LOUIS LE BROCQUY, H.R.H.A. | IMAGE OF SEAMUS HEANEY

Taylor Galleries, Dublin;

Adams, Dublin, 10 December 2003, lot 91

The present work is one of several portraits le Brocquy carried out of his friend Seamus Heaney in the 1980s and 90s. They belong to the artist's celebrated 'Portrait Heads' series (1975–2005), in which le Brocquy completed numerous oils and watercolours of literary figures and poets. Built up subtly in layers and possessing a transitory quality, le Brocquy wrote how, 'painting is not a means of communication or even self-expression, but rather a process of discovering, or uncovering' (National Gallery of Ireland, Louis le Brocquy, Portrait Heads, 2006, p.67). 

Inspired by Heaney’s own poetry, le Brocquy reveals the personality and inner thoughts of the sitter. Heaney sums up the complete effect of the portraits best himself: 'They take hold of the air, they probe it with a deep pure stare… They complete: they have come through' (New York State Museum, Louis le Brocquy and the Celtic Head Image, 1981, p.39).