George Russell AE (1867-1935)
Children on the Beach, Donegal Bay
Oil on canvas, 53 x 81cm (21 x 32'')
Signed with monogram and dated 1919

In 1904, having attended an exhibition in Dublin in...

George Russell AE (1867-1935)
Children on the Beach, Donegal Bay
Oil on canvas, 53 x 81cm (21 x 32'')
Signed with monogram and dated 1919

In 1904, having attended an exhibition in Dublin in which the paintings of AE were displayed alongside those of Constance Gore-Booth and Casimir Dunin-Markievicz, Joseph Holloway reflected upon the works of AE. The entry from the diary of architect and raconteur reads; If ever the Celtic spirit of dreaminess and longing for something that is neither of land nor sea was translated onto canvas, here that longing and dreaminess surely was.

This atmospheric painting dated 1919 and signed with AEs distinctive monogram, seems the perfect counterpart to that earlier reflection. AE spent summers in the west and northwest of Ireland and Donegal came to be the destination that he particularly favoured. Children on the beach, Donegal Bay was painted in what was a particularly frenetic period for the artist. AEs best-known book The Candle of Vision had recently been published and he would have been busy in his role as editor for the Irish Homestead.

Importantly, this work was also painted the year that the Irish War of Independence began. While deeply invested in the campaign for independence, AE was ultimately a pacifist and sought to further the cause in his role as an artist and thinker. AE took refuge not only in the process of painting but also the worlds that he invented therein. There is a serenity to this twilight scene that exemplifies Russells predilection for mauve, rose and amethyst, all of which are hues that feature frequently in his poetry.

Pádraic E. Moore, February 2019

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