a connemara village by paul henry
TRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: A connemara village by paul henry](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062319/5578f18dd8b42a5c5c8b51a9/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
A Connemara Village (1934)
• Oil on Canvas
• 76cm x 91cm
• 24in x 28in
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The painting itself• The painting portrays a
typical scene in the west of Ireland in the 1920s and 1930s
• The cluster of diminutive whitewashed cottages picked out by sunlight against a backdrop of mountains
• An impressive sky is a motif that recurs in the landscape painting of Paul Henry from the early 1920s onwards
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The painting itself• These cottages emphasise
the grandeur of the local scenery
• Simultaneously the painting points to the isolation of the rural communities and their reliance on the land
• The turf stacks in the foreground serve as further evidence of the integral link between the people and their surroundings
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The painting itself• Free and spontaneous
brushstrokes
• Simple brushstrokes
• A wonderful array of colours
• Colours are crisp and clear
• ‘Full-breasted’ cloud
• Heavy cumulus sky takes up two-thirds of the painting
• The light is focussed on the cottages at the centre of the painting
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The setting• The view
eastwards from the quay on the Clifden road just over a kilometre west of Letterfrack, Co. Galway
• The mountain in the background is ‘Doughruagh’
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Assessment• Pat Shortt discusses Paul Henry's masterpiece -
YouTube• Typical of Paul Henry’s work in the 1930s• Unusually large for a Paul Henry Landscape• Regarded as one of Paul Henry’s finest works
when he was at the height of his career• Purchased by the National Gallery in 2004 for
GB£295,250
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