Paul Henry, RHA, (1876 - 1958) 'Out of the North Cometh Golden Splendour' (1915 - 1919) Oil on board, 27 x 35cm (10.5 x 13.75'') Signed Provenance: Samuel Waddell (Ruthford Mayne) by descent to...

Paul Henry, RHA, (1876 - 1958) 'Out of the North Cometh Golden Splendour' (1915 - 1919) Oil on board, 27 x 35cm (10.5 x 13.75'') Signed Provenance: Samuel Waddell (Ruthford Mayne) by descent to his daughter Ginette Waddell, thence by descent Samuel Waddell (1878 - 1967) was an actor and playwright. Born in Japan, son of the Rev. Hugh Waddell, a presbyterian minister, he was brought back to Ireland and educated at the RBAI and Queen's College, Belfast graduating in Engineering. Under the psydonym 'Rutherford Mayne' he wrote a number of plays, dealing with social and political themes, relating to his experiences of working with the Land Commission. his plays include 'The Drone' first performed in 1908 in the Abbey Theatre and 'Bridgehead', 1934 He was a friend of Paul Henry's and a great admirer of his paintings. He left the painting to his daughter Ginette Waddell who was a well known actress, working mainly on radio plays for Radio Eireann and RTE. Dr S.B. Kennedy writes:- This is almost certainly the picture entitled 'Out of the North Cometh Splendour' which Henry first exhibited in his 1918 Belfast exhibition and in which the setting is Achill Sound in the early morning. The composition is similar to, and is probably the same venue as Sunrise over Achill Sound, which also dates from 1915-1916. The muted and closely calibrated blue tones employed here illustrate the influence of Henry's Parisian teacher, Whistler, which surfaced from time to time during his career and which was particularily strong in the years around 1915-1920. It was a phase of development that culminated in Henry's magisterial Dawn, Killary Harbour of 1920 (Ulster Museum), one of the most important landscapes painted by an Irish artist in the twentieth century. Out of the North Cometh Golden Splendour is provisionally numbered 0488 in S.B. Kennedy's forthcoming catalogue raisonne of Paul Henry's oeuvre.

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