Every so often I feel like featuring one of my favourite artists on my blog. Today is the turn of Paul Henry. I love his simple atmospheric style.
Paul Henry (11 April 1876 – 24 August 1958) was a Northern Irish artist who painted the west of Ireland landscape with a spare post-impressionist style. He was born in Belfast, the son of a Baptist minister. He studied art in Belfast before going to Paris in 1898 to study at the Académie Julian and at Whistler's studio. He married the painter Grace Henry in 1903 and returned to Ireland in 1910. From then, until 1919, he lived on Achill Island and learned to capture the peculiar interplay of light and landscape specific to the West of Ireland. In 1919 he moved to Dublin and in 1920 was one of the founders of the Society of Dublin Painters. He separated from his wife in 1929.
A painting by Paul Henry was featured on the BBC show, The Antiques Roadshow which was aired on the 12th November 2006. The painting was given a value of approximately £40,000 - £60,000 by the roadshow. It actually sold for an astonishing 260,000 euro in December 2006.
It's easy to see why you love this artist's work.
ReplyDeleteWhat I really like about his paintings is the relationship between the clouds and the land and buildings.
ReplyDeleteSo immense! I especially like the 3rd one!
Lovely paintings. The emotional element is quite strong. Artist's almost always have some type of pain, don't they? It is wondrous to me that they work it all out on the canvas.
ReplyDeleteI am drawn towards Ireland, as well. My great-grandfather was sent away during the great potato famine. He was eight years old and sent to be an indentured servant at a farm in Canada. The farmer was cruel and beat him. He ran away from him. Therefore, when his family from Ireland looked for him, if they ever did, he was not there. He lost all contact with family from that point on. I cannot imagine going through this at age eight. Some of our family members who research genealogy have found some leads, but not much. I would like to visit Ireland with that as part of the "excuse." :^)
The third one is my favorite. I don't know this painter - thanks for sharing! By the way, I don't agree with the notion that most artists have some type of pain. I have a mission, but no pain! (my pain was dealt with before I got back to painting 12 y. ago).
ReplyDeleteI agree Jeannette. My painting is an expression of enjoyment and tends to be done when feeling good rather than to release pain.
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