Nathaniel Hone R.H.A.
Gorry Gallery • Dublin 29. Study: Ship at Anchor
20. Cover – Study: Sheep in the Park 1. Backcover – Study: Sand and Sea
© GORRY GALLERY LTD. paintings
from the studio
of nathaniel hone R.H.A. 1831 – 1917
Gorry Gallery • Dublin 27th June – 9th July 2002 Introduction
r Thomas Bodkin took a bold step in selecting Barret, O’Connor, Osborne and Hone for his celebrated D1920 book Four Irish Landscape Painters. In retrospect, it was a wise and enlightened choice. The work of all four painters has stood the test of time, and their reputations have grown in stature over the years both in Ireland and abroad. It gives me much pleasure, therefore, to present this exhibition of such a large collection of Hone’s work, which has come by descent from his studio and has never been seen before in public. In his oils, we observe his direct alla prima brushwork, giving credence to the saying that ‘the sketch is the artist’s caress’. His buttery paint (with no apparent underdrawing in evidence) is applied with consummate freedom in his ‘plein air’ sketches and, surprisingly, is equally present in his ‘finished’ exhibition works. Unlike his ‘impressionist’ contempories Hone did not rely on colour, restricting his palette to a limited range of natural pigments that were true to the Irish landscape. He mixed black or umber with yellow (rather than blue) to create moist greens, and his blue for sky only was applied sparingly. His watercolours rank with those of the very best international painters and I cannot think of any Irish contemporary who comes near to his mastery. Clearly, Hone was fortunate in that his work was not driven by commercial considerations. He truly ‘lived to paint’ rather than ‘painted to live’. This exhibition would not have been possible without the contribution of the following individuals. Dr Julian Campbell contributes further to the Hone ‘oeuvre’ with an enlightening essay where Julian’s academic expertise is complimented by his direct understanding of the ‘craft’ as an artist in his own right. Dr Paul Caffrey has applied his meticulous skills in cataloguing the collection and much credit is due to him for the exhibition concept itself. The owners and custodians of the paintings entrusted me to embark on the sale of these works on the strict understanding that they were catalogued and exhibited in this format as a ‘collection’, thus presenting a unique opportunity to view them together and enabling collectors to acquire a work by this ‘Father Figure’ of 19th and 20th century Irish art. I am also grateful to David Hone R.H.A. for loaning the early self-portrait of his ancestor, which is shown here for the first time.
James Gorry
2 27. Study: Trees
3 The Hone Family
he HONES were a Dublin merchant family remained during the XVIII and XIX Centuries an Tdescended from Nathaniel Hone a shoemaker of essentially merchant family trading and living within the Marlborough in Wiltshire who died in 1665 and whose City of Dublin to which their descendants are still son, Samuel, came to Ireland with the Parliamentary committed; only in the mid XIX century did they move to Army and eventually set up business on Wood Quay. attractive residences in the outskirts, now mostly Samuel’s eldest surviving grandson was NATHANIEL demolished and built over. With their many family HONE R.A. 1718-1784, a miniaturist and enamellist who connections – Crosthwaites, Moores, Colleys, Symes et al. later became a portrait painter in oils, elected a Member – they formed a closely knit network of upright of the Florentine Academy 1752, one of the first Directors Protestants preferring to marry their cousins and having of the Society of Arts 1765, a Founder Member of the many children. Nonetheless the talents of the first two Royal Academy 1768. He held the first one man generations often reappeared during the XIX and XX exhibition ever held in St. Martin’s Lane in London in centuries. 1775 after his quarrel with Sir Joshua Reynolds over a From Joseph are descended, besides a host of well painting in which he had depicted Angelica Kauffmann as known cricketers, polo players and yachtsmen, the famous a nude angel; his portraits include George Whitefield, sisters Dorothy Teacher, (creator of one of Ireland's great John Wesley and Sir John Fielding. gardens) Nancy Connell (the unstoppable MFH of the In 1742 he had married Molly Earle, reputedly a Meath Hunt) Leland Hutchinson, and EVIE HONE the natural daughter of the 4th Duke of Argyll; among their stained-glass artist; also Joseph Hone, the biographer of children were HORACE HONE (1756-1835) ARA, Yeats, his son DAVID HONE, and his grandchildren Joe Miniature Painter to the Prince of Wales, who worked in Hone, the journalist and novelist, and Geraldine Hone Dorset Street Dublin and then after the Act of Union in artist and a board member of the National Gallery of Dover Street London, and JOHN CAMILLUS HONE Ireland. 1759-1836, also miniaturist, who worked as a model for From Brindley, through his second daughter, his father who depicted him as “David” and also as “the descended Provost Mahaffy; through his eldest son Spartan Boy”; in 1780 John Camillus went to the East Nathaniel, Lord Mayor of Dublin 1810-11, descended Indies and worked there; returning to Ireland he was Mary Hart grandmother of Harts, Babingtons, Wilsons, appointed in 1790 Engraver of Dies in the Dublin Stamp Phillpotts, Bartons, Morroghs and Gwynns; Nannie Office. Bellingham, died 1938, friend of Orpen and Osborne and A younger brother of NATHANIEL RA was of Sir Walter Armstrong; and Herbert Hone. SAMUEL Hone Junior born in 1726 who worked first in Through Brindley’s second son descended Bishop Dublin as an artist and in 1754 went to Jamaica where he Hone of Wakefield and Sir Evelyn Hone, Governor of died. Nothing of his work is known to us. Northern Rhodesia. Two other grandsons of Samuel Senior are the Brindley's third son Addison 1773-97 had an only son ancestors of all extant Irish Hones, namely Joseph 1720- Brindley who married his cousin Anne Hone, by whom he 1799, a clothier in the Coombe, and Brindley 1734-1812, had nine sons, only one of whom married, namely the a pin merchant on Usher’s Quay. The descendants of fourth son NATHANIEL HONE RHA 1831-1917; he these two brothers constantly intermarried - with Hone married in 1872 Magdalen Jameson who died in 1919, marrying Hone the family tree is complicated. No their only child having died in infancy. His sister Mrs. relationship of the Irish Hones with the celebrated Moore had ten daughters and two sons, but as his English pamphleteer William Hone 1780-1842 has been eventual heir he chose Herbert Hone, mentioned above, a established. nephew of Mary Hart and Nannie Bellingham; he died in Although the Hones acquired lands in different parts 1954 without issue and bequeathed the collection to the of Ireland and were granted a Coat of Arms, they present owners.
