George Barret, R.A.

Acquired by the present owner in December 1976

STRUCTURE The canvas has been lined. There is some very minor sagging to the canvas. PAINT SURFACE The painting appears to be in very good condition. ULTRAVIOLET Examination under ultraviolet light reveals scattered minor retouching, including one area in the upper centre of the canvas. There is a mildly discoloured varnish in the dark areas in the lower foreground of the picture. FRAME Held in a period Irish gilded wooden 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."

Ambitious in both its scale and composition the present picture is emblematic of the typically accomplished paintings that epitomize the artist's early work. Painted with a vigorous dexterity, a boldness of execution, and an unmistakably romantic grandeur, the painting wholly justifies Anne Crookshank and the Knight of Glin's assertion that he was 'a completely developed painter before he came to London' (i). It is these qualities, so central to Barret's art, which led contemporaries to esteem him one of the greatest landscape painters not only of their own, but also of previous generations. A sentiment exemplified by his fellow painter, and close friend, James Barry, when he declared Barret 'a superior genius to Claude' (ii).

By far the best known of the Irish landscape painters, George Barret was born in Dublin in 1732. Originally apprenticed to a stay-maker in the city, Barret quickly entered the drawing schools of the Dublin Society, where he won first prize in 1747. Following a productive, though frustrated, early career Barret moved to London in 1762, having found little encouragement for his art in Ireland. He exhibited extensively at the Society of Artists from 1764 and later at the Royal Academy from 1769 to 1782.

These early years in Ireland were, however, critical to Barret's artistic development, and his experiences there remained the essence upon which his work would derive for the remainder of his career. Under the influence of Edmund Burke, he had taken to studying directly from nature at an early stage, spending much of his time in Ireland sketching the dramatic scenery around Powerscourt and in the Dargle Valley. This intimate familiarity with his native landscape was to have a strong influence on both the composition and tone of his later paintings, and would set him apart from those other landscape artists working in London in the latter half of the eighteenth century; namely his great rival and critic, Richard Wilson.

The present work, with its characteristic soft light, which pervades the entire composition, is among the finest of Barret's Irish period, painted shortly before his departure to England. Clearly a meditated response to the dramatic topography around Wicklow, which Barret had become so intimately familiar with under the early patronage of the 2^nd Viscount Powerscourt, the painting is infused with a romantic lustre throughout. Emanating from breaking clouds to the left, it draws out the central elements in silhouette. The composition revolves around a small group of figures, huddled in the foreground, with an overhanging cluster of trees to the right, creating a sense of drama in marked contrast to the more expansive landscape on the left.

i. A. Crookshank and The Knight of Glin, Ireland's Painter's 1600-1940, 2002, p.133
ii. N. Figgis and B. Rooney, Irish Paintings in the National Gallery of Ireland, Vol. 1, 2001, p.42