Gorry Gallery • Dublin

Nathaniel Hone R.H.A.

29. Study: Ship at Anchor

20. Cover – Study: Sheep in the Park1. Backcover – Study: Sand and Sea

© GORRY GALLERY LTD.

paintingsfrom the

studioof

nathaniel hone R.H.A.1831 – 1917

Gorry Gallery • Dublin27th June – 9th July 2002

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Dr Thomas Bodkin took a bold step in selecting Barret, O’Connor, Osborne and Hone for his celebrated1920 book Four Irish Landscape Painters. In retrospect, it was a wise and enlightened choice. The work of

all four painters has stood the test of time, and their reputations have grown in stature over the years both inIreland and abroad.

It gives me much pleasure, therefore, to present this exhibition of such a large collection of Hone’s work,which has come by descent from his studio and has never been seen before in public.

In his oils, we observe his direct alla prima brushwork, giving credence to the saying that ‘the sketch is theartist’s caress’. His buttery paint (with no apparent underdrawing in evidence) is applied with consummatefreedom in his ‘plein air’ sketches and, surprisingly, is equally present in his ‘finished’ exhibition works.

Unlike his ‘impressionist’ contempories Hone did not rely on colour, restricting his palette to a limitedrange of natural pigments that were true to the Irish landscape. He mixed black or umber with yellow (ratherthan blue) to create moist greens, and his blue for sky only was applied sparingly.

His watercolours rank with those of the very best international painters and I cannot think of any Irishcontemporary who comes near to his mastery.

Clearly, Hone was fortunate in that his work was not driven by commercial considerations. He truly ‘livedto paint’ rather than ‘painted to live’.

This exhibition would not have been possible without the contribution of the following individuals.Dr Julian Campbell contributes further to the Hone ‘oeuvre’ with an enlightening essay where Julian’sacademic expertise is complimented by his direct understanding of the ‘craft’ as an artist in his own right.

Dr Paul Caffrey has applied his meticulous skills in cataloguing the collection and much credit is due tohim for the exhibition concept itself.

The owners and custodians of the paintings entrusted me to embark on the sale of these works on thestrict understanding that they were catalogued and exhibited in this format as a ‘collection’, thus presenting aunique opportunity to view them together and enabling collectors to acquire a work by this ‘Father Figure’ of19th and 20th century Irish art.

I am also grateful to David Hone R.H.A. for loaning the early self-portrait of his ancestor, which is shownhere for the first time.

James Gorry

Introduction

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27. Study: Trees

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The HONES were a Dublin merchant familydescended from Nathaniel Hone a shoemaker of

Marlborough in Wiltshire who died in 1665 and whoseson, Samuel, came to Ireland with the ParliamentaryArmy and eventually set up business on Wood Quay.

Samuel’s eldest surviving grandson was NATHANIELHONE R.A. 1718-1784, a miniaturist and enamellist wholater became a portrait painter in oils, elected a Memberof the Florentine Academy 1752, one of the first Directorsof the Society of Arts 1765, a Founder Member of theRoyal Academy 1768. He held the first one manexhibition ever held in St. Martin’s Lane in London in1775 after his quarrel with Sir Joshua Reynolds over apainting in which he had depicted Angelica Kauffmann asa nude angel; his portraits include George Whitefield,John Wesley and Sir John Fielding.

In 1742 he had married Molly Earle, reputedly anatural daughter of the 4th Duke of Argyll; among theirchildren were HORACE HONE (1756-1835) ARA,Miniature Painter to the Prince of Wales, who worked inDorset Street Dublin and then after the Act of Union inDover Street London, and JOHN CAMILLUS HONE1759-1836, also miniaturist, who worked as a model forhis father who depicted him as “David” and also as “theSpartan Boy”; in 1780 John Camillus went to the EastIndies and worked there; returning to Ireland he wasappointed in 1790 Engraver of Dies in the Dublin StampOffice.

A younger brother of NATHANIEL RA wasSAMUEL Hone Junior born in 1726 who worked first inDublin as an artist and in 1754 went to Jamaica where hedied. Nothing of his work is known to us.

Two other grandsons of Samuel Senior are theancestors of all extant Irish Hones, namely Joseph 1720-1799, a clothier in the Coombe, and Brindley 1734-1812,a pin merchant on Usher’s Quay. The descendants ofthese two brothers constantly intermarried - with Honemarrying Hone the family tree is complicated. Norelationship of the Irish Hones with the celebratedEnglish pamphleteer William Hone 1780-1842 has beenestablished.

Although the Hones acquired lands in different partsof Ireland and were granted a Coat of Arms, they

remained during the XVIII and XIX Centuries anessentially merchant family trading and living within theCity of Dublin to which their descendants are stillcommitted; only in the mid XIX century did they move toattractive residences in the outskirts, now mostlydemolished and built over. With their many familyconnections – Crosthwaites, Moores, Colleys, Symes et al.– they formed a closely knit network of uprightProtestants preferring to marry their cousins and havingmany children. Nonetheless the talents of the first twogenerations often reappeared during the XIX and XXcenturies.

From Joseph are descended, besides a host of wellknown cricketers, polo players and yachtsmen, the famoussisters Dorothy Teacher, (creator of one of Ireland's greatgardens) Nancy Connell (the unstoppable MFH of theMeath Hunt) Leland Hutchinson, and EVIE HONE thestained-glass artist; also Joseph Hone, the biographer ofYeats, his son DAVID HONE, and his grandchildren JoeHone, the journalist and novelist, and Geraldine Honeartist and a board member of the National Gallery ofIreland.