4 Chronology by Julian Campbell
1831 26 October, birth of Nathaniel Hone, sixth child of 1903 Hone presents four pictures to form nucleus of Brindley and Anne Hone. proposed collection of Modern Art for Dublin. 1846 Nathaniel enters Trinity College, Dublin to study 1904 John Quinn visits Hone at St. Doulough’s, and Engineering and Science. starts collecting his work. 1850 Graduates with honors. Works as an engineer on 1907 Irish International Exhibition, Dublin. Midland Great Railway in Ireland. 1913 Fourteen pictures at Exhibition of Irish Art, 1853 Nathaniel departs for Paris to study art, with Yvon. Withechapel, London. 1854 Moves to atelier of Thomas Couture. Paints self- Two paintings at Armory Show, New York. portrait. 1916 James Wilcox paints two studies of Hone. 1855 Visit to Bourron-Marlotte. 1917 October, visit of Thomas Bodkin to St. Doulough’s. 1857 Hone visits Marlotte with Bohemian artist Pinkars. 14 October, death of Nathaniel Hone. Begins his career as a landscape painter. 1918 Magdalen Hone Bequest to National Gallery of Meets Millet, Jacque, and other members of Ireland. Barbizon school. Meets Corot and Courbet. 1919 Death of Magdalen Hone. 1858 Return visit to Dublin, and possible journey to 1921 May, exhibition of Hone Bequest at National Gallery Italy. of Ireland, 90 oils and 99 watercolours. c.1863 Hone moves to Bourron-Marlotte, near to 1925 Loan exhibition of Hone paintings, Belfast. Fontainebleau. 1951 208 oils and 336 watercolours from Hone Bequest permanently accepted by National Gallery of 1865-69 Exhibits at Paris Salon. Ireland. 1870 Brandon paints portrait of Hone. Outbreak of 1991 Nathaniel Hone Retrospective, National Gallery of Franco-Prussian war. Hone departs for Italy. Ireland. c.1872 Return to Ireland. 1996 Watercolours by Hone and Osborne, N.G.I. 1872 Marriage to Magdalen, daughter of John and Anne 2002 Hone studio exhibition, Gorry Gallery, Dublin. Jameson of St. Marnock’s, Malahide. 1876 Hone begins te exhibit at R.H.A. Continues to exhibit at R.H.A. nearly every year for the rest of his life. 1879 Hone becomes associate member, then full member of R.H.A. 1886-94 Exhibits at Dublin Art Club. 1888 June, visit to Germany. Journey along the Danube, probably to Constantinople. c.1890 Visit to Kilkee, Co. Clare. 1891-92 The Hones made an extented tour of the Mediterranean and the East: Venice, Corfu, Athens and Egypt. 1894 Becomes Professor of Painting at R.H.A. c.1895 Visit to Donegal. 1896 Hone moves to St. Doulough’s, Raheny, inherited from Nathaniel’s aunt. 1901 October-November, Loan Exhibition of Pictures by Hone and John B. Yeats in Dublin, organised by Sarah 31. Self Portrait of Nathaniel Hone, painted in Paris Purser. (28 pictures by Hone). c.1853 - 56. Collection of David Hone R.H.A.
