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	I R IS H A R T S A L E S Nathaniel Hill 1861 - 1934 Sunshine, Brittany Oil on canvas 18 x 12 inches. Signed by the artist dated 1884 Price on application: dominic@mpfa.ie Provenance: Mrs. Place; by descent to her daughter: dispersal sale, 16 Alma Road, Monkstown, Co. Dublin, Hamilton & Hamilton, 1st May, 1986, lot no 248; Milmo-Penny Fine Art; Private collection, Dublin Exhibited: Royal Hibernian Academy, 1885, number 257; ‘Onlookers In France’, Crawford Municipal Art Gallery, Cork, 1993; ‘Peintres Irlandais en Bretagne’ Musée de Pont-Aven, France, 1999; Irish Artists in Brittany, Crawford Municipal Art Gallery, Cork 200; 'Nathaniel Hill and the Bretons', Milmo-Penny Fine Art, December 2007 Literature Dublin University Review, Illustrated Art Supplement, Dublin, London, 1885, p.14; Campbell, Julian, ‘The Irish Impressionists’, National Gallery of Ireland, 1984, pp. 131, 132 Throughout the ages, the artist has regarded the capture of light as the ultimate challenge. ‘To Paint the Light’ became the battle cry of many great artists of the late 19th century. It became central to their existence, so much so that artists such a Frank O’Meara would paint only on a sufficiently grey day. Others such as Walter Osborne and Nathaniel Hill preferred the stark contrast of bright sunshine and dark shadow, which is the theme of the current painting. The foreboding darkness of the interior, viewed through the open doors and windows, are thrown into dramatic relief by the bleached white collars of the traditional costume worn by the women. The sun-drenched stonework is complimented by the subtle shadows thrown by the figures and the nooks and crannies of the buildings. However, it is perhaps the narrative of this painting, which makes it so appealing. Sitting in the sunshine, an elderly woman breaks from her knitting to greet a visitor, perhaps her daughter or a neighbour who carries a large earthenware jar and may be on her way to the well to draw water for the midday meal. The everyday simplicity of the encounter holds our interest. Hill stages the central figure in front of the dark interior to highlight the gleaming white of her costume. His attention to detail is displayed by the birdcage, which is suspended in the sunlight below an overhanging branch. Two small pots of geraniums sit on the window sill of an upper room. A white cloth, perhaps from the kitchen, hangs over a rail to dry in the sun. The cold tones of the blue slate roof and the red ochre of the moss are set off by the brilliance of the white woodwork. Almost hidden in the shadow, a group of chickens peck around the base of the timbers, which lean against the wall. Mortimer Menpes: La boutique du sabotier, Pont-Aven Engraving, 1881, 25 x 17cm., mirror image: courtesy of Musée de Pont-Aven The setting is a house situated just behind the main square in Pont-Aven. The stacked timbers may be the raw material for the sabot carving, which is the subject of an 1881 engraving, La boutique du sabotier, by Mortimer Menpes in the Musée de Pont-Aven. In the engraving, a number of figures, perhaps a family group, have gathered in the courtyard. They are attended by the sabotier as he emerges from the doorway with a newly carved pair of shoes. One of the visitors inspects them as her companion searches through a pile of shoes stacked against the workshop wall. In the background, a man sits patiently on the steps as a small boy looks on. It is interesting to compare the detail in both works. The engraving is taken from a slightly different angle and shows a small triangle of sky with a glimpse of the gable wall to the left. It excludes the small window to the right and the angle of the workshop is slightly different. The birdcage is not included and the branches over the doorway are more extensive. William John Hennessy 1839 – 1917 Breton Girl Returning from the Well Oil on canvas. 48 x 24 inches Pendant labels verso Provenance: G. and C. Sadde, Dijon, France Exhibited: Milmo-Penny Fine Art, December 2008 Price: E6,850 Euro The early career of William John Hennessy differs significantly from that of his contemporaries. He was born in Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny on the 11th July 1839. His father, John Hennessy, fled his homeland following his involvement with the Young Ireland movement of 1848. He landed in Canada and moved to New York soon afterwards where his wife and two sons joined him in 1849. Due to this train of events, Hennessy’s early training was more in line with that of Edgar Melville Ward and Frank Crawford Penfold. However, in 1870, shortly after his second marriage, he moved to London and from there he exhibited widely. Hennessy spent the summer months in Normandy, where he had a residence close to the port of Honfleur, and it was here that his career joined with the main stream. A school of painting, based in Saint Siméon’s Inn, was already well established in there. Corot, Isabey and Huet were amongst the first painters of the group followed by Courbet, Jongkind and Monet, who were invited to join them by Boudin. As a native and well established painter. Boudin was looked upon as the father figure. He encouraged Monet to paint in the open air, an activity that led to the birth of Impressionism. Hennessy might have had this in mind when he painted An Impressionist at Work; Scene in a Normandy Cider Orchard, which he sent to the Royal Academy in 1881. Another important painting, Gathering Apples, Normandy, painted in 1884, was featured in our 2006 catalogue. Due to his American training, Hennessy was not included in Julian Campbell’s ‘Irish Impressionists’ 1884 catalogue, which concentrated on artists who went to study in France and Belgium. Hennessy had become almost forgotten in Ireland until the Ulster Museum purchased his monumental Fête Day in a Cider Orchard, Normandy. This acquisition and its subsequent inclusion in Campbell’s ‘Onlookers in France’ at the Crawford Gallery in Cork in 1993 was an important step in his rediscovery. The present work is another significant discovery as it is Hennessy’s first Breton painting to come to light. Hennessy’s was preoccupied with the portrayal of local people as they went about their daily work. The routine of drawing water was a very common theme amongst his contemporaries. The girl portrayed here has just filled her metal banded wooden pails, which she carries with the aid of a metal hoop. The pails were attached to the hoop and prevented the legs from being battered on the return journey. The device does not appear frequently in Breton paintings but is often found in the Normandy works by Jules Dupre where the hoop was used to carry milk pails from the fields to the dairy. It was also used as far afield as America to carry water from the well to the laundry. However, in this case, the water is more likely to be for the household. Laundry in Brittany was normally brought to the water. The wide flat stones, which span the stream in front of the well in this painting, would have been placed there for this purpose. Many wells in Brittany were regarded as holy places and were often protected by elaborate stonework such as that shown here. The waterfall at the back of the well was man-made for the purpose of keeping the water fresh and oxygenated. The wild flowers on both sides of the sandy track are a feature of many of Hennessy’s paintings. He was also known for his ability to paint a good sky, and the fading light of evening is another feature of this work. Its companion piece, A Summer Evening is dated 1886, and the current work appears to be about the same date. We have a fine paintings by Walter Osborne and Roderic O'Conor for sale. Please contact Dominic Milmo-Penny for details. SALES European Irish Tag Sales Expressionists Stanley Pettigrew EXPERTISE AND AGENCY SERVICES We offer a fully comprehensive service for European buyers in the United States and for American buyers in Europe.> FINDING YOUR WAY AROUND OUR SITE The Site Map and Artist Index will help you find your way around our pages. Go to the Brokerage and Sales pages on the menu bar to the left of this page for details of paintings currently available. The Archive pages illustrate paintings we have sold in the past, and indicate the type of paintings we are interested in purchasing. Please note that some of the paintings in the archive may be available for sale. We issue a written guarantee of authenticity and a condition report with every painting sold. Milmo-Penny Fine Art Ltd. Estd.1974. Tel. # 353 1 269 3486 - Cell # 353 87 250 6447 - email irishart@mpfa.ie Private Dealers in Fine Irish and European Paintings ________________________________________________________
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