From Brindley, through his second daughter,descended Provost Mahaffy; through his eldest sonNathaniel, Lord Mayor of Dublin 1810-11, descendedMary Hart grandmother of Harts, Babingtons, Wilsons,Phillpotts, Bartons, Morroghs and Gwynns; NannieBellingham, died 1938, friend of Orpen and Osborne andof Sir Walter Armstrong; and Herbert Hone.

Through Brindley’s second son descended BishopHone of Wakefield and Sir Evelyn Hone, Governor ofNorthern Rhodesia.

Brindley's third son Addison 1773-97 had an only sonBrindley who married his cousin Anne Hone, by whom hehad nine sons, only one of whom married, namely thefourth son NATHANIEL HONE RHA 1831-1917; hemarried in 1872 Magdalen Jameson who died in 1919,their only child having died in infancy. His sister Mrs.Moore had ten daughters and two sons, but as hiseventual heir he chose Herbert Hone, mentioned above, anephew of Mary Hart and Nannie Bellingham; he died in1954 without issue and bequeathed the collection to thepresent owners.

The Hone Family

1831 26 October, birth of Nathaniel Hone, sixth child ofBrindley and Anne Hone.

1846 Nathaniel enters Trinity College, Dublin to studyEngineering and Science.

1850 Graduates with honors. Works as an engineer onMidland Great Railway in Ireland.

1853 Nathaniel departs for Paris to study art, with Yvon.1854 Moves to atelier of Thomas Couture. Paints self-

portrait.1855 Visit to Bourron-Marlotte.1857 Hone visits Marlotte with Bohemian artist Pinkars.

Begins his career as a landscape painter.Meets Millet, Jacque, and other members ofBarbizon school. Meets Corot and Courbet.

1858 Return visit to Dublin, and possible journey toItaly.

c.1863 Hone moves to Bourron-Marlotte, near toFontainebleau.

1865-69 Exhibits at Paris Salon.1870 Brandon paints portrait of Hone. Outbreak of

Franco-Prussian war. Hone departs for Italy.c.1872 Return to Ireland.1872 Marriage to Magdalen, daughter of John and Anne

Jameson of St. Marnock’s, Malahide.1876 Hone begins te exhibit at R.H.A. Continues to

exhibit at R.H.A. nearly every year for the rest ofhis life.

1879 Hone becomes associate member, then full memberof R.H.A.

1886-94 Exhibits at Dublin Art Club.1888 June, visit to Germany. Journey along the Danube,

probably to Constantinople.c.1890 Visit to Kilkee, Co. Clare.1891-92 The Hones made an extented tour of the

Mediterranean and the East: Venice, Corfu, Athensand Egypt.

1894 Becomes Professor of Painting at R.H.A.c.1895 Visit to Donegal.1896 Hone moves to St. Doulough’s, Raheny, inherited

from Nathaniel’s aunt.1901 October-November, Loan Exhibition of Pictures by

Hone and John B. Yeats in Dublin, organised by SarahPurser. (28 pictures by Hone).

1903 Hone presents four pictures to form nucleus ofproposed collection of Modern Art for Dublin.

1904 John Quinn visits Hone at St. Doulough’s, andstarts collecting his work.

1907 Irish International Exhibition, Dublin.1913 Fourteen pictures at Exhibition of Irish Art,

Withechapel, London.Two paintings at Armory Show, New York.

1916 James Wilcox paints two studies of Hone. 1917 October, visit of Thomas Bodkin to St. Doulough’s.

14 October, death of Nathaniel Hone. 1918 Magdalen Hone Bequest to National Gallery of

Ireland.1919 Death of Magdalen Hone.1921 May, exhibition of Hone Bequest at National Gallery

of Ireland, 90 oils and 99 watercolours.1925 Loan exhibition of Hone paintings, Belfast.1951 208 oils and 336 watercolours from Hone Bequest

permanently accepted by National Gallery ofIreland.

1991 Nathaniel Hone Retrospective, National Gallery ofIreland.

1996 Watercolours by Hone and Osborne, N.G.I.2002 Hone studio exhibition, Gorry Gallery, Dublin.

31. Self Portrait of Nathaniel Hone, painted in Parisc.1853 - 56. Collection of David Hone R.H.A.

Chronology by Julian Campbell

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When Thomas Bodkinpublished his book ‘Four

Irish Landscape Painters’ in 1920,he claimed in the fourth chapter, onNathaniel Hone, whom he had metonly a couple of years previously,that, although this artist’s output wasextensive “probably not more than

one hundred (pictures) have passed into privatepossession.”i With his reasonable familiarity of salesmade at the Royal Hibernian Academy, of work inprivate collections in Ireland, and gifts by the artist toadmirers, Bodkin’s assertion was probably correct at thetime of writing.

During Hone’s lifetime scores of small oil paintings,never exhibited, as well as tiny sketch-books containinghundreds of watercolours, were retained in his studio.After his death in 1917, and before that of his widowMagdalen in 1919, the entire collection was bequeathedto the National Gallery of Ireland and painstakinglycatalogued by Dermod O’Brien.ii The Gallery accepteda large portion of oils and watercolours, but by nomeans the whole collection. Of the remainder, many oilstudies and watercolours appear to have been sold in theearly twenties, and entered private collections.

