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Artist: Paul Henry RHA (1876-1958) Title: A Western Village (1928) Signature: signed with initials 'PH' lower right Medium: oil on board Size: 12.70 x 15½cm (5 x 6.1in) Framed Size: 29 x 32.1cm (11.4 x 12.6in) Provenance: Bears Fine Art Society label on reverse, giving title A Western Village, and date 1928, No. 52; Christie's, Glasgow, 23rd June 1992 lot 736; Adams, Dublin, 29th March 1995 lot 68; Jorgensen Fine Art, Dublin; These Rooms, 20th February 2012, lot 89; Private Collection Exhibited: Fine Art Society, London, 1928, No. 52 1992 Gorry Gallery, Dublin (31); (?) 1995 Dublin, May (4) Literature: Kennedy, S. B Paul Henry with a catalogue of the Paintings, Drawings, Illustrations, Yale, 2007 plate no.675 illustrated a#morebtn { color: #de1d01; } a#morebtn:hover { cursor: pointer;} A quintessential West of Ireland scene, this small painting depicts a group of traditional thatched cottages that were once such an integral part of the Irish landscape, but are nowadays increasingly rare. In the background are blue mountains and a cloud-filled sky, while in the foreground a group o... Read more Paul Henry Lot 15 - 'A Western Village (1928)' Estimate: €25,000 - €35,000 A quintessential West of Ireland scene, this small painting depicts a group of traditional thatched cottages that were once such an integral part of the Irish landscape, but are nowadays increasingly rare. In the background are blue mountains and a cloud-filled sky, while in the foreground a group of whitewashed cottages, with mounds of turf stacked ready for the winter, nestles in the lee of a hillside. Born and raised in Belfast, the son of a Baptist minister, Paul Henry showed aptitude for art from an early age and so was apprenticed to a designer of damask. However, a cousin then provided funds for him to study on the Continent and in 1898 Henry travelled to Paris, to study at the Académie Julian. He also attended the studio run by James MacNeill Whistler, an American artist whose paintings, with their carefully controlled tonal values, were hugely influential at the time. Henry was also inspired by the work of poster designer Alphonese Mucha, who taught at Whistler's academy. After moving to London in 1900, Henry produced illustrations for magazines, but turned increasingly to painting. Encouraged by Hugh Lane and John Millington Synge, he began to think about returning to Ireland, and in 1910 he and his wife Grace travelled to Achill Island. Although intending to stay just a few weeks, they ended up spending ten years on Achill. Initially, Henry delighted in depicting the local people as they farmed and fished, but after he was employed in 1917-18 to administer payments of the Congested District Board, he began to focus increasingly on landscape. He and Grace moved to Dublin in 1919 and the following year they helped found the Society of Dublin Painters. In 1922 the French government purchased Henry's painting West of Ireland village. By 1930, through his instantly recognisable views of life and landscape in the West of Ireland, Henry had come to be regarded as embodying in his art many of the ideals of the newly-independent Irish Free State, with exhibitions of his paintings being held in New York, Toronto, Dublin and London. Peter Murray, March 2021