5 Nathaniel Hone R.H.A. 1831 - 1917
hen Thomas Bodkin A large collection of the oils and watercolours have Wpublished his book ‘Four thus remained safe in the care of Hone’s relatives for Irish Landscape Painters’ in 1920, eighty years. This is a remarkable fact. Hones’ work is he claimed in the fourth chapter, on rarely seen in large numbers. So for an exhibition of Nathaniel Hone, whom he had met some eighty watercolours and oils from this private only a couple of years previously, family collection, none of which were exhibited during that, although this artist’s output was his lifetime, to be held in the Gorry Gallery in Dublin, extensive “probably not more than is an exciting event. It is ironic that we refer to an one hundred (pictures) have passed into private exhibition such as this as a ‘studio exhibition’ for all of i possession.” With his reasonable familiarity of sales these small oils and watercolours (with the possible made at the Royal Hibernian Academy, of work in exception of one figure) were painted in the open air. private collections in Ireland, and gifts by the artist to Hone was a landscape painter, whose work was admirers, Bodkin’s assertion was probably correct at the devoted to the apprehension of Nature: to the earth, the time of writing. sky and the sea. Throughout his career, he made During Hone’s lifetime scores of small oil paintings, variations upon the themes of fields, woods or beaches, never exhibited, as well as tiny sketch-books containing sometimes with people or farm animals present, of hundreds of watercolours, were retained in his studio. rivers, rocks and clouds, and often of buildings or sailing After his death in 1917, and before that of his widow boats. Magdalen in 1919, the entire collection was bequeathed The small oil paintings and watercolours were to the National Gallery of Ireland and painstakingly painted as working studies for larger canvases, or simply catalogued by Dermod O’Brien.ii The Gallery accepted for the artist’s own pleasure. They were highly personal, a large portion of oils and watercolours, but by no and perhaps as important to him as ‘finished’ exhibition means the whole collection. Of the remainder, many oil canvases. Like his mentor, French landscapist Corot, studies and watercolours appear to have been sold in the early twenties, and entered private collections. when he was in his studio, Hone seems to have liked to Small numbers of watercolours were purchased by have these open-air sketches around him as he iii important public collections, for example, seven by the worked. British Museum in London, six by the Ulster Museum, Two little- known portraits, both illustrated in the Belfast, and five by the Crawford Municipal Art Gallery, present catalogue, reveal Hone at the beginning and at iv Cork. the end, of his career. The first (private collection), an Then, because Hone did not have any direct unfinished self-portrait, probably painted during his descendants, the remainder of the collection of oils and student days in Paris, c.1853-’56, shows the artist with watercolours were returned to his relations and perhaps sensitive face, looking directly out at the viewer (Cat. those of his wife. This meant that the number of Hone no. 31; ill. p. 5). The other portrait, painted by Hone’s paintings in private hands, either sold after the disposal young American friend James Wilcox,v features the of his estate, or retained by his family, now greatly artist in his mid eighties, in profile, with thick white hair outnumbered Bodkin’s estimate of one hundred and patriarchal beard. The face is benevolent, yet paintings. striking and confident, as if Hone has an inner
6 awareness of the accomplishment of his long career. (illustrated on page 6) The small oil paintings and studies of well-known early nineteenth century landscapists such as Constable and Corot have long been admired for their freshness and authenticity, qualities that may be perceived to become lost in larger, more finished studio canvases. Over the past generation there has also been increasing academic and popular interest in the small ‘paintings from nature’ and ‘painted oil sketches’ on paper, executed in Italy by many contemporaries and predecessors of Corot in the eighteenth and early vi nineteenth centuries. 8. Study: Pont du Garde [sic] Hill Beyond The practice of open-air painting was continued by artists of the Barbizon School, and, of course, by the indicate white clouds above the ocean. In other cases, Impressionists. Hone himself started making small the brush moves so rapidly that the brushstrokes leap studies of Nature in the Forest of Fontainebleau, and across the surface, from one side of the picture to the continued to do so throughout his career. The oils in other. this collection date from the mid to later stages of his During his lifetime, Hone’s painting was not always career, around the 1890’s, and are different from the understood or appreciated. For many years works plein-air studies of his predecessors. Hone had learned exhibited at the R.H.A. received mixed reviews. For to deal with generalities, not to put in too much detail, example, in 1884 an ‘Irish Times’ critic wrote of his and to know what to leave out. In this, he was unrivalled works, amongst nineteenth century Irish landscapists. “They are all painted with a daring freedom which They are important as illustrative of Hone’s working sometimes approaches very nearly the limits of artistic methods. They are painted on small sections of strong vii canvas. The existence of pin holes in the corners of the licence.” material (as in many small oils in the National Gallery), While a writer in the ‘Freeman’s Journal’ indicate that the canvas was affixed to a board or to the commented that: lid of a painting box, for easy portablility, and use when “Mr. Nathaniel Hone has for some years past working out of doors. The presence of these pin holes mystified his admirers by the peculiarities of style which and the little circles around them, where some of the he indulges...” paint was blocked by the drawings pins, make the The writer criticised a coastal subject: pictures appear surprisingly fresh and recent. “It is like a piece of scene-painting, one would These oil paintings have a freshness, directness and imagine the colours are laid on with a hearth brush. ruggedness to them. They express the immediacy of Vigour, freedom and breadth are very fine qualities, but Hone’s vision of Nature, as powerful yet fleeting, where when employed to the effect that Mr. Hone indulges changing light and colour are manifested before our them, they become faults..” viii eyes. To convey this, Hone works at speed, using flecks However, a couple of years later, a critic praised and curls of paint to indicate trees and meadows, clouds, Hone’s sea and landscapes: “full of experience and love sky and beach. In some cases, Hone employs impasto to of Nature.” ix
