FINE ART : PAINTINGS

Title: Dawn, Killary Harbour (1921)
Object Name: Painting
Maker: Henry, Paul 1876-1958 (Primary maker)
Henry, Paul 1876-1958 (artist)
Date Made: 1921
1921
Description: Henry studied at the Belfast School of Art before moving to Paris in 1898. He first visited Achill in 1910, encouraged by a friend, the writer Robert Lynd, and by reading Synge’s play Riders to the Sea (1904). Henry and his wife Grace, who was also a painter, were impressed by the magnificent natural scenery and the simple austerity of life on Achill and made the island their base for the next seven years. On Achill Henry painted the islanders in their distinctive brightly coloured costumes set against high seas and powerful skies. Henry painted Dawn, Killary Harbour in the early summer of 1921 and it marks the end of his Achill period. The soft limpid tones of grey and mauve appear to dissolve together making the long inlet of Killary Harbour seem an unearthly place, cut off from the world and the harsh Atlantic beyond.
Materials: oil on canvas
Catalogue Number: BELUM.U301
Notes: National Museums NI

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