Small numbers of watercolours were purchased byimportant public collections, for example, seven by theBritish Museum in London, six by the Ulster Museum,Belfast, and five by the Crawford Municipal Art Gallery,Cork.

Then, because Hone did not have any directdescendants, the remainder of the collection of oils andwatercolours were returned to his relations and perhapsthose of his wife. This meant that the number of Honepaintings in private hands, either sold after the disposalof his estate, or retained by his family, now greatlyoutnumbered Bodkin’s estimate of one hundredpaintings.

A large collection of the oils and watercolours havethus remained safe in the care of Hone’s relatives foreighty years. This is a remarkable fact. Hones’ work israrely seen in large numbers. So for an exhibition ofsome eighty watercolours and oils from this privatefamily collection, none of which were exhibited duringhis lifetime, to be held in the Gorry Gallery in Dublin,is an exciting event. It is ironic that we refer to anexhibition such as this as a ‘studio exhibition’ for all ofthese small oils and watercolours (with the possibleexception of one figure) were painted in the open air.

Hone was a landscape painter, whose work wasdevoted to the apprehension of Nature: to the earth, thesky and the sea. Throughout his career, he madevariations upon the themes of fields, woods or beaches,sometimes with people or farm animals present, ofrivers, rocks and clouds, and often of buildings or sailingboats.

The small oil paintings and watercolours werepainted as working studies for larger canvases, or simplyfor the artist’s own pleasure. They were highly personal,and perhaps as important to him as ‘finished’ exhibitioncanvases. Like his mentor, French landscapist Corot,when he was in his studio, Hone seems to have liked tohave these open-air sketches around him as heworked.iii

Two little- known portraits, both illustrated in thepresent catalogue, reveal Hone at the beginning and atthe end, of his career.iv The first (private collection), anunfinished self-portrait, probably painted during hisstudent days in Paris, c.1853-’56, shows the artist withsensitive face, looking directly out at the viewer (Cat.no. 31; ill. p. 5). The other portrait, painted by Hone’syoung American friend James Wilcox,v features theartist in his mid eighties, in profile, with thick white hairand patriarchal beard. The face is benevolent, yetstriking and confident, as if Hone has an inner

Nathaniel Hone R.H.A. 1831 - 1917

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awareness of the accomplishment of his long career.(illustrated on page 6)

The small oil paintings and studies of well-knownearly nineteenth century landscapists such as Constableand Corot have long been admired for their freshnessand authenticity, qualities that may be perceived tobecome lost in larger, more finished studio canvases.Over the past generation there has also been increasingacademic and popular interest in the small ‘paintingsfrom nature’ and ‘painted oil sketches’ on paper,executed in Italy by many contemporaries andpredecessors of Corot in the eighteenth and earlynineteenth centuries.vi

The practice of open-air painting was continued byartists of the Barbizon School, and, of course, by theImpressionists. Hone himself started making smallstudies of Nature in the Forest of Fontainebleau, andcontinued to do so throughout his career. The oils inthis collection date from the mid to later stages of hiscareer, around the 1890’s, and are different from theplein-air studies of his predecessors. Hone had learnedto deal with generalities, not to put in too much detail,and to know what to leave out. In this, he was unrivalledamongst nineteenth century Irish landscapists.

They are important as illustrative of Hone’s workingmethods. They are painted on small sections of strongcanvas. The existence of pin holes in the corners of thematerial (as in many small oils in the National Gallery),indicate that the canvas was affixed to a board or to thelid of a painting box, for easy portablility, and use whenworking out of doors. The presence of these pin holesand the little circles around them, where some of thepaint was blocked by the drawings pins, make thepictures appear surprisingly fresh and recent.

These oil paintings have a freshness, directness andruggedness to them. They express the immediacy ofHone’s vision of Nature, as powerful yet fleeting, wherechanging light and colour are manifested before oureyes. To convey this, Hone works at speed, using flecksand curls of paint to indicate trees and meadows, clouds,sky and beach. In some cases, Hone employs impasto to

indicate white clouds above the ocean. In other cases,the brush moves so rapidly that the brushstrokes leapacross the surface, from one side of the picture to theother.

During his lifetime, Hone’s painting was not alwaysunderstood or appreciated. For many years worksexhibited at the R.H.A. received mixed reviews. Forexample, in 1884 an ‘Irish Times’ critic wrote of hisworks,

“They are all painted with a daring freedom whichsometimes approaches very nearly the limits of artisticlicence.” vii

While a writer in the ‘Freeman’s Journal’commented that:

“Mr. Nathaniel Hone has for some years pastmystified his admirers by the peculiarities of style whichhe indulges...”

The writer criticised a coastal subject:“It is like a piece of scene-painting, one would

imagine the colours are laid on with a hearth brush.Vigour, freedom and breadth are very fine qualities, butwhen employed to the effect that Mr. Hone indulgesthem, they become faults..” viii

However, a couple of years later, a critic praisedHone’s sea and landscapes: “full of experience and loveof Nature.” ix

8. Study: Pont du Garde [sic] Hill Beyond

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And, in the early twentieth century, Bodkin assertedthat Hone’s “fellow artists had never failed to recognizehis merit.” x

In the present collection, there appear to be no oilsfrom Hone’s early period in France, or from his latertravels in the Mediterranean. They are mostly based onhis farm, among pastures, in small woods, or on thebeach at Malahide, probably dating from the 1890’s orearly twentieth century. One picture is set in Co.Donegal, while another may relate to Norfolk inEngland. Two larger canvases contain sketches of cowsresting in different poses, their black and white backsgleaming against fragments of green meadows. Perhapsmade in conjunction with small pencil drawings of cattle(National Gallery of Ireland) they are plainly studies forHone’s well-known series of paintings of cattle, the bestknown of which is ‘Pastures at Malahide’ (N.G.I.no.588).

