Frank McKelvey RHA RUA (1895-1974) Regatta Day, Holywood, Co. Down Oil on board, 37 x 47cm (14½ x 18½'') Signed Combined with Paul Henry, James Humbert Craig and Charles Lamb, Frank McKelvey...

Frank McKelvey RHA RUA (1895-1974) Regatta Day, Holywood, Co. Down Oil on board, 37 x 47cm (14½ x 18½'') Signed Combined with Paul Henry, James Humbert Craig and Charles Lamb, Frank McKelvey was part of a group of artists from Northern Ireland who shaped a distinct school of Irish landscape painting in the 1920s and 1930s. In Art in Ulster I (1977), John Hewitt observed of McKelvey: 'In landscape his work harked back to an older tradition than Craig, to quieter colour, to a kind of Constable-impressionism, with, maybe a hint of MacKenzie, most effective in its rendering of evening light, over level estuary plains, out of a lowering sky, or mist coming in from the sea and the water flooding across the sands?' His landscapes and seascapes are harmonious and elegantly composed but never complicated or too pretty. 'Regatta Day, Holywood, Co.Down,' is an important work in McKelvey's oeuvre. The artist moved to Holywood from Belfast around 1966.'Regatta' comes from 'regattare,' 'to contend, to seek to catch,'perfectly illustrating the appeal of the boat race to participants and spectators, while also capturing the picturesque Holywood shorefront. The regatta depicted here is an annual yacht race run by the Holywood Yacht Club (established in 1862), that continues today. Although, very different in conception, Jack B Yeats' 'The Liffey Swim' displays the spectacle of the annual Dublin event, that was as important for its social dimension as for the occasion itself. There is a similar sense of spectacle to McKelvey's painting, albeit executed in a more panoramic manner. Clearly, the regatta is taking place in ideal conditions, the breeze is evident and the sea is suitably calm. There are yachts on the water, while others prepare to join them. Soon the races for the various classes of yachts will begin. The shoreline and pier are peopled with spectators ready to enjoy the event. The rowing boats in the foreground with men and women passengers lend an intimacy to the composition and allow the viewer a point of entry for perusal. The palette is colourful but somewhat restrained, to prevent overpowering the detail. The horizontal bias of the composition is balanced by the verticals of the yacht masts and the telegraph poles on the shoreline; the only obvious signs of modernity, in a relatively timeless scene. The town itself is well captured with the terraced houses and sunlit street. The sky is treated in an accomplished manner characteristic of McKelvey and it is perfectly counterbalanced by the calm reflective sea. The pier is unchanged today and McKelvey is content to focus on Holywood itself and does not over complicate his composition with unnecessary topographical details. For instance, Holywood lies on the shore of Belfast Lough, between Belfast and Bangor, yet McKelvey excludes any evidence of the built up shoreline beyond the pier on the right hand of the composition. This enhances its genre subject and the importance of the event itself, as opposed to being defined by topographical exactitude. Marianne O'Kane Boal, October, 2012.

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