7 And, in the early twentieth century, Bodkin asserted that Hone’s “fellow artists had never failed to recognize his merit.” x In the present collection, there appear to be no oils from Hone’s early period in France, or from his later travels in the Mediterranean. They are mostly based on his farm, among pastures, in small woods, or on the beach at Malahide, probably dating from the 1890’s or early twentieth century. One picture is set in Co. Donegal, while another may relate to Norfolk in England. Two larger canvases contain sketches of cows resting in different poses, their black and white backs gleaming against fragments of green meadows. Perhaps made in conjunction with small pencil drawings of cattle (National Gallery of Ireland) they are plainly studies for 19. Study: Rocks and Sea Hone’s well-known series of paintings of cattle, the best known of which is ‘Pastures at Malahide’ (N.G.I. gorse on the land lower right, provides a simple, almost no.588). abstract balance of tones. Local and family anecdote relates that in his old age, Three small studies of trees in autumn are arresting, Hone had his cows driven by his men under his greens, russets and golds, a frenzy of wet brushstrokes, windows, or held up in the fields (where, seated, he applied at speed, whirling and criss-crossing one could paint the placid animals at close quarters.) xi another, to capture a sense of thick foliage, shade and The paintings of a tree in a courtyard (Cat. no.47) is unusual and slightly enigmatic; is it a scene at Malahide, light, of Nature at the turn of the seasons, in simple, but or on the Continent? One oil, showing just a path expressive ways. There is a golden glow, a Pantheistic leading into trees, is simple and mysterious. Patches of surrender to Nature, without self. One of these sunlight are suggested by impastoed strokes of white, paintings is a study for the larger canvas ‘Autumn Trees’ yellow and pink. Set near his home, perhaps, it is (private collection). The former was painted in front of reminiscent of some of Hone’s earlier Barbizon the motif, the latter in the studio perhaps. Yet the two paintings, influenced by Corot. paintings are almost identical, apart from in scale, as if Other paintings show beach scenes, with sketches of both were painted in the open air. Hone had this sea beneath clouds and patches of blue in the sky. unusual, perhaps unique ability: in making use of Always there are sails of fishing boats on the horizon. sketches and of memory, he seems to have been able to Looking eastward across the Irish sea, the light changes create ‘studio’ paintings that have the freshness and before our eyes. In his study of cliffs and waves at immediacy of his outdoor work. Bundoran, Co Donegal (62), fresh pinks, greens and When the large version of ‘Autumn Trees’ was blues are used, giving an impression of a blustery day. exhibited at the Nathaniel Hone retrospective at the The study of gorse and a stormy sky (32) allows Hone National Gallery in 1991, Aidan Dunne praised it for to employ a colour not often used by him: chrome being “prescient.” xii By this Dunne implied that in such yellow. The relationship between the bold white cloud late paintings, Hone seemed to anticipate tendencies that hangs in the sky, centre left, and the yellow of the found in twentieth century Expressionist, or Abstract
8 Expressionist painting. Affinities may certainly be found with the likes of present-day artists such as Sean McSweeney and Frank Auerbach, or with the ‘gestural’ paintings of the New York School. It is almost as if the subject matter became disembodied. However, Hone’s foundations lie with Corot and the Barbizon School of the mid nineteenth century. In certain late works, although he does show affinities with the movements such as Impressionism, Expressionism and even Abstraction, he might not have recognised such terms. He remained his own man. Like near contemporary nineteenth century traveller landscapists, H.B. Brabazon, Henri Harpignies and Felix Ziem, Hone was a prolific watercolourist. His work can be seen in the context of the latter two especially, comrades of his at Barbizon, whose extensive watercolour oeuvre compliments their work in oils. The watercolours in this collection, originally part of the Hone Bequest, form a good cross-section of his work. They compliment well the large collection of the artist’s watercolours at the National Gallery, some being versions of subjects, or variations of themes, in pictures conserved there, some being studies for extant oil paintings. Very few of Hone’s watercolours were exhibited during Hone’s lifetime, and he was modest 70. Study: Trees about them to Bodkin, referring to them as “only There are some rarities here too, including a small studies.” xiii square French river scene, a deeply coloured image of Yet privately he must have valued them, knowing their worth. Numbering over eight hundred in all, of Venice, and a view of the Pont du Gard. Some pictures which about fifty are found in this collection, they form are characteristic views of meadows, woodland or cliffs. a sort of ‘visual diary’ of many stages of his career, Others are general, containing just a few fleeting strokes representing many of the locations in which he worked and washes of transparent colour, to convey a strip of and travelled: Malahide, and the West coast of Ireland; beach, a breaking wave, the sky – there is almost an France, and the Dutch coast; Venice; Athens and Egypt. insubstantiability. Pausing at the entrance to a forest, Some of the French and Orientalist pictures are of seated on a rock or a sand-dune, standing on the edge of subjects represented by a number of artists. But the cliffs, or perched on board a boat off the Adriatic coast, majority of watercolours are views of little corners of or on the Nile, it is evident that every single one of Nature, or open expanses, especial to Hone. these watercolours in the white pages of Hone’s Some watercolours are of figures, or of a distinctive sketchbooks was painted directly from Nature. subject; the island of Ireland’s Eye, or the bridge at The watercolours here display many of the Lismore, for example, or the Parthenon or the Nile. techniques familiar from the collection in the National
