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Lot Essay
This highly evocative painting is described in Hilary Pyle’s catalogue raisonné as 'The head and shoulders of a young man with a cap, and a bundle on his back, setting out towards the sea, his face touched with golden light' (H. Pyle, op. cit., p. 555). The man's face is looking up to the dawn sky which is tinged with red, purple and yellow, with the brooding clouds rolling in. It is unclear if this is the face of a young man preparing to set out fishing, or perhaps with the title Outward Bound, with his worldly possessions on his shoulder contemplating the moment when he leaves his beloved shores of Ireland in search of another life far away. The atmosphere created by the heavy sky could indicate both moments, and in either case, brings a great sense of emotional tension to the painting.
The first owner was the American sculptor and heiress Helen Hooker, the wife of the famous freedom fighter Ernie O’Malley. O’Malley fought for his belief in an independent Ireland, for which he was imprisoned during the Irish Civil War. When O’Malley was released in 1924, more than a year after the Civil War had ended, he was only 27 years old and vowed to ‘begin life over again’. He was passionate about the arts and travelled to Mexico and the United States, where he met Helen in New York in 1933. They returned to Ireland, where they were married and settled in Dublin in 1935. Mr and Mrs O’Malley became passionate collectors of Irish contemporary art and befriended many of the artists they collected including MacGonigal, Hone, Jellet and of course, Yeats. In the case of this painting, it is possible to imagine that Mrs Ernie O’Malley saw in the work a reflection of her experience with the life she had left behind, and the adventure she had embarked on in a land far from home.
The first owner was the American sculptor and heiress Helen Hooker, the wife of the famous freedom fighter Ernie O’Malley. O’Malley fought for his belief in an independent Ireland, for which he was imprisoned during the Irish Civil War. When O’Malley was released in 1924, more than a year after the Civil War had ended, he was only 27 years old and vowed to ‘begin life over again’. He was passionate about the arts and travelled to Mexico and the United States, where he met Helen in New York in 1933. They returned to Ireland, where they were married and settled in Dublin in 1935. Mr and Mrs O’Malley became passionate collectors of Irish contemporary art and befriended many of the artists they collected including MacGonigal, Hone, Jellet and of course, Yeats. In the case of this painting, it is possible to imagine that Mrs Ernie O’Malley saw in the work a reflection of her experience with the life she had left behind, and the adventure she had embarked on in a land far from home.