William John Hennessy (1839-1917)
The Ballon
Oil on canvas, 67 x 82cm (26¼ x 32¼")
Signed

William John Hennessy was born in Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny but moved to the United States when he...

William John Hennessy (1839-1917)
The Ballon
Oil on canvas, 67 x 82cm (26¼ x 32¼")
Signed

William John Hennessy was born in Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny but moved to the United States when he was only ten, following his father who had fled Ireland due to his participation in the Young Irelanders uprising. He studied at the National Academy of Design in New York and quickly achieved recognition. However, in 1870 Hennessy and his wife moved to England. It was in France, particularly the Calvados region of Normandy where Hennessy acquired much of his inspiration, spending each summer there. In 1875 he moved to France, renting a manor on the coast near Honfleur. He produced iconic works such as ''Fete Day in a Cider Orchard, Normandy, which is in the Ulster Museum Collection. Hugh Lane included Hennessy in the 1904 exhibition of Irish Painters at the Guildhall London, where he exhibited ''Twixt Day and Night, Calvados''.

This particular work is based on a well-known painting "Le Ballon" by Julian Dupré which was in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York from 1887 until 1928 when it was acquired by Reading Public Museum and Art Gallery in Pennsylvania in whose collection it remains. Whether Hennessy saw the picture in New York or before that on one of his yearly summer painting trips to Normandy is unknown but the composition is very similar.

 

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