9 Gallery: pencil marks, washes of colour, loose painted outlines, areas of white, or scratching of the surface, to reveal the whiteness of the paper underneath Again, in some places, there are ‘controlled accidents’, such as ‘blurring’ or running of colour; caused by a surplus of water in the brush, to create luminosity within cloud, or wetness within water; or even blots or splodges accidentally dropped on the page. Each page bears Hone’s little seal, his initials ‘N.H.’ contained within an oval, embossed in the corner. The watercolours originate in many places, so a rough chronology of the main locations at which Hone painted can be offered (this does not correspond with 9. Study: Egypt: A Jumble of Boats the order in which they are listed in O’Brien’s catalogue). detail than in his oils of Scheveningen (for example The study of two boys in faded blue jackets (73) N.G.I, cat. no.1425). relates to the watercolour of two boys in caps in the The watercolour of the Pont du Gard (Cat. no.8; ill. National Gallery (no.3502). In both pictures, Hone may p. 7) is plainly a study for the magnificent oil painting of in fact have painted the same figure twice. Because the Roman aqueduct near Nimes (private collection), for figurative studies by Hone are comparatively rare, such the viewpoint is exactly the same. (Another watercolour works are of great interest. The picture dates to France of this subject, from a different viewpoint, is found in around the 1860’s, either to Barbizon or, as indicated by the National Gallery’s collection, cat. no. 3320). the costume of blue jerkin, to Brittany. The delightful In visiting this celebrated site, Hone was following in little watercolour of a ship at anchor (Cat. no.75; ill. the footsteps of many artists and writers of the inside front cover) may also correspond to French eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, notably the subjects, of schooners with full masts and white sails moored on the river Seine. This study is unusual in its philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the novelist Tobias square format. Although small in scale, the vessel is Smollet, and the painter Hubert Robert. The latter crisply rendered, against transparent hues of green and painted a fine watercolour of the bridge, c.1787 blue. (Louvre), as did William Wyld (City of Manchester Art The study of a winding path along a cliff (Cat. no.49; Galleries). Gustave le Gray photographed the Pont du ill. p. 20), perhaps painted on a thicker paper than many Gard in 1857. of the other pictures, has an evenness of tone, and a Yet Hone’s watercolour, painted in warm touches of warm, honeyed colouring present in only a few of pale brown, green and blue, is a supreme example of Hone’s watercolours painted on the French or Italian how he can render a major architectural subject, with coast, (for example, N.G.I. cat. nos. 3514, 3523). The relaxed, painterly means. The small outline of a figure is study of the fishing fleet drawn up on the beach at shown climbing the bank in the foreground. Here, as in Scheveningen on the Dutch coast (no.592) which Hone the watercolour of Scheveningen, where a girl is seated visited in the 1880’s, is of interest because, within the on the beach, Hone has introduced a figure, to provide a small page, he renders the number and shape of wooden point of focus to he perspective, and add a human note boats, masts and rigging, with more concentration and to a grand subject.
10 In Ireland, there are watercolours of the east, south and west coasts. On the east coast Hone made many studies of the island of Ireland’s Eye, some of which are conserved in the National Gallery, and a couple of which are included in the present collection. One of these (Cat. no.62) is quite a detailed view, with rocks in the foreground. There is a study of corn stooks (Cat. no.48; ill. p. 23), perhaps taken on Hone’s land at Malahide, and several coastal scenes. One of these, a study of sandhills, fields and the bay (Cat. no.60) displays a warmth of colouring. Another small watercolour, described in Dermod O Brien’s catalogue as: “Study. Purple Red Shore, Breakers, White Topped Clouds” (Cat. no.50) xiv is just that, a simple representation of delicate pink and mauve beach, strip of blue sky, with a lovely white cloud. Similarly ‘Rocks and Sea’ (Cat. no.19; ill. p. 8) simply shows brown rocks and a blue-grey sea with a reef, and white breakers on the horizon, painted in a relaxed yet crisp manner. Watercolours such as these can contain a sense of balance, trueness of colour and a transparency, as much expression and feeling for Nature as in the large oil paintings. On the west coast, “Shore below cliffs” (Cat. no.78) probably shows the rocks at Kilkee, Co.Clare, one of Hone’s favourite sites which, on his visit around 1890, inspired several watercolours in the National Gallery’s collection, and some of his most powerful oils of rocks and sea. One watercolour represents the fine bridge and castle at Lismore, Co. Waterford (Cat. no.51; ill. p. 21), which Hone visited in 1902. A companion view is found in the National Gallery (Cat. no. 3422). 15. Study: Corner Columns of Parthenon, Blue Sky Several studies date from Hone’s extended journey in the Mediterranean to Egypt in 1892-1893. The watercolour of small canals in Venice (Cat. no.17; ill. p. the Acropolis, many of which are to be found in the 18) is of significance because it may be the only collection of the National Gallery. Characteristic of watercolour extant from his visit to that city. It is these is his watercolour of the Pathenon, against a blue delightful, in its unusual architectural emphasis and sky (Cat. no.15; ill. above). In Egypt, his interest in strong verticals, combined with deep colours and an sailing and fishing vessels is shown in his dramatic abstract quality. Hone’s fascination with the monuments cluster of feluccas with masts by the banks of the Nile of antiquity is evident in the studies which he made of (Cat. no.9; ill. p. 10).
