Frederick E. McWilliam HRUA RA (1909-1992) Woman of Belfast II, 1972 Bronze, 57 x 74 x 28cm (22½ x 29 x 11'') Signed with initials and numbered 2/5 Provenance: From the Collection of George and...

Frederick E. McWilliam HRUA RA (1909-1992) Woman of Belfast II, 1972 Bronze, 57 x 74 x 28cm (22½ x 29 x 11'') Signed with initials and numbered 2/5 Provenance: From the Collection of George and Maura McClelland and on loan from them to IMMA from 1999 - 2004; Private Collection Dublin Exhibited: ''F.E. McWilliam: Sculpture 1972/3 Women of Belfast'', Waddington Galleries, London, Oct/Nov 1973; ''Women of Belfast: New Bronzes by F.E. McWilliam 1972/3'', McClelland Galleries International, Belfast, November 1973, Cat. No. 2; ''F.E. McWilliam Retrospective'' Exhibition, Ulster Museum Belfast, April/May 1981, Douglas Hyde Gallery, TCD, Dublin, May/June 1981, Crawford Gallery Cork, July/August 1981; and Orchard Gallery, Derry, Sept.Oct 1981, Cat. No. 101; and ''Nothern Artists from the McClelland Collection'', IMMA 2004/5, and Droichand Arts Center 2005 The Women of Belfast series represents an attempt by the artist to address a specific event in Irish history, and relates to McWilliam's interest in humanity as a theme. The series was inspired by media images of the bombings of the Abercorn Restaurant in Belfast on a busy Saturday afternoon in March 1972. The latest in a series of death and destruction during the Troubles, this event caused nationwide revulsion as it was mainly women and children who were either killed or maimed, and particularly affected McWilliam. At the time the sculptor was working on the expressive potential of drapery, a fundamental idea in the history of art. Traditionally drapery is used to articulate the shape of the body underneath and to suggest particular emotion or ideas. In Women of Belfast this fundamental pictorial idea has been dislocated. The distorted forms of the women's clothing and their extended limbs work independently of each other to express the dehumanising effect of the violence. The extremity of movement and the unnatural distortions of the figures convey the force of the bomb blast, and their frozen nature encapsulates an extreme moment in history. The associated sketches retain a sense of emotional involvement which is absent in the bronzes. This demonstrates the fact that for McWilliam sculpture required the resolution of a pictorial or conceptual problem whereas drawing was a more spontaneous activity. Women of Belfast was another incarnation of McWilliam's interest and exploration of the human form throughout his career, yet with a personal and historic connection. George McClelland, by exhibiting the series in his gallery in 1973, played a vital role in giving McWilliam an opportunity to comment on the political situation at a crucial moment in Northern Irish history. We would like to thank Roisin Kennedy and Denise Ferran, whose research formed the basis of this catalogue entry. Literature: ''F.E. McWilliam Retrospective'' 1981 Catalogue, illustrated p.70; ''The Hunter Gatherer'' IMMA 2005, Fig.111 p.114; ''F.E. McWilliam at Banbridge'', Densie Ferran 2008, illustrated p.99; and ''The Sculpture of F.E. McWilliam'' by Denise Ferran and Valerie Holmen, Cat. No. 378, p.155

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