Local and family anecdote relates that in his old age,Hone had his cows driven by his men under hiswindows, or held up in the fields (where, seated, hecould paint the placid animals at close quarters.) xi

The paintings of a tree in a courtyard (Cat. no.47) isunusual and slightly enigmatic; is it a scene at Malahide,or on the Continent? One oil, showing just a pathleading into trees, is simple and mysterious. Patches ofsunlight are suggested by impastoed strokes of white,yellow and pink. Set near his home, perhaps, it isreminiscent of some of Hone’s earlier Barbizonpaintings, influenced by Corot.

Other paintings show beach scenes, with sketches ofsea beneath clouds and patches of blue in the sky.Always there are sails of fishing boats on the horizon.Looking eastward across the Irish sea, the light changesbefore our eyes. In his study of cliffs and waves atBundoran, Co Donegal (62), fresh pinks, greens andblues are used, giving an impression of a blustery day.The study of gorse and a stormy sky (32) allows Honeto employ a colour not often used by him: chromeyellow. The relationship between the bold white cloudthat hangs in the sky, centre left, and the yellow of the

gorse on the land lower right, provides a simple, almostabstract balance of tones.

Three small studies of trees in autumn are arresting,greens, russets and golds, a frenzy of wet brushstrokes,applied at speed, whirling and criss-crossing oneanother, to capture a sense of thick foliage, shade andlight, of Nature at the turn of the seasons, in simple, butexpressive ways. There is a golden glow, a Pantheisticsurrender to Nature, without self. One of thesepaintings is a study for the larger canvas ‘Autumn Trees’(private collection). The former was painted in front ofthe motif, the latter in the studio perhaps. Yet the twopaintings are almost identical, apart from in scale, as ifboth were painted in the open air. Hone had thisunusual, perhaps unique ability: in making use ofsketches and of memory, he seems to have been able tocreate ‘studio’ paintings that have the freshness andimmediacy of his outdoor work.

When the large version of ‘Autumn Trees’ wasexhibited at the Nathaniel Hone retrospective at theNational Gallery in 1991, Aidan Dunne praised it forbeing “prescient.” xii By this Dunne implied that in suchlate paintings, Hone seemed to anticipate tendenciesfound in twentieth century Expressionist, or Abstract

19. Study: Rocks and Sea

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Expressionist painting. Affinities may certainly be foundwith the likes of present-day artists such as SeanMcSweeney and Frank Auerbach, or with the ‘gestural’paintings of the New York School. It is almost as if thesubject matter became disembodied.

However, Hone’s foundations lie with Corot and theBarbizon School of the mid nineteenth century. Incertain late works, although he does show affinities withthe movements such as Impressionism, Expressionismand even Abstraction, he might not have recognisedsuch terms. He remained his own man.

Like near contemporary nineteenth century travellerlandscapists, H.B. Brabazon, Henri Harpignies and FelixZiem, Hone was a prolific watercolourist. His work canbe seen in the context of the latter two especially,comrades of his at Barbizon, whose extensivewatercolour oeuvre compliments their work in oils. Thewatercolours in this collection, originally part of theHone Bequest, form a good cross-section of his work.They compliment well the large collection of the artist’swatercolours at the National Gallery, some beingversions of subjects, or variations of themes, in picturesconserved there, some being studies for extant oilpaintings. Very few of Hone’s watercolours wereexhibited during Hone’s lifetime, and he was modestabout them to Bodkin, referring to them as “onlystudies.” xiii

Yet privately he must have valued them, knowingtheir worth. Numbering over eight hundred in all, ofwhich about fifty are found in this collection, they forma sort of ‘visual diary’ of many stages of his career,representing many of the locations in which he workedand travelled: Malahide, and the West coast of Ireland;France, and the Dutch coast; Venice; Athens and Egypt.Some of the French and Orientalist pictures are ofsubjects represented by a number of artists. But themajority of watercolours are views of little corners ofNature, or open expanses, especial to Hone.

Some watercolours are of figures, or of a distinctivesubject; the island of Ireland’s Eye, or the bridge atLismore, for example, or the Parthenon or the Nile.

There are some rarities here too, including a smallsquare French river scene, a deeply coloured image ofVenice, and a view of the Pont du Gard. Some picturesare characteristic views of meadows, woodland or cliffs.Others are general, containing just a few fleeting strokesand washes of transparent colour, to convey a strip ofbeach, a breaking wave, the sky – there is almost aninsubstantiability. Pausing at the entrance to a forest,seated on a rock or a sand-dune, standing on the edge ofcliffs, or perched on board a boat off the Adriatic coast,or on the Nile, it is evident that every single one ofthese watercolours in the white pages of Hone’ssketchbooks was painted directly from Nature.

The watercolours here display many of thetechniques familiar from the collection in the National

70. Study: Trees

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Gallery: pencil marks, washes of colour, loose paintedoutlines, areas of white, or scratching of the surface, toreveal the whiteness of the paper underneath Again, insome places, there are ‘controlled accidents’, such as‘blurring’ or running of colour; caused by a surplus ofwater in the brush, to create luminosity within cloud, orwetness within water; or even blots or splodgesaccidentally dropped on the page.