11 Above all, in his journey in Egypt, Hone appears to have been attracted by the view, perhaps gained from on board ship across the Nile to distant sandhills, or from the river bank near Luxor, across the water to transparent pink mountains. Several such impressions in this collection (Cat. no.11; ill. p. 17; Cat. no.30) complement similar watercolours in the National Gallery, xv the finest of which is ‘Horseman on the banks of the Nile,’(N.G.I. cat. 3400). French writer Gustave Flaubert, travelling in Egypt in 1850 was struck by the oil-like smoothness of the waters of the Nile here and the violet and azure of hills. xvi Hone was not the 72. Study: Cows first artist to be attracted by the view from Luxor across the transparent Nile waters to the exquisite pearly pink and blue mountains of Thebes beyond. lightness and spontaneity. This place may be identified, most likely as the Seeing the extent of the watercolours in the present ‘Cime d’Occident, xvii and it seems to have bewitched collection, as in the National Gallery and in other several artists to produce beautiful landscapes: Charles collections, it is evident that they are far more than the Gleyre’s watercolour ‘Landscape, Luxor’ 1835; ‘studies’ as he modestly described them. Along with the photographs taken by John B. Greene, in 1854; as well small oils, they allow for a different perspective of the as ‘On the Banks of the Nile’, 1868 painted by artist and his work than that familiar from his larger, Frederick,Lord Leighton (private collection); and a and sometimes more sombre canvases. Just as there is couple of oils by the mysterious Danish artist Henry much scholarly and popular interest in the drawings of Brockman (Petit Palais, Paris) xviii painted in 1891, only great masters, so a reappraisal of Hone’s watercolours as xix a few months earlier than Hone. a central part of his creativity is timely. Hone’s many watercolours of this subject may be Consider the studies that Delacroix made on his visit preparatory studies for his fine oil painting ‘Banks of the to Morocco in 1832. They inform us not just of his Nile’ (Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin). response to human subjects and landscape, but also of Contained within Hone’s watercolours, in a few his travels, his ideas and feelings. Or the watercolours of square inches of paper, there can be as much feeling for Turner that spanned his career, from early topographical place and completeness, (and perhaps a greater purity of views to the later almost abstract impressions of light colour), as in his larger oil paintings. and atmosphere. Some of Hone’s watercolours are Although lacking the detail of conventional ‘notes’ made in preparation for larger paintings. Others landscape, Hone’s studies of woods, of beach and rocks, are fleeting impressions of Nature, expressing his of a white cloud above the sea, or a wave breaking, of delight in looking at a landscape, a record of a journey. the light on the side of a building, or reflections in the They comprise an act of contemplation, a visual diary of river Nile, have a simplicity of form, a balance, and a his life, ‘notations’ of thoughts and feelings. In Hone’s vision of Nature, at times fleeting, at times stormy, at work there is no vanity, no social message, no material times tranquil and mystical, that strikes a deep chord in ambition. There is an enchantment with the natural the viewer. Just as in Hone’s small oils there is a vigour world, and an expression of that vision. and expressiveness, so in the watercolours there is a Julian Campbell
12 i Thomas Bodkin, ‘Four Irish Landscape Painters’, Dublin and xvii Hauptman, 1996, ibid. London, 1920 p.56. xviii for example ‘The River Nile’ and ‘The Nile at Luxor – the ii Bodkin, ibid, Appendix XVI. mountains of Thebes’, Henry Jacob Brockman-Knudsen born 1868 in Copenhagen, studied at the Academie Julian in Paris, iii See photograph illustrated in ‘Ireland from Old then visited Italy, Syria and Egypt. Photographs’,1971, by Maurice Gorham (also J.Campbell, ‘Nathaniel Hone’, 1991. p.12). xix An exhibition of a selection of Drawings and watercolours by Nathaniel Hone, was held at the National Gallery of Ireland iv I am very grateful to Mr.David Hone, R.H.A. for providing in 1996, curated by Adrian le Harivel. me with information on Hone’s self portrait, and with biographical material on James Wilcox. Similiar youthful self portraits were painted in the same period the 1850’s, by Fantin-Latour, George du Maurier, Leighton, and many pupils of Charles Gleyre. v ‘Portrait of Nathaniel Hone’ (Oil on canvas, 22" x 17") ill. p.6, courtesy of James Adam Salerooms. ‘Irish Art Sale’ 25 March 1998, no.82 James Wilcox (1888-1932). Wilcox was an American artist, and also a pilot who flew against ‘The Red Baron’ in World War I. He served as an executor for Hone’s will. vi See exhibition catalogues such as ‘Painting from Nature’, Fitzwilliam, Cambridge, 1980, by Philip Conisbee; ‘Before Photography’ MOMA, New York, 1981, by Peter Galassi; ‘The Painted Sketch. American Impressions from Nature’, Dallas Museum of Art 1998, By Eleanor Jones; ‘A Brush with Nature. The Gere Collection of Landscapes Oil Sketches’, Naional Gallery, London, 1999, by C. Riopelle and X. Bray; and many other publications, and exhibitions. vii ‘Irish Times’ 7 March 1884. viii Freeman’s Journal’, 8 March 1884. ix ‘Dublin University Review. Illustrated Art Supplement’, 1886 p.57. x Bodkin op.cit. p.63. xi Anecdotal evidence, according to local Malahide and Hone family recollection. xii Aidan Dunne, ‘Sunday Tribune’, 16 June 1991. xiii Bodkin, op.cit. p.58 xiv D. O’Brien, 1920, op.cit. p.205. xv N.G.I., cat.nos. 3391, 3400, 6609, 6609v., xvi Flaubert’s Letters from 1850, quoted by William Hauptman, in ‘The Orientalists: Delacroix to Matisse’, Royal Academy, London. 1984, p.178; and W. Hauptman ‘Charles Gleyre, his 16. Study: Standing Woman, Pyrenees life and Work’, Zurich and Princeton, 1996, vol.2 p.48
13 7. Study: Across the bent
14 Catalogue by Paul Caffrey All measurements are in inches, height precedes width. Numbers in brackets in each entry refer to numbers in Bodkin’s catalogue.
