William John Hennessy 1839-1917

London, Grosvenor Gallery, details untraced.

In contrast to the focus on rustic peasant life in Twixt Day and Night (lot 25), during the late 1870s and 1880s, Hennessy painted a series of works depicting elegantly dressed women in the French countryside. His wife and family may very well have posed as the models and Flowers of May is a key work from this series where two girls are surrounded by fragrant buttercups and blossoming apple trees.  Other works from the series included paintings with similarly light-hearted titles such as A Spring Fantasy (1880), A Visit to the Peacock (1880) and With the Birds (1883).