Each page bears Hone’s little seal, his initials ‘N.H.’contained within an oval, embossed in the corner.

The watercolours originate in many places, so arough chronology of the main locations at which Honepainted can be offered (this does not correspond withthe order in which they are listed in O’Brien’scatalogue).

The study of two boys in faded blue jackets (73)relates to the watercolour of two boys in caps in theNational Gallery (no.3502). In both pictures, Hone mayin fact have painted the same figure twice. Becausefigurative studies by Hone are comparatively rare, suchworks are of great interest. The picture dates to Francearound the 1860’s, either to Barbizon or, as indicated bythe costume of blue jerkin, to Brittany. The delightfullittle watercolour of a ship at anchor (Cat. no.75; ill.inside front cover) may also correspond to Frenchsubjects, of schooners with full masts and white sailsmoored on the river Seine. This study is unusual in itssquare format. Although small in scale, the vessel iscrisply rendered, against transparent hues of green andblue.

The study of a winding path along a cliff (Cat. no.49;ill. p. 20), perhaps painted on a thicker paper than manyof the other pictures, has an evenness of tone, and awarm, honeyed colouring present in only a few ofHone’s watercolours painted on the French or Italiancoast, (for example, N.G.I. cat. nos. 3514, 3523). Thestudy of the fishing fleet drawn up on the beach atScheveningen on the Dutch coast (no.592) which Honevisited in the 1880’s, is of interest because, within thesmall page, he renders the number and shape of woodenboats, masts and rigging, with more concentration and

detail than in his oils of Scheveningen (for exampleN.G.I, cat. no.1425).

The watercolour of the Pont du Gard (Cat. no.8; ill.p. 7) is plainly a study for the magnificent oil painting ofthe Roman aqueduct near Nimes (private collection), forthe viewpoint is exactly the same. (Another watercolourof this subject, from a different viewpoint, is found inthe National Gallery’s collection, cat. no. 3320).

In visiting this celebrated site, Hone was following inthe footsteps of many artists and writers of theeighteenth and nineteenth centuries, notably thephilosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the novelist TobiasSmollet, and the painter Hubert Robert. The latterpainted a fine watercolour of the bridge, c.1787(Louvre), as did William Wyld (City of Manchester ArtGalleries). Gustave le Gray photographed the Pont duGard in 1857.

Yet Hone’s watercolour, painted in warm touches ofpale brown, green and blue, is a supreme example ofhow he can render a major architectural subject, withrelaxed, painterly means. The small outline of a figure isshown climbing the bank in the foreground. Here, as inthe watercolour of Scheveningen, where a girl is seatedon the beach, Hone has introduced a figure, to provide apoint of focus to he perspective, and add a human noteto a grand subject.

9. Study: Egypt: A Jumble of Boats

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In Ireland, there are watercolours of the east, southand west coasts. On the east coast Hone made manystudies of the island of Ireland’s Eye, some of which areconserved in the National Gallery, and a couple ofwhich are included in the present collection. One ofthese (Cat. no.62) is quite a detailed view, with rocks inthe foreground. There is a study of corn stooks (Cat.no.48; ill. p. 23), perhaps taken on Hone’s land atMalahide, and several coastal scenes. One of these, astudy of sandhills, fields and the bay (Cat. no.60)displays a warmth of colouring. Another smallwatercolour, described in Dermod O Brien’s catalogueas: “Study. Purple Red Shore, Breakers, White ToppedClouds” (Cat. no.50) xiv is just that, a simplerepresentation of delicate pink and mauve beach, strip ofblue sky, with a lovely white cloud. Similarly ‘Rocks andSea’ (Cat. no.19; ill. p. 8) simply shows brown rocksand a blue-grey sea with a reef, and white breakers onthe horizon, painted in a relaxed yet crisp manner.Watercolours such as these can contain a sense ofbalance, trueness of colour and a transparency, as muchexpression and feeling for Nature as in the large oilpaintings.

On the west coast, “Shore below cliffs” (Cat. no.78)probably shows the rocks at Kilkee, Co.Clare, one ofHone’s favourite sites which, on his visit around 1890,inspired several watercolours in the National Gallery’scollection, and some of his most powerful oils of rocksand sea. One watercolour represents the fine bridge andcastle at Lismore, Co. Waterford (Cat. no.51; ill. p. 21),which Hone visited in 1902. A companion view is foundin the National Gallery (Cat. no. 3422).

Several studies date from Hone’s extended journey inthe Mediterranean to Egypt in 1892-1893. Thewatercolour of small canals in Venice (Cat. no.17; ill. p.18) is of significance because it may be the onlywatercolour extant from his visit to that city. It isdelightful, in its unusual architectural emphasis andstrong verticals, combined with deep colours and anabstract quality. Hone’s fascination with the monumentsof antiquity is evident in the studies which he made of

the Acropolis, many of which are to be found in thecollection of the National Gallery. Characteristic ofthese is his watercolour of the Pathenon, against a bluesky (Cat. no.15; ill. above). In Egypt, his interest insailing and fishing vessels is shown in his dramaticcluster of feluccas with masts by the banks of the Nile(Cat. no.9; ill. p. 10).