Abbreviations Bodkin: Thomas Bodkin, Four Irish Landscape Painters, Dublin and London, 1920, reprinted with an introduction by Julian Campbell, Dublin, 1987. Campbell: Julian Campbell, Nathaniel Hone the Younger, National Gallery of Ireland exhibition catalogue, 1991.
GALLERY I 2. Study: Park 1. (404) Study: Sand and Sea Oil 7 × 10 4. (63) Study: Sheep by Trees 1 Watercolour 6 × 9 /2 Illustrated back cover Illustrated page 16
2. (503) Study: Park 1 1 Oil 7 /2 × 10 /2 5. (592) Study: Dutch Fishing Fleet, some with Sails Set, others not: Sand 7 Illustrated opposite Watercolour 3 /8 × 7 Painted before 1881.
3. (459) Study: Rock and Sand, Shore, Illustrated page 16 Green Sea, Blue Cloudy Sky 1 Watercolour 5 × 8 /2 6. (295) Study: Green Pastures, Cattle and Trees 1 Illustrated below Watercolour 5 × 8 /4
7. (300) Study: Across the bent 1 Oil 11 /2 × 18
Illustrated page 14
8. (865) Study: Pont du Garde [sic] Hill Beyond 3 Watercolour 5 × 7 /4 This is a preliminary watercolour for an oil painting of the Pont du Gard (Private Collection) exhibited at the NGI 1991, see Campbell, pp.98-99. There is a similar watercolour in the NGI (catalogue number 3320). 3. Study: Rock and Sand, Shore, Green Sea, Blue Cloudy Sky Illustrated page 7
15 9. (277) Study: Egypt: A Jumble of Boats by the Bank on the Nile 5 1 Watercolour 4 /8 × 7 /2
Illustrated page 10
10. (237) Study: Harvest Field, Trees and Dark Blue Sea Watercolour 5 × 8
11. (243) Study: Egypt: Buildings and Trees on Point in Nile 3 1 Watercolour 4 /4 × 7 /2 Hone was in Egypt in 1892, see Campbell, pp. 180-182 4. Study: Sheep by Trees Illustrated page 17 15. (383) Study: Corner Columns of Parthenon, Blue Sky 3 5 12. (62) Study: Cliff and Waves, Bundoran Watercolour 7 /4 × 4 /8 Oil 7 × 10 See Campbell, p. 179. Hone visited Co. Donegal in c. 1895. Illustrated page 11
13. Coastal Scene, evening 1 Oil 7 /2 × 11 16. (175) Study: Standing Woman, Pyrenees 3 1 Watercolour 9 /4 × 6 /2 Hone made visits to the South-west of France in 1887 14. (368) Study: Corfu: Two Cypresses, Tiled Church, and 1889. This watercolour was exhibited in the NGI Sea and Hills in 1991, see Campbell, p. 158. 5 3 Watercolour 4 /8 × 7 /4 Hone visited Corfu on his European tour in 1891/2. Illustrated page 13
Illustrated page 17 17. (176) Study: Venice Small Canal Between Houses 1 Watercolour 9 × 5 /2 Hone visited Venice in 1891/2.
Illustrated page 18
18. (409) Study: Sand and Dark Rising Ground, Blue Sea Beyond Watercolour 4 × 7
19. (105) Study: Rocks and Sea 3 Watercolour 5 × 6 /4
5. Study: Dutch Fishing Fleet Illustrated page 8
16 20. (351) Study: Sheep in the Park Oil 13 × 17
Illustrated Front Cover
21. (800) Study: Pasture, Cattle indicated, Clump of Woods, Big Brown Clouds 7 3 Watercolour 4 /8 × 6 /4
22. (390) Study: Cows Oil 14 × 21
23. (624B) Study: Rocks and Sea 11. Study: Egypt 1 Watercolour 11 × 15 /2 27. (447) Study: Trees × 24. (12) Study: Park: Windy Sky Oil 7 10 Watercolour 7 × 10 This is a study for Autumn Trees, private collection, exhibited at the NGI, 1991, see Campbell, p. 141.
