Irish Arts Review

TWO CHARLES LAMB PAINTINGS AT ADAM'S/BONHAMSSource: Irish Arts Review (2002-), Vol. 27, No. 3 (AUTUMN (SEPTEMBER - NOVEMBER 2010)),p. 50Published by: Irish Arts ReviewStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20789376 .

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UNDER THE HAMMER

U

A CHARLES LAMB RHA RUA (1893-1964)

AT THE PIER, CONNEMARA -

CARRAROE, 64Z.IV/4Koil on canvas 51x61cm

5 CHARLES LAMB RHA RUA (1893-1964)4 CONNEMARA WOMAN 1932 oil on canvas 59.5x49.5cm

6 The Empress of Austria's riding crop, used whilst she hunted with the Meath Hounds in the season of 1879/80, ina presentation case with the Imperial Hapsburg arms

TWO CHARLES LAMB PAINTINGS AT ADAM'S/BONHAMS It is difficult to find an explanation for why Charles Lamb (1893-1964) does not enjoy the same renown among collectors as do

his near-contemporaries Se?n Keating

and Maurice MacGonigal. His themes and

style of painting were not dissimilar to

those of the other two men and, as Theo

Snoddy wrote in his Dictionary of Irish

Artists, Lamb was credited as being one

of the first to paint a kind of heroic, ide alised Western peasant or fisherman in

monumental pose'. Despite the many

changes in Ireland that have occurred

since he started exhibiting such heroic

work it retains widespread popularity and so too should Lamb. Yet somehow he does

not command quite the same prices.

The son of a painter and decorator, Lamb

grew up in Portadown, Co Armagh and while

working for his father attended night classes at Belfast School of Art. By 1920

when he painted A Lough Neagh Fisherman

(now in the Ulster Museum) Lamb had

already found the subject matter and style that would hold his interest. This could be seen in one of two oils which were offered

for sale by Adam's/Bonhams in Dublin last

June. A Connemara Woman (1932) (Fig 5) seems to show the same person shown in A

Quaint Couple, painted two years earlier and

now in the Crawford Gallery, Cork. The pic

ture is very much concerned with presenting

the shawled sitter as a figure of dignified nobility. Stylistically it owes something to

the loose approach evident in late Orpen,

with no attempt made to hide the brush

strokes and details suggested rather than

shown. Deservedly the work surpassed its

upper estimate to sell for 28,000.

The other lot was a charming view of

the pier at Carraroe, Co Galway where

Lamb settled in the early 1920s and built

himself a home the following decade (Fig 4). With its relaxed manner and warm

summery hues of yellow and green, the

picture possesses none of the majesty

inherent in the contemporaneous land

scapes of Paul Henry. But it has abundant

appeal and deserved to sell for 7,500.

JOHNQUINN CATALOGUE AT MEALY'S LITERARY SALE_ Amidst over 1,200 Lots in Mealy s auction of literature and sporting memorabilia was a

six-volume catalogue from an earlier sale:

that of the library of John Quinn (1870

1924). Quinn was the grandson of emigrants

to the United States from Co Limerick, and a

successful corporation lawyer in New York,

who established himself as a pioneering

cultural patron, playing a significant role in

the development of early 20th century art

and literature. At the time of his death he left a collection of more than 2,500 paint

ings, prints, drawings and sculpture featur

ing work by every major avant-garde artist

of the period; in 1913 Quinn had played a

role in staging the controversial

International Exhibition of Modern Art in

New York. In literature, Quinn's enterprise

and flair were equally impressive. He was a

supporter of Ireland's National Theatre (and

is now known to have had a brief affair with

Lady Gregory in 1911 ) and of W Yeats; he

Adam's 5 October 2010

New government legislation means that after almost a century and a half of

existence the Ward Union Hunt based in Co Meath now faces an uncertain

future. A curious incident in its history will be recalled in early October thanks

to the inclusion of a riding crop in the Country House sale being hosted by

Adam's at Slane Castle. This item originally belonged to the beautiful Elizabeth,

Empress of Austria, an ardent horsewoman who for two seasons in 1879-1880

came to Ireland accompanied by her supposed lover Captain William 'Bay'

Middleton in order to hunt. During her visits, she stayed at Summerhill, the

early 18th-century house designed by Sir Edward Lovett Pearce in collaboration

with Richard Castle.

While in this country, the Empress rode out with, among others, the Ward

Union and on one of those occasions in February 1879 she and the rest of the

hunt pursued a stag into the grounds of Maynooth College, then an all-male

seminary. The institution's acting president, Dr William Walsh - later

Archbishop of Dublin - nevertheless offered refreshments to his unexpected

guests and, the following Sunday, welcomed the Empress to mass in the col

lege's chapel; she in turn persuaded Dr Walsh to give his students two free days.

Unhappily married to Franz Joseph of Austria and for- \

ever restlessly travelling about Europe, Elizabeth might \

have come to Ireland again but was dissuaded from doing %

so after representation was made to her husband by the 1

British government who feared a Catholic Empress inspired %

more enthusiasm in this country than did an Anglican m

Queen. So she only hunted here for two seasons but left ?

abiding memories, not least the riding crop soon to be sold by m

Adam's (Fig 6). Still in the original presentation case bearing ?

the Imperial Habsburg arms, it was recently discovered in the ^

attics of Rahinston House, which stands just a few miles from

Summerhill. Robert Fowler who was responsible for the rebuild

ing of Rahinston to the designs of Sandham Symes (1807-1894)

around 1870, was Master of another local hunt, the Royal Meath,

and this may explain how the crop came into the family's posses

sion. This souvenir of a special moment in the Ward Union's history

comes with an estimate of 3,000- 5,000.

50 IRISH ARTS REVIEW I AUTUMN 2010

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