, The Irish Impressionists: Irish Artists in France and Belgium 1850-1914, Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland, 1984, p.106; S.B. Kennedy, Irish Art and Modernism 1920-1949, unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Dublin, 1987, vol 1, p.40; S.B. Kennedy, Paul Henry: An Irish Portrait, Irish Arts Review, Yearbook 1989-90; S.B. Kennedy, Paul Henry, Dublin, Town House Press, 1991; S.B. Kennedy, An Enduring View of Irish Identity: Paul Henry and the Realism of Fiction Irish Arts Review, Yearbook 1999, Dublin 1998; S.B. Kennedy, Paul Henry, New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 2000; S.B. Kennedy, Paul Henry: Paintings, Drawings, Illustrations, New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 2007, cat.no.286, (illus.p.151).
S.B. Kennedy has written of this painting:
Like A Prayer for the Departed, (Ulster Museum) this picture was painted during Henry's first visit to Achill. There he found 'an air of Romance impossible to describe or to resist, intangible, alluring and tender' (Henry, unpublished story of life on Achill, TCD, MS 7431: 202-9). The islanders, around Keel where Henry settled, were a naturally reticent, introverted people, little accustomed to visitors. In particular he was attracted to the old age pen-sioners. 'They represented', he said, 'a dying generation with a sturdiness of character and a dignity of manner' which even then was passing. 'I felt that I was watching the end of an epoch, the slow fading out of an era', he later wrote (Henry 1951, p.108).
All of these feelings are borne out in Old People Watching a Dance. The composition has been conceived and executed in the most concise terms, the broad handling of paint with descriptive brushwork being evenly applied, and the range of colours, as is common in Henry's work at this time, is almost monochromatic. There is, too, a strong emphasis on characterization, with yet an absence of detailing of the facial features. But above all there is a sense of pathos for a way of life which is changing irrevocably.
Reviewing the 1911 Belfast exhibition The Northern Whig (13 March 1911) thought that such compositions '[drive] home a truth, too often forgotten, that dignity does not depend on the subject but on the manner in which it is treated.' The setting is the hall, used by the Achill Knitters, at Dooagh. The hall, and the Achill Knitting Industry which she started as a form of employment, was built by Emily Weddall, the widow of a sea captain and a close friend of Henry. 'She introduced me to the people and initiated me into many of the ways peculiar to the island, he later wrote (Henry 1951, P.53).
S.B.K. 2007
The significance of the present work is further enhanced by its distinguished exhibition history. Repeatedly exhibited over the years, it has twice been included in important exhibitions at the National Gallery of Ireland, a testament to its enduring appeal and importance within the artist's early figurative oeuvre. Such a record of public exhibition underscores the painting's particular interest as an example of Henry's response to the people and traditions of the West of Ireland at a formative moment in his career. An engaging and deeply human work, Old People Watching a Dance exemplifies the empathy, directness and understated emotional power that distinguish Henry's finest depictions of Irish rural life.
Comparison with Georges Rouault is particularly apt in relation to Henry's treatment of the figures: the strongly characterised profiles, emphatic delineation of facial features and sombre, closely related tonal values recall Rouault's sympathetic portrayals of the marginalised and elderly. In both artists, an expressive approach to the human face lends ordinary subjects a gravity and dignity that transcends mere anecdotal observation. This affinity is especially suggestive given Rouault's own preoccupation with the pathos of ordinary people and his ability to invest strongly delineated faces with a profound sense of human suffering and dignity. While Henry's treatment remains rooted in the observed realities of rural Ireland, the comparison with Rouault lends an additional dimension to the painting's expressive power.