25. (129) Study: Sea and Mountain Illustrated page 3 1 1 Watercolour 4 /2 × 6 /4
26. (152) Study: Landscape and Cows GALLERY II Watercolour 4 × 7 28. (148) Study: Donnybrook 14th May 1887 Watercolour 4 × 7
29. (875) Study: Ship at Anchor near Pier, Green Hill beyond 1 Watercolour 4 /4 × 4
Illustrated inside front cover
30. (264) Study: Egypt: Sketch on Nile 3 1 Watercolour 4 /4 × 7 /2
31. Self Portrait, painted in Paris c. 1853-’56 1 Oil 24 × 19 /2 Collection of David Hone, RHA
Illustrated page 5 14. Study: Corfu
17 32. (275) Study: Gorse and Stormy Sky 1 1 Oil 7 /2 × 12 /2
33. (586) Study: Glenmalure [Co. Wicklow] Road in Light, Dark Heathery Hill Beyond 1 3 Watercolour 3 /2 × 6 /4
34. (A2) Study: Trees 3 3 Oil 7 /4 × 9 /4
35. (328) Study: Bay with Small Boat, Grey Cloud Reflected 3 3 Watercolour 4 /4 × 7 /4
36. (379) Study: Cows in a Field Oil 13 × 16
37. (216) Study: Rocky Point and Sea 1 Watercolour 5 × 8 /2
38. (366) Study: Two Cows and a Tree Oil 10 × 14 Earlier version of Cows Sheltering under a Tree
39. (408) Study: Rocky Island above Breaking Sea, Grey [A View of Ireland’s Eye] Watercolour 4 × 7
Illustrated page 19 17. Study: Venice
42. (489) Study: Two Trees (Autumn) over Stream 40. (179) Study: Trees Through Pastures × 3/ Watercolour 5 7 4 Watercolour 7 × 10
41. (293) Study: Dark Headland, Sea and Distant Mountains GALLERY III (Downstairs) 1 Watercolour 5 × 8 /4 43. (313) Study: Sketch at Sea 3 3 Illustrated page 19 Watercolour 4 /4 × 7 /4
18 44. (19) Study: Plain and Sky Watercolour 7 × 10
45. (773) Study: Sea Coast Watercolour 5 × 8
46. Study: Autumn Trees Oil 5 × 7
47. (283) Study: Tree in Courtyard Oil 13 × 16
39. A View of Ireland’s Eye 48. (652) Study: Corn Stooks Watercolour 8 × 11 51. (350) Study: Brown River, Bridge on Left, Trees Illustrated page 23 and Lismore Castle 1 1 Watercolour 4 /2 × 7 /2 In 1902 Hone visited Lismore. 49. (725) Study: Winding Path Along Cliff See NGI catalogue no. 3422. 1 Watercolour 11 × 7 /2 Illustrated page 21 Illustrated page 20
52. (494) Study: Autumn Trees 1 1 50. (418) Study: Purple Red Shore, Breakers, White Oil 7 /2 × 10 /2 Topped Cloud Watercolour 5 × 7 Illustrated page 24 Illustrated on exhibition invitation 53. (336) Study: Trees Oil 12 × 16
Illustrated page 23
54. (514) Study: Park Oil 7 × 10
Illustrated page 22
55. (65) Study: Plain 1 Watercolour 6 × 9 /2
41. Study: Dark Headland 56. (67) Study: Dark Grey Green Plain 3 Watercolour 5 × 6 /4
19 57. (14) Study: Park Autumn Watercolour 7 × 10
58. (795) Study: Sheep Resting in Shadow under Tree, Light Beyond 7 3 Watercolour 4 /8 × 6 /4
59. (230) Study: Sea and Brig 1 Oil 10 × 14 /2
Illustrated inside back cover
60. (305) Study: Sand, Fields and Bay and High Sand Hills 3 3 Watercolour 4 /4 × 7 /4
61. (772) Study: Tree Trunks Watercolour 5 × 8
62. (680) Study: Rock over Sea Watercolour 8 × 10
63. (792) Study: Pasture, Big Trees and Woods, Clouds 7 3 Watercolour 4 /8 × 6 /4
64. Study: Landscape 49. Study: Winding Path 1 1 Oil 7 /2 × 9 /2 68. (367) Study: Shadowed Green Plain and Stormy Sky 65. (248) Study: Egypt Sand and Sky and Distant Hills 5 3 Watercolour 4 /8 × 7 /4 Exhibited Irish Art Exhibition Brussels, May 1930 3 1 Watercolour 4 /4 × 7 /2 69. (527) Study: Grey Day, Green Pastures, Trees on left, Dark Horizon 66. (469) Study: Shore, Green Light and Shadowed 5 1 Watercolour 4 /8 × 7 /2 Sea, Dark Horizon, Distant Clouds 1 Watercolour 5 × 8 /2 70. (318) Study: Trees 1 1 Oil 9 /2 × 7 /2 67. (329) Study: Trees Oil 12 × 16 Illustrated page 9
20 71. (785) Study: River, Bank of Trees and Sky Watercolour 4 × 7
72. (392) Study: Cows Oil 14 × 21
Illustrated page 12
73. (756) Study: Two Studies of Boys 3 Watercolour 8 × 9 /4
74. (761) Study: Lake, Trees and Hill 1 1 Watercolour 5 /2 × 9 /2 51. Study: Lismore Castle
78. (638) Study: Shore below Cliffs 75. Tree in a Landscape × 1 1 Watercolour 9 11 Oil 9 /2 × 13 /2
Illustrated below 79. (667) Study: Glenmalure Road Watercolour 8 × 11 76. (446) Study: Dark Low Cliffs at Low Tide 1 Watercolour 5 × 8 /2 80. (289) Study: Dark Mountains at Head of Bay 1 Watercolour 5 × 8 /4 77. (671) Study: Mountain Headland 1 Watercolour 6 /2 × 11 81. (18) Study: Plain Watercolour 7 × 10
75. Tree in a Landscape
21 54. Study: Park
22 53. Study: Trees
48. Study: Corn Stooks
23 52. Study: Autumn Trees
24 59. Study: Sea and Brig
25 GORRY GALLERY LTD., 20 MOLESWORTH STREET, DUBLIN 2. TELEPHONE and FAX 6795319 The Gallery is open Monday – Friday 11.00 a.m. – 6.00 p.m. Saturday (during Exhibition only) 11.00 a.m. – 2.00 p.m. www.gorrygallery.ie Origination and Printing by Brunswick Press Ltd.