WILLIAM HENRY BARTLETT | THE SEAL-DIVER, CO. MAYO

City Art Galleries, Leeds, 1929;

Joe Keller, Chicago, from where purchased by the parents of the present owner circa 1985

W.H. Bartlett, 'Coast Life in Connemara', in Art Journal, 1894, illustrated p.247;

W.H. Bartlett, 'The West Coast of Ireland' in The Studio, vol.47, 1909, illustrated p.120

London, Royal Academy, 1888, no.346

The present work depicts a rowing boat drawing into a rocky cove in Co. Mayo, with six men labouring to haul a seal ashore. Each man is involved in a different activity: standing in the prow of the boat, providing balance with a long oar; helping to bring in the seal; or leaning from the rocks to assist the diver in the water, yet it is very much a team effort. Some of the men are clad in loose shirts and waistcoats, others wear hats, while the diver is naked. They are all wiry and strong-looking, handsome, their faces turned brown by the sun. On the right are brown rocks and steep cliffs, while behind is an expense of greenish and pale lavender sea, a small island and a stretch of headland, beneath a cloudy sky lit by evening light.

Born in Ventnor, The Isle of Wight in 1858, the son of an art dealer, William Henry Bartlett was only seventeen when he went to Paris to study art. He attended the Academie Julian, and also the Ecole des Beaux Arts, in the studio of Gerome. Fresh from his experience in Paris, Bartlett headed for the West of Ireland in 1878. For the next ten years or so, he made regular Summer visits there, basing himself in Roundstone. He also painted in Renvyle, in Co. Mayo, and later in Co. Donegal.

Bartlett was fascinated by the lives and coastal landscape of the West of Ireland people. He painted a series of large canvases of people fishing, gathering seaweed, returning from a fair, or hunting seals; as well as praying at a holy shrine or attending a funeral. He exhibited his West of Ireland paintings at various venues in London: The Royal Academy, The Royal Society of British Artists and the Grosvenor Gallery. He also wrote two lively articles about his experiences.

In his essay ‘Coast Life in Connemara’, published in 1894, Bartlett suggested that grey seals, once common in the area, had now retreated to offshore islands. However, he gave a vivid account of a seal hunt, some men setting off in a boat, others walking over seaweed-covered rocks. One of the seals was shot, escaped, but was eventually captured. The man in the water may be the ‘seal diver’, was has brought the animal to the surface. Bartlett’s paintings have a naturalistic, documentary quality, but also a real sympathy for his subjects. He is skilful in his grouping of several figures together. Some of his scenes are shown in evening light, with men, women or children seen against the light. His landscapes are topographically accurate, and can still be recognised today.

Bartlett had exhibited an earlier painting The Return of the Seal Hunt at the Royal Academy in 1881 (sold Whyte’s, Dublin, 28^th November 2011, lot 107). However, the title of the present picture indicates that it was painted further up the West Coast, in Co. Mayo. The exact location is not known, but it is possibly set on Achill Island because in his article ‘The West Coast of Ireland’, 1909, Bartlett refers to the excitement of visiting sea caves near Dugort.

The Seal Diver, Co. Mayo was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1888. Illustrations of it were included in both his 1984 and 1909 articles. The painting was acquired by the City Art Galleries, Leeds, but was later de-accessioned.

Julian Campbell