Oliver Sheppard RHA (1865-1941)
Pastoral - Arcadia (1927)
Bronze, 29.5cm high (11½'')
Signed

Exhibited : The RHA Annual Exhibition 1927 cat. no. 304 under title Pastoral where purchased by...

Oliver Sheppard RHA (1865-1941)
Pastoral - Arcadia (1927)
Bronze, 29.5cm high (11½'')
Signed

Exhibited : The RHA Annual Exhibition 1927 cat. no. 304 under title Pastoral where purchased by the then President of the RHA Dermod OBrien; Memorial section to Oliver Sheppard RHA Annual exhibition 1942 Cat. No. 314 under title Arcadian Group one of three works lent by Dermod OBrien

 

Provenance: From the collection of the painter and President of the RHA Dermod OBrien and thence by descent to the current owner .

 

Literature: Oliver Sheppard : Symbolist sculptor of the Irish Cultural revival by John Turpin 2000 Cat. No. 21 Page 91 (Plaster model from National Gallery Collection illustrated)

 

Oliver Sheppard is best known today as the sculptor of the iconic The death of Cuchulainn which became the official memorial to the Easter Rising in 1934 some twenty years after it was sculpted. He is also remembered for his 1798 memorials of Pikemen in Enniscorthy and Wexford and "Bust of Patrick Pearse" in Leinster House, for a sculptor so well known very few pieces by him ever appear on the open market.

 

John Turpin writes in his monograph: A satyr grasps a nymph. This small sculpture is unusual in Sheppards work because of its erotic subject,particularly the inclusion of the goat, an emblem of desire,and the description of the nymph as a well fleshed young woman - so different from his usual slender female nudes.

 

The carving and the flowing rhythm of the drapery of the two figures,as well as the bending plants,all add further to the sensual nature of the piece. There is a dreamy symbolist atmosphere about the woman,who is the central figure of the work.She looks down,lost in her own thought,almost oblivious to the satyr who grasps her.

 

For Sheppard this delightful small piece must represent an exercise in expressive freedom away from larger subjects and portraiture.

 

We thank Prof. John Turpin whose research into the sculptor formed the basis for this catalogue entry.

 

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