Paul Henry, R.H.A., R.U.A.

Taylor Gallery, Belfast, where purchased by the present owner in 2008

Painted circa 1935-45, Cottages in the West is almost certainly a scene in Connemara. With the white-washed thatched cottages nestled among the hills at the water's edge under a sky of cumulus clouds, it exemplifies Paul Henry's deep affinity with this dramatic landscape. The atmospheric use of tone and colour combined with broken brushwork is particularly effective in evoking the constantly changing light, reflected in the water in the foreground. The composition fully displays Henry's consummate ability in capturing the West of Ireland, which continues to endure so evocatively.

The present work will be numbered 1292 in S. B. Kennedy's ongoing catalogue raisonné of paintings by Paul Henry, and we are grateful for his kind assistance with the present cataloguing.