Paul Henry [Hardcover]

'What he has produced is invaluable as a catalogue and reference book' --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

'...Kennedy is to be congratulated for his painstaking but undogmatic approach to its compilation. His concise notes to each entry are especially useful in identifying the locations of Henry's sometimes obscure landscapes.' --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

In his idyllic landscape paintings of the west of Ireland, Paul Henry (1876-1958) provides the quintessential view of the Irish scene, now as universally familiar as Cezanne's view of Provence or Constable's recording of Suffolk. Henry stands alone as the most influential landscapist to work in Ireland in the twentieth century. In this generously illustrated biography, S. B. Kennedy tells the story of Henry's life and artistic achievements, interweaves the life of his highly talented wife Grace, and explores his friendships and associations in the artistic worlds of Paris, London, Dublin, and Belfast.

Kennedy offers a full account of Henry's entire career, including his early experience studying under Whistler in fin-de-siecle Paris, his subsequent work as an illustrator in London, and his transforming trip to Achill Island in his native Ireland in 1910. Transfixed by the landscape, the people of the island, and their way of life, Henry thereafter devoted his career to painting Irish life and landscape, introducing a degree of realism that was new to Irish painting. Kennedy also discusses the career of Henry's first wife, Grace (1868-1953), a painter in her own right who here emerges from behind the shadow of her husband as a more substantial figure than has been previously recognized. In addition, the author sets Henry's work in historical context and considers the reasons for renewed interest in Henry's landscape paintings in recent years.

S. B. Henry is head of fine and applied art at the Ulster Museum in Belfast. Among his previous books is Irish Art and Modernism. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.