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Thread: Sir John Lavery (1856-1941) was an Irish painter who was associated with the Scottish colourists & painted with a French approach. His ability to move between establishment & revolutionary figures, as an artist, in Britain & Ireland was unique. He died on this day
Born in Belfast, he attended the Académie Julian (1870s). He returned & was associated with the Glasgow School. In 1888 he was chosen to depict the Queen & Glasgow Int’nl Exhibit. Pious Reflections (1879-80), a Lady Sewing (1881) A Conquest(1881) & Between the Sittings (1882)
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He moved to London & was influenced by Whistler’s ‘art for art’s sake’ aestheticism & became a society painter. In the 1880s he visited the artists’ colony at Grez. Bridge at Grez (1883-4), Hotel Chevillon, Grez (1883), La Laveuse & The Bridge at Grez (1883)
Exposure to French art & the bright colours of Impressionism led to a fresher more elegant style. Midsummer (1884), An Afternoon Chat (1884), On the Road to Fontainebleau (1884) & the Hammock (1884)
He was fascinated with light & creating stylish images. His work was similar to that of his friend John Singer Sargent. A Visitor (1885), Convalescent in an Orchard (1885), Goose Girls (1885) & Woman on a Safety Tricycle (1885)
Most of his oeuvre was of portraits & pasttimes with mythology a rare subject. Ariadne (1886), the Bishops’ Castle (1888), the Dutch Coffee House(1888) & The Glasgow International Exhibition (1888)
He took the French approach & applied it to the the English scene. Boating on the Thames (c1890s), The Croquet Party (1890), El Espada (1892) & the White City (1893)
His portraits were very much sought after; with his ability to capture & accentuate female beauty. Miss Mary Burrell (1894), Mrs Fitzroy Bell (1894), Lady Lyle (1895) & The Rocking Chair (1895)
A Garden in France (1898), a Grey Summer’s Day (1899), Alice Fulton (1900) & Central Park (c1900)
Hazel Martyn, later Lady Lavery, was his great muse. Evelyn Farquhar (1906), Lady Lavery (1906-9), Mrs McEwen & Her Daughters (1907) & Sutton Courtenay (1908)
He was an official Great War artist but he was obliged to work from the home front due to injury. His first wife died in 1899. Hazel (1911), Wreck of SS Dehli (1912), Switzerland in Winter (1913) & the First Wounded At the London Hospital (1914)
Lavery depicted the power & spectacle of the Allied forces. The First Wounded, London Hospital (1914), High Treason, the Trial of Roger Casement (1916), British Mine-Laying Submarines, Harwich (1917) & Embarking on the Western Front (c1917)
In depicting the British Navy, Lavery was highlighting the strength of the Allies as well as a subject close to his heart as a Belfast man. Leith (1917), A Destroyer Base, Harwich (1917), Richborough in Fog (1917) & A Misty Day, Firth of Fourth (1917)
Unlike, for example, the German Expressionists he chose to paint images of strength rather than suffering. The Harbour At St Jean de Luz (1917), the Piers Forth Bridge (1917), the Skipper (1917) & American Troops Embarking, Southampton (1918)
He married Hazel Martyn in 1909 - she would become his muse & later the symbol of Ireland. Pulham St Mary’s (1918), The American Battle Squadron (1918), Dover Harbour (1918)& Sir John Alcock (1919)
His commercial success allowed him to live a life of ease which he documented in ravishing canvases. My Studio Door, Tangier (1920), The Palladian Bridge At Wilton House (1920), Alpes Maritimes (1921) & The Garden, Villa Sylvia (1921)
Post war he was knighted & in 1921 he was elected to the RA. The Honeymoon (1921), Blessing of the Colours (1922), Girl in a Red Dress by a Swimming Pool (1922) & Lady Lavery (1922). His Blessing of the Colours was to be a key Irish nationalist painting.
Lavery was involved in Irish politics & gave up his home to the negotiators of the Anglo-Irish treaty. His wife, Lady Lavery, was intimately involved. Mrs E Bowen Davies (1923), Mary Bordem & Her Family At Bisham Abbey(1925), The Green Coat (1926) & Joseph Devlin (1928)
Hazel Lavery as Cathleen Ni Houlihan (1928). The Lavery’s support for Irish independence led to the nation giving them a singular honour - this painting of Hazel was chosen as the embodiment of Ireland & appeared on Irish bank notes (as a watermark) until the advent of the Euro
Lavery depicted both nationalist & unionist traditions & moved easily between parties. The 12th July, Portadown (1928), Ramsay MacDonald (1931), Sunbathers (1936) & Coronation Procession (1937)
He painted Michael Collins, the Irish Statesman & revolutionary on his death. Collins was an intimate of Hazel’s. Collins (1922), Stars in Sunlight (1936) & Viscountess Castlerosse, Palm Springs (1938). His depiction of revolutionaries, politicians & millionaires was unique
Lavery was a major supporter of
@TheHughLane & in the 1930s returned to Ireland. Under the Cherry Tree (1884), A Rally (1885), Mrs Rosen’s Bedroom (1926) & A Lady in Brown (1920). His art was always about beauty & style.
@TheHughLane & in the 1930s returned to Ireland. Under the Cherry Tree (1884), A Rally (1885), Mrs Rosen’s Bedroom (1926) & A Lady in Brown (1920). His art was always about beauty & style.
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