Patrick Pye RHA (b.1929-) The Implements of The Passion Oil and Tempera on canvas, 78 x 65.5cm (30¾ x 25¾'') Signed Exhibited: The Patrick Pye Exhibition, David Hendriks Gallery, March/April...

Patrick Pye RHA (b.1929-) The Implements of The Passion Oil and Tempera on canvas, 78 x 65.5cm (30¾ x 25¾'') Signed Exhibited: The Patrick Pye Exhibition, David Hendriks Gallery, March/April 1970, Cat. No. 15 Provenance: From the collection of Dr J.B. Kearney and ''The Kearney Sale'' in these rooms December 2007, Cat. No. 8 where purchased by the current owner Literature: Illustrated front cover of the Hendriks Gallery exhibition catalogue In private correspondence the artist explained his thoughts behind this work :- ''It wasn't that I thought the Christ story was a legend. It was that the Passion was something so enormous that it created ripples that are still coming towards us across time. I was trying to come to the crucifixion through the ripples. The dear to the right was a symbol of state. The foreground figures are John (The Beloved) with Our Lady seated. Later I did a triptych with a similar work to this as its centrepiece'' The artist also produced an etching of that triptych years later in 1996 both of which were shown at the ''Patrick Pye Retrospective'' at the RHA in 1997. Brian Fallon in his review of the 1970 Hendrik's show thought ''this is one of the best exhibitions Dublin has seen in some time''. Although the critic found the artists religious work lacked real spontaneity and heart, he also stated ''Pye's efforts to create a latter-day Christian art and to come to terms with traditional religious iconography are worthy of real respect,particularly when the intellectual climate seems so hostile. His ideas are high,and they are backed by genuine intellectual power and scholarship.''

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