Paul Henry RHA (1876-1958) Old People Watching a Dance (1910-11) Oil on board, 30 x 29cm (11¾ x 11½") Signed Provenance: Sir Hugh Beaver; sale, Christie's London, 13/06/1980, lot 178; Collection of Reeta and Frank Hughes, Warrenpoint, thence by descent. Exhibited: Belfast, Pollock's Gallery, Donegal Place, Paintings of Irish Life: Mr & Mrs Paul Henry, 14-27th March 1911, cat.no.29; Dublin, Leinster Hall, Paintings by Mrs Frances Baker, Grace Henry, Paul Henry, Casimir Duncan-Markiewicz and George Russell (AE), 16-21st October, 1911, cat.no.26 as Old People at a Dance; London, Allied Artist's Association, Paintings of Co. Mayo, Ireland (Synge's Country) by Mr and Mrs Paul Henry, February 1912; Oxford, Ryman's Studios, Pictures by Paul and Grace Henry, December 1920; London, Leicester Galleries, Paul & Grace Henry: Irish Life and Landscape, January 1921; Dublin, Dublin Painter's Society, Exhibition of Pictures by Paul and Grace Henry, 6-20 June 1921; New York, Hackett Gallery, Paintings by Paul Henry, 10-22 March 1930; London, Office of Irish High Commissioner, 'Dublin Painter's Society, group exhibition, 11 June- 9 July 1938; Dublin, Waddington Galleries, Paintings and Charcoals: Paul Henry RHA, Feb-Mar 1952; Dublin, Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Paintings by Paul and Grace Henry, Nov-Dec 1991, cat.no.42 (illus); Belfast, Ulster Museum, Paul Henry: An Irish Portrait; Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland, Paul Henry Feb-May 2003, cat.no.16 (illus.p.48); Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland, A Time and a Place, cat.no.9 (illus.p.38). Literature: Thomas Bodkin, Twelve Irish Artists, Dublin, Victor Waddington Publications, 1940; Edward Hickey (Ed), Paul Henry, Further Reminiscences, Belfast, Blackstaff Press, 1973; Julian Campbell, The Irish Impressionists: Irish Artists in France and Belgium 1850-1914, Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland, 1984, p.106; S.B. Kennedy, Irish Art and Modernism 1920-1949, unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Dublin, 1987, vol 1, p.40; S.B. Kennedy, Paul Henry: An Irish Portrait, Irish Arts Review, Yearbook 1989-90; S.B. Kennedy, Paul Henry, Dublin, Town House Press, 1991; S.B. Kennedy, An Enduring View of Irish Identity: Paul Henry and the Realism of Fiction Irish Arts Review, Yearbook 1999, Dublin 1998; S.B. Kennedy, Paul Henry, New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 2000; S.B. Kennedy, Paul Henry: Paintings, Drawings, Illustrations, New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 2007, cat.no.286, (illus.p.151).
S.B. Kennedy has written of this painting:
Like A Prayer for the Departed, (Ulster Museum) this picture was painted during Henry's first visit to Achill. There he found 'an air of Romance impossible to describe or to resist, intangible, alluring and tender' (Henry, unpublished story of life on Achill, TCD, MS 7431: 202-9). The islanders, around Keel where Henry settled, were a naturally reticent, introverted people, little accustomed to visitors. In particular he was attracted to the old age pen-sioners. 'They represented', he said, 'a dying generation with a sturdiness of character and a dignity of manner' which even then was passing. 'I felt that I was watching the end of an epoch, the slow fading out of an era', he later wrote (Henry 1951, p.108).
All of these feelings are borne out in Old People Watching a Dance. The composition has been conceived and executed in the most concise terms, the broad handling of paint with descriptive brushwork being evenly applied, and the range of colours, as is common in Henry's work at this time, is almost monochromatic. There is, too, a strong emphasis on characterization, with yet an absence of detailing of the facial features. But above all there is a sense of pathos for a way of life which is changing irrevocably.
Reviewing the 1911 Belfast exhibition The Northern Whig (13 March 1911) thought that such compositions '[drive] home a truth, too often forgotten, that dignity does not depend on the subject but on the manner in which it is treated.' The setting is the hall, used by the Achill Knitters, at Dooagh. The hall, and the Achill Knitting Industry which she started as a form of employment, was built by Emily Weddall, the widow of a sea captain and a close friend of Henry. 'She introduced me to the people and initiated me into many of the ways peculiar to the island, he later wrote (Henry 1951, P.53).
S.B.K. 2007
The significance of the present work is further enhanced by its distinguished exhibition history. Repeatedly exhibited over the years, it has twice been included in important exhibitions at the National Gallery of Ireland, a testament to its enduring appeal and importance within the artist's early figurative oeuvre. Such a record of public exhibition underscores the painting's particular interest as an example of Henry's response to the people and traditions of the West of Ireland at a formative moment in his career. An engaging and deeply human work, Old People Watching a Dance exemplifies the empathy, directness and understated emotional power that distinguish Henry's finest depictions of Irish rural life.
Comparison with Georges Rouault is particularly apt in relation to Henry's treatment of the figures: the strongly characterised profiles, emphatic delineation of facial features and sombre, closely related tonal values recall Rouault's sympathetic portrayals of the marginalised and elderly. In both artists, an expressive approach to the human face lends ordinary subjects a gravity and dignity that transcends mere anecdotal observation. This affinity is especially suggestive given Rouault's own preoccupation with the pathos of ordinary people and his ability to invest strongly delineated faces with a profound sense of human suffering and dignity. While Henry's treatment remains rooted in the observed realities of rural Ireland, the comparison with Rouault lends an additional dimension to the painting's expressive power.
