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

The colours are slgihtly richer than the illustration suggests. The sheet is sound. There is a minor surface scuff mark to the black ink by the upper right corner, visible in the catalogue illustration otherwise in good overall condition with strong colours throughout. Held in a painted wood frame under glass; unexamined out of frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

le Brocquy was instantly captivated by the vitality of the travelling people he first came across in 1945 outside Tullamore in Co.Offaly. He became fascinated by their culture, ritual and language and subsequently spent long periods of 1946 with them recording their everyday way of life.

The buoyancy of line and slightly fractured representation of form denotes Le Brocquy's knowledge of analytical and synthetic cubism which he would have seen first hand at Picasso's exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London in 1945. The angular features of the characters developed into the cubist inspired forms of his Tinker series masterpiece Travelling Woman with Newspaper (1947, sold in these rooms, 18th May 2000, lot 158).

Within a wider context, the vitality manifested in the present work represents more general attitudes championing local ways of existence at the time. J.M. Synge had already documented the islanders in his The Aran Islands and J.B. Yeats found every excuse to record life in the west of Ireland. Indeed, Manet, one of Le Brocquy's formative influences, had always had a fascination for the bohemian life of the Spanish gypsies. In a more British context, Ben Nicholson and Christopher Wood spent the late 1920s eschewing the life and art of the 'untaught' mariner, Alfred Wallis who exemplified what they perceived as the idyllic way of life, untainted by the developments of modern urban and settled society.