IMPORTANT IRISH ART SALE

Wednesday 26th September 2012 12:00am

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Louis Le Brocquy RHA (1916-2012) Procession with Lilies Oil on canvas, 115 x 147cm (45½ x 57¾'') Signed and dated (19)'84-85 verso; inscribed with title, dated 1984-85 and numbered '523' on...

Louis Le Brocquy RHA (1916-2012) Procession with Lilies Oil on canvas, 115 x 147cm (45½ x 57¾'') Signed and dated (19)'84-85 verso; inscribed with title, dated 1984-85 and numbered '523' on stretcher Literature: ''Louis le Brocquy - Procession'' Gandon Editions 1994, full page illustration p22 Procession with Lilies is the second in a series of four major paintings by Louis Le Brocquy. The catalyst for the subject was a photograph which appeared on 14th June 1939 in the Evening Herald and was sent to the artist, then living in France, by Robert Dobbyn, manager of the le Brocquy family oil business. It shows Dublin schoolgirls attired in white communion dresses, carrying bunches of lilies. They are returning from the Franciscan Church of Adam and Eve on Merchant Quay where they have taken part in the celebration of the feast of St. Anthony. The ceremonial aspect of the image appealed to the artist as well as the tension that it evoked between the playful innocence of childhood and the constraints of ritual and religion. Later the artist described its composition as evocative, 'recalling even Botticelli... The whiteness of these girls holding their lilies, submerged in time, seemed to me to be equally mysterious'. While le Brocquy made some sketches based on the image in the 1940s and 1960s it was not until the mid 1980s that it inspired the series of Procession paintings. Whereas his earlier works such as the Presences and Heads series emphasised the isolation of the individual, the theme of the procession allowed le Brocquy to explore the dynamics of the group. The artist also connected the subject with the ideas of James Joyce, Bloomsday coinciding closely with the date of the photograph. He described the subject as 'a Joycean charade, a conscious but fleeting actuality in a continuous progression of present thoughts'. This idea of the effect of memory on the passing moment is evoked in the painting through the use of fragmented forms which breaks up the sense of a specific historical instant frozen in time and space. Instead the resulting painting depicts the figures as elements integrated with their surrounding space and with each other through a cubist inspired flattening of perspective and faceting of form. The lack of solidity adds to the dynamism and fluidity of the composition. Le Brocquy emphasises the timeless aspects of the procession through the otherwordly appearance of the figures, the whiteness of whose costumes give them a ghostly air. The restricted palette of greys, green and whites, flecked by strong red and orange, and the darkened facial features similarly lend the subject a strange and perplexing quality. Ultimately however a sense of the joy and carefree attitude of childhood permeates the work with each figure expressing its individuality while remaining part of the procession. Dr. Roisin Kennedy August 2012 I Louis le Brocquy. Procession, Gandon Editions, 1994, p.8. II Louis le Brocquy quoted in Louis le Brocquy Paintings 1939-1996, IMMA, 1996, p.83.

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Hammer Price: €320,000

Estimate EUR : €250,000 - €350,000

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