15. Study: Corner Columns of Parthenon, Blue Sky

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Above all, in his journey in Egypt, Hone appears tohave been attracted by the view, perhaps gained from onboard ship across the Nile to distant sandhills, or fromthe river bank near Luxor, across the water totransparent pink mountains. Several such impressions inthis collection (Cat. no.11; ill. p. 17; Cat. no.30)complement similar watercolours in the NationalGallery, xv the finest of which is ‘Horseman on thebanks of the Nile,’(N.G.I. cat. 3400). French writerGustave Flaubert, travelling in Egypt in 1850 was struckby the oil-like smoothness of the waters of the Nile hereand the violet and azure of hills. xvi Hone was not thefirst artist to be attracted by the view from Luxor acrossthe transparent Nile waters to the exquisite pearly pinkand blue mountains of Thebes beyond.

This place may be identified, most likely as the‘Cime d’Occident, xvii and it seems to have bewitchedseveral artists to produce beautiful landscapes: CharlesGleyre’s watercolour ‘Landscape, Luxor’ 1835;photographs taken by John B. Greene, in 1854; as wellas ‘On the Banks of the Nile’, 1868 painted byFrederick,Lord Leighton (private collection); and acouple of oils by the mysterious Danish artist HenryBrockman (Petit Palais, Paris) xviii painted in 1891, onlya few months earlier than Hone.

Hone’s many watercolours of this subject may bepreparatory studies for his fine oil painting ‘Banks of theNile’ (Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin).

Contained within Hone’s watercolours, in a fewsquare inches of paper, there can be as much feeling forplace and completeness, (and perhaps a greater purity ofcolour), as in his larger oil paintings.

Although lacking the detail of conventionallandscape, Hone’s studies of woods, of beach and rocks,of a white cloud above the sea, or a wave breaking, ofthe light on the side of a building, or reflections in theriver Nile, have a simplicity of form, a balance, and avision of Nature, at times fleeting, at times stormy, attimes tranquil and mystical, that strikes a deep chord inthe viewer. Just as in Hone’s small oils there is a vigourand expressiveness, so in the watercolours there is a

lightness and spontaneity.Seeing the extent of the watercolours in the present

collection, as in the National Gallery and in othercollections, it is evident that they are far more than the‘studies’ as he modestly described them. Along with thesmall oils, they allow for a different perspective of theartist and his work than that familiar from his larger,and sometimes more sombre canvases. Just as there ismuch scholarly and popular interest in the drawings ofgreat masters, so a reappraisal of Hone’s watercolours asa central part of his creativity is timely. xix

Consider the studies that Delacroix made on his visitto Morocco in 1832. They inform us not just of hisresponse to human subjects and landscape, but also ofhis travels, his ideas and feelings. Or the watercolours ofTurner that spanned his career, from early topographicalviews to the later almost abstract impressions of lightand atmosphere. Some of Hone’s watercolours are‘notes’ made in preparation for larger paintings. Othersare fleeting impressions of Nature, expressing hisdelight in looking at a landscape, a record of a journey.They comprise an act of contemplation, a visual diary ofhis life, ‘notations’ of thoughts and feelings. In Hone’swork there is no vanity, no social message, no materialambition. There is an enchantment with the naturalworld, and an expression of that vision.

Julian Campbell

72. Study: Cows

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i Thomas Bodkin, ‘Four Irish Landscape Painters’, Dublin andLondon, 1920 p.56.

ii Bodkin, ibid, Appendix XVI.

iii See photograph illustrated in ‘Ireland from OldPhotographs’,1971, by Maurice Gorham (also J.Campbell,‘Nathaniel Hone’, 1991. p.12).

iv I am very grateful to Mr.David Hone, R.H.A. for providingme with information on Hone’s self portrait, and withbiographical material on James Wilcox. Similiar youthful selfportraits were painted in the same period the 1850’s, byFantin-Latour, George du Maurier, Leighton, and manypupils of Charles Gleyre.

v ‘Portrait of Nathaniel Hone’ (Oil on canvas, 22" x 17") ill. p.6,courtesy of James Adam Salerooms. ‘Irish Art Sale’ 25 March1998, no.82 James Wilcox (1888-1932). Wilcox was anAmerican artist, and also a pilot who flew against ‘The RedBaron’ in World War I. He served as an executor for Hone’swill.

vi See exhibition catalogues such as ‘Painting from Nature’,Fitzwilliam, Cambridge, 1980, by Philip Conisbee; ‘BeforePhotography’ MOMA, New York, 1981, by Peter Galassi; ‘ThePainted Sketch. American Impressions from Nature’, DallasMuseum of Art 1998, By Eleanor Jones; ‘A Brush with Nature.The Gere Collection of Landscapes Oil Sketches’, Naional Gallery,London, 1999, by C. Riopelle and X. Bray; and many otherpublications, and exhibitions.

vii ‘Irish Times’ 7 March 1884.

viii Freeman’s Journal’, 8 March 1884.

ix ‘Dublin University Review. Illustrated Art Supplement’, 1886p.57.

x Bodkin op.cit. p.63.

xi Anecdotal evidence, according to local Malahide and Honefamily recollection.

xii Aidan Dunne, ‘Sunday Tribune’, 16 June 1991.

xiii Bodkin, op.cit. p.58

xiv D. O’Brien, 1920, op.cit. p.205.

xv N.G.I., cat.nos. 3391, 3400, 6609, 6609v.,

xvi Flaubert’s Letters from 1850, quoted by William Hauptman,in ‘The Orientalists: Delacroix to Matisse’, Royal Academy,London. 1984, p.178; and W. Hauptman ‘Charles Gleyre, hislife and Work’, Zurich and Princeton, 1996, vol.2 p.48

xvii Hauptman, 1996, ibid.

xviii for example ‘The River Nile’ and ‘The Nile at Luxor – themountains of Thebes’, Henry Jacob Brockman-Knudsen born1868 in Copenhagen, studied at the Academie Julian in Paris,then visited Italy, Syria and Egypt.

xix An exhibition of a selection of Drawings and watercolours byNathaniel Hone, was held at the National Gallery of Irelandin 1996, curated by Adrian le Harivel.

