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Norah McGuinness
DUBLIN BAY
Lot 13
Price Realised:
€28,500
Estimate:
€30,000 - €40,000
Norah McGuinness HRHA, 1901-1980
DUBLIN BAY
Oil on canvas, 28" x 45" (71 x 114cm), signed.
Provenanace: Private Collection, c.1970; By whom gifted to the previous owner c.1980; Sold Sotheby's 19th Nov 2019 (lot 21).
McGuinness was one ...
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Lot 13
Norah McGuinness
DUBLIN BAY
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Lot 13
Norah McGuinness
DUBLIN BAY
Estimate:
€30,000 - €40,000
Norah McGuinness HRHA, 1901-1980
DUBLIN BAY
Oil on canvas, 28" x 45" (71 x 114cm), signed.
Provenanace: Private Collection, c.1970; By whom gifted to the previous owner c.1980; Sold Sotheby's 19th Nov 2019 (lot 21).
McGuinness was one of the pioneering women artists who looked outward towards European modernism at a time when inward looking conservatism was the prevailing attitude that shaped Irish art. Like many of her contemporaries, she initially studied at Dublin's Metropolitan School of Art in the early 1920s. However, by the end of the decade she had moved on to the Chelsea School of Art, London, and then to Paris where, like so many other women Irish artists, she studied with the Cubist Andre Lhote. At the end of the war Paris was a magnet for an impressive number of women painters such as Mary Swanzy, Evie Hone, Mainie Jellett, May Guinness and Grace Henry. In the following decades, this new generation of artists made great strides in breaking the stranglehold of the Royal Hibernian Academy by creating alternate venues where modernist art would be shown to the Irish public.
Dublin Bay shows how McGuinness managed to remain topographically faithful to her subject while at the same time transforming it into something completely new. The 'seen' world was the starting point for a bold abstract composition dominated by big, swirling curves. Against this sweeping movement, the artist placed a cluster of vertical posts which are cleverly echoed in distant smoke stacks and, of course, the iconic Poolbeg chimneys. More subtle yet, the cluster motif is repeated in the group of pigeons in the distance. While many of her academic contemporaries would have opted for a more conventional view of the bay, McGuinness chose to embrace the chance to invent strong abstract shapes, charging the composition with energy.
Dr Frances Ruane HRHA
May 2022
DUBLIN BAY
Oil on canvas, 28" x 45" (71 x 114cm), signed.
Provenanace: Private Collection, c.1970; By whom gifted to the previous owner c.1980; Sold Sotheby's 19th Nov 2019 (lot 21).
McGuinness was one of the pioneering women artists who looked outward towards European modernism at a time when inward looking conservatism was the prevailing attitude that shaped Irish art. Like many of her contemporaries, she initially studied at Dublin's Metropolitan School of Art in the early 1920s. However, by the end of the decade she had moved on to the Chelsea School of Art, London, and then to Paris where, like so many other women Irish artists, she studied with the Cubist Andre Lhote. At the end of the war Paris was a magnet for an impressive number of women painters such as Mary Swanzy, Evie Hone, Mainie Jellett, May Guinness and Grace Henry. In the following decades, this new generation of artists made great strides in breaking the stranglehold of the Royal Hibernian Academy by creating alternate venues where modernist art would be shown to the Irish public.
Dublin Bay shows how McGuinness managed to remain topographically faithful to her subject while at the same time transforming it into something completely new. The 'seen' world was the starting point for a bold abstract composition dominated by big, swirling curves. Against this sweeping movement, the artist placed a cluster of vertical posts which are cleverly echoed in distant smoke stacks and, of course, the iconic Poolbeg chimneys. More subtle yet, the cluster motif is repeated in the group of pigeons in the distance. While many of her academic contemporaries would have opted for a more conventional view of the bay, McGuinness chose to embrace the chance to invent strong abstract shapes, charging the composition with energy.
Dr Frances Ruane HRHA
May 2022
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In the event of a tied bid, the preference will be given to the bid submitted first. The second bidder will receive immediate notification of being outbid.
PLEASE BID EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT.
In order to allow rival bidders the opportunity to respond to a late bid the following extensions will apply:
IF A BID IS RECEIVED WITHIN THE FINAL 45 SECONDS OF THE COUNTDOWN THE CLOCK WILL RESET TO 60 SECONDS.
At any point you can leave a maximum bid, representing the highest price you are prepared to pay for a particular lot. Bidding only advances when there is competition from a rival bidder. In that case the system bids on your behalf, only up to the maximum if required. All bids are relayed to you be email, along with notification if you have been outbid.
All maximum bids are confidential and not disclosed. The system will endeavor to purchase the lot for you for the least price. Bids are subject to buyer’s premium of 25% (incl vat), with no additional charges.
In the event of a tied bid, the preference will be given to the bid submitted first. The second bidder will receive immediate notification of being outbid.
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