Louis le Brocquy, H.R.H.A. b.1916

Paris, Galerie Jeanne Bucher, Louis le Brocquy, Studies towards an image of William Shakespeare, 6 October – 3 November 1982, with tour to Zurich, London and New York, illustrated in the catalogue.

It was Jean-François Jaeger, director of the Galerie Jeanne Bucher, Paris, who originally suggested that le Brocquy turn to William Shakespeare as a subject. Although the artist was initially hesitant, he soon welcomed the challenge due to the fact that there are so few known images of Shakespeare; a period engraving by Martin Droeshout (1601 – 1650), a posthumous wood-carving, and several unauthenticated images and le Brocquy ‘entered upon a series of oils and watercolours out of sheer curiosity to see what might emerge’ (le Brocquy quoted in Louis le Brocquy Portrait Heads, National Gallery of Ireland, exh.cat., 4 November 2006 – 14 January 2007, p.64).