16. Study: Standing Woman, Pyrenees

14

7. Study: Across the bent

15

Catalogue by Paul Caffrey

All measurements are in inches, height precedes width.Numbers in brackets in each entry refer to numbers inBodkin’s catalogue.

AbbreviationsBodkin: Thomas Bodkin, Four Irish Landscape Painters,Dublin and London, 1920, reprinted with an introduction byJulian Campbell, Dublin, 1987.Campbell: Julian Campbell, Nathaniel Hone the Younger,National Gallery of Ireland exhibition catalogue, 1991.

GALLERY I1. (404) Study: Sand and Sea

Oil 7 × 10

Illustrated back cover

2. (503) Study: ParkOil 71/2 × 101/2

Illustrated opposite

3. (459) Study: Rock and Sand, Shore,Green Sea, Blue Cloudy SkyWatercolour 5 × 81/2

Illustrated below

4. (63) Study: Sheep by TreesWatercolour 6 × 91/2

Illustrated page 16

5. (592) Study: Dutch Fishing Fleet, some with SailsSet, others not: SandWatercolour 37/8 × 7Painted before 1881.

Illustrated page 16

6. (295) Study: Green Pastures, Cattle and TreesWatercolour 5 × 81/4

7. (300) Study: Across the bentOil 111/2 × 18

Illustrated page 14

8. (865) Study: Pont du Garde [sic] Hill BeyondWatercolour 5 × 73/4

This is a preliminary watercolour for an oil painting ofthe Pont du Gard (Private Collection) exhibited at theNGI 1991, see Campbell, pp.98-99. There is a similarwatercolour in the NGI (catalogue number 3320).

Illustrated page 73. Study: Rock and Sand, Shore, Green Sea, Blue

Cloudy Sky

2. Study: Park

16

9. (277) Study: Egypt: A Jumble of Boats by the Bankon the NileWatercolour 45/8 × 71/2

Illustrated page 10

10. (237) Study: Harvest Field, Trees andDark Blue SeaWatercolour 5 × 8

11. (243) Study: Egypt: Buildings and Trees onPoint in NileWatercolour 43/4 × 71/2

Hone was in Egypt in 1892, see Campbell, pp. 180-182

Illustrated page 17

12. (62) Study: Cliff and Waves, BundoranOil 7 × 10Hone visited Co. Donegal in c. 1895.

13. Coastal Scene, eveningOil 71/2 × 11

14. (368) Study: Corfu: Two Cypresses, Tiled Church,Sea and HillsWatercolour 45/8 × 73/4

Hone visited Corfu on his European tour in 1891/2.

Illustrated page 17

15. (383) Study: Corner Columns of Parthenon,Blue SkyWatercolour 73/4 × 45/8

See Campbell, p. 179.

Illustrated page 11

16. (175) Study: Standing Woman, PyreneesWatercolour 93/4 × 61/2

Hone made visits to the South-west of France in 1887and 1889. This watercolour was exhibited in the NGIin 1991, see Campbell, p. 158.

Illustrated page 13

17. (176) Study: Venice Small Canal Between HousesWatercolour 9 × 51/2

Hone visited Venice in 1891/2.

Illustrated page 18

18. (409) Study: Sand and Dark Rising Ground, BlueSea BeyondWatercolour 4 × 7

19. (105) Study: Rocks and SeaWatercolour 5 × 63/4

Illustrated page 85. Study: Dutch Fishing Fleet

4. Study: Sheep by Trees

17

20. (351) Study: Sheep in the ParkOil 13 × 17

Illustrated Front Cover

21. (800) Study: Pasture, Cattle indicated, Clump ofWoods, Big Brown CloudsWatercolour 47/8 × 63/4

22. (390) Study: CowsOil 14 × 21

23. (624B) Study: Rocks and SeaWatercolour 11 × 151/2

24. (12) Study: Park: Windy SkyWatercolour 7 × 10

25. (129) Study: Sea and MountainWatercolour 41/2 × 61/4

26. (152) Study: Landscape and CowsWatercolour 4 × 7

27. (447) Study: TreesOil 7 × 10This is a study for Autumn Trees, private collection,exhibited at the NGI, 1991, see Campbell, p. 141.

