Leo Whelan, R.H.A.

The Artist's Family

Gorry Gallery, Dublin, where acquired by the late Brian P. Burns

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Famille de l'artiste

Gorry Gallery, Dublin, où elle a été acquise par feu Brian P. Burns

Boston, Boston College Museum of Art, America’s Eye: Irish Paintings from the Collection of Brian P. Burns, 26 January - 19 May 1996, no.12, illustrated p.87, with tour to Dublin, Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, 19 June - 25 August 1996 and New Haven, Yale Center for British Art, 25 September 1997 - 4 January 1998

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Boston, Boston College Museum of Art, America's Eye : Irish Paintings from the Collection of Brian P. Burns, 26 janvier - 19 mai 1996, no.12, illustré p.87, avec une tournée à Dublin, Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, 19 juin - 25 août 1996 et New Haven, Yale Center for British Art, 25 septembre 1997 - 4 janvier 1998

Whelan was one of the leading portrait painters in Ireland although the present work depicts a more intimate genre work. Although depicting the artist's niece and painted circa 1940 at the Whelan family home in Dublin, the feeling evoked is of domestic life in a rural cottage at the end of the 19th century. In a sparse room, a young woman sews beside a table placed in front of a fireplace. The earthy tones emphasise the rural setting, while the composition and use of light also reveals the artist's interest in the early Dutch genre masters.