Louis Le Brocquy, HRHA (1916-2012) Boy with Flowers Watercolour, gouache & ink on paper, 29 x 22cm (11½ x 8¾'') Signed and dated '51. Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist in the 1950's...

Louis Le Brocquy, HRHA (1916-2012) Boy with Flowers Watercolour, gouache & ink on paper, 29 x 22cm (11½ x 8¾'') Signed and dated '51. Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist in the 1950's by a Dublin Collector and sold by him through the Frederick Gallery Christmas Exhibition, 2002, Cat. No. 11 (Front Cover Illustration) where acquired by current owner Exhibited: ''Collector's Eye'' Exhibition, Model Arts and Niland Gallery January/February 2004, The Hunt Museum Limerick March/April 2004, Cat. No. 15; ''A Celebration of Irish Art and Modernism'', The Ava Gallery, June/September 2011, Cat. No. 28 Literature: ''Collector's Eye'' 2004, illustrated p9; ''A Celebration of Irish Art and Modernism'' 2011, illustrated p37 'Boy with Flowers' is one of a series of works executed by Louis le Brocquy in London in 1951 which were to lead up to his iconic work 'The Family' (1951), now in The National Gallery of Ireland (NGI). Late in 1950 Louis had moved to a small Georgian watch house in Holly Hill in Hampstead, London which belonged to the Northern Irish film producer William McQuitty. He was surrounded by interesting people, including his old friend and fellow artist, Derek Hill who had a house nearby. Louis converted the large garage beside the house into a studio complete with skylight. It was here that he was to commence a series of works sometimes referred to as his ''Grey period'' which culminated with 'The Family'. Regarding that work, Dr Yvonne Scott has written : ''Carried out in the aftermath of World War II, it was intended to reflect the threatening and unstable environment, indicated in the painting by the austere surroundings, and revealed in the agonised expression of the woman and defeated posture of the man''. The artist has been quoted as saying of this work : '' 'A Family' was conceived in 1950 ? in the face of atomic threat, social upheaval, and refugees of World War II and its aftermath ?.. fifty years ago it was painted while contemplating a human condition stripped back to Paleolithic circumstances under the electric light bulbs'' It is thought that ''Boy with flowers'' was included along with other works in the 'Family' series in le Brocquy's Gimpel Fils June 1951 exhibition which was his most important exhibition to date. The reviews were very favourable, with an entire page of The Listener, written by Eric Newton, devoted to it. It was also written about at length by Neville Wallis of The Observer and John Russell of The Times. In a long article in Art News and Review (16th June, 1951) the critic John Berger wrote: ''?. le Brocquy is completely free of the contemporary tendency to cosmic megalomania. It has become pretentious to talk of an artist's humility, yet that is what distinguishes his work, his studies testify to his patience, and his final, large picture to his refusal to evade simple but difficult problems by relying on the grandiose cliché ?.. '' We are indebted to the artist's wife Anne Madden, the late Dorothy Walker and Dr Yvonne Scott of TRIARC whose research and writings have formed the basis of this catalogue entry.

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