Illustrated page 3

GALLERY II28. (148) Study: Donnybrook 14th May 1887

Watercolour 4 × 7

29. (875) Study: Ship at Anchor near Pier, Green HillbeyondWatercolour 41/4 × 4

Illustrated inside front cover

30. (264) Study: Egypt: Sketch on NileWatercolour 43/4 × 71/2

31. Self Portrait, painted in Paris c. 1853-’56Oil 24 × 191/2

Collection of David Hone, RHA

Illustrated page 514. Study: Corfu

11. Study: Egypt

18

32. (275) Study: Gorse and Stormy SkyOil 71/2 × 121/2

33. (586) Study: Glenmalure [Co. Wicklow] Road inLight, Dark Heathery Hill BeyondWatercolour 31/2 × 63/4

34. (A2) Study: Trees Oil 73/4 × 93/4

35. (328) Study: Bay with Small Boat, Grey CloudReflectedWatercolour 43/4 × 73/4

36. (379) Study: Cows in a FieldOil 13 × 16

37. (216) Study: Rocky Point and SeaWatercolour 5 × 81/2

38. (366) Study: Two Cows and a TreeOil 10 × 14Earlier version of Cows Sheltering under a Tree

39. (408) Study: Rocky Island above Breaking Sea,Grey [A View of Ireland’s Eye]Watercolour 4 × 7

Illustrated page 19

40. (179) Study: TreesWatercolour 5 × 73/4

41. (293) Study: Dark Headland, Sea and DistantMountainsWatercolour 5 × 81/4

Illustrated page 19

42. (489) Study: Two Trees (Autumn) over StreamThrough PasturesWatercolour 7 × 10

GALLERY III (Downstairs)

43. (313) Study: Sketch at SeaWatercolour 43/4 × 73/4

17. Study: Venice

19

44. (19) Study: Plain and SkyWatercolour 7 × 10

45. (773) Study: Sea CoastWatercolour 5 × 8

46. Study: Autumn TreesOil 5 × 7

47. (283) Study: Tree in CourtyardOil 13 × 16

48. (652) Study: Corn StooksWatercolour 8 × 11

Illustrated page 23

49. (725) Study: Winding Path Along CliffWatercolour 11 × 71/2

Illustrated page 20

50. (418) Study: Purple Red Shore, Breakers, WhiteTopped CloudWatercolour 5 × 7

Illustrated on exhibition invitation

51. (350) Study: Brown River, Bridge on Left, Treesand Lismore CastleWatercolour 41/2 × 71/2

In 1902 Hone visited Lismore.See NGI catalogue no. 3422.

Illustrated page 21

52. (494) Study: Autumn TreesOil 71/2 × 101/2

Illustrated page 24

53. (336) Study: TreesOil 12 × 16

Illustrated page 23

54. (514) Study: ParkOil 7 × 10

Illustrated page 22

55. (65) Study: PlainWatercolour 6 × 91/2

56. (67) Study: Dark Grey Green PlainWatercolour 5 × 63/4

41. Study: Dark Headland

39. A View of Ireland’s Eye

20

57. (14) Study: Park AutumnWatercolour 7 × 10

58. (795) Study: Sheep Resting in Shadow under Tree,Light BeyondWatercolour 47/8 × 63/4

59. (230) Study: Sea and BrigOil 10 × 141/2

Illustrated inside back cover

60. (305) Study: Sand, Fields and Bay and High SandHillsWatercolour 43/4 × 73/4

61. (772) Study: Tree TrunksWatercolour 5 × 8

62. (680) Study: Rock over SeaWatercolour 8 × 10

63. (792) Study: Pasture, Big Trees and Woods, CloudsWatercolour 47/8 × 63/4

64. Study: LandscapeOil 71/2 × 91/2

65. (248) Study: Egypt Sand and Sky and Distant HillsExhibited Irish Art Exhibition Brussels, May 1930Watercolour 43/4 × 71/2

66. (469) Study: Shore, Green Light and ShadowedSea, Dark Horizon, Distant CloudsWatercolour 5 × 81/2

67. (329) Study: TreesOil 12 × 16

68. (367) Study: Shadowed Green Plain and StormySkyWatercolour 45/8 × 73/4

69. (527) Study: Grey Day, Green Pastures, Trees onleft, Dark HorizonWatercolour 45/8 × 71/2

70. (318) Study: TreesOil 91/2 × 71/2

Illustrated page 9

49. Study: Winding Path

21

71. (785) Study: River, Bank of Trees and SkyWatercolour 4 × 7

72. (392) Study: CowsOil 14 × 21

Illustrated page 12

73. (756) Study: Two Studies of BoysWatercolour 8 × 93/4

74. (761) Study: Lake, Trees and HillWatercolour 51/2 × 91/2

75. Tree in a LandscapeOil 91/2 × 131/2

Illustrated below

76. (446) Study: Dark Low Cliffs at Low TideWatercolour 5 × 81/2

77. (671) Study: Mountain HeadlandWatercolour 61/2 × 11

78. (638) Study: Shore below CliffsWatercolour 9 × 11

79. (667) Study: Glenmalure RoadWatercolour 8 × 11

80. (289) Study: Dark Mountains at Head of BayWatercolour 5 × 81/4

81. (18) Study: PlainWatercolour 7 × 10

75. Tree in a Landscape

51. Study: Lismore Castle

22

54. Study: Park

23

48. Study: Corn Stooks

53. Study: Trees

24

52. Study: Autumn Trees

25

59. Study: Sea and Brig

GORRY GALLERY LTD., 20 MOLESWORTH STREET, DUBLIN 2. TELEPHONE and FAX 6795319The Gallery is open Monday – Friday 11.00 a.m. – 6.00 p.m.

Saturday (during Exhibition only) 11.00 a.m. – 2.00 p.m.www.gorrygallery.ie

Origination and Printing by Brunswick Press Ltd.