Francis Stuart

Artist Edward McGuire (1932 - 1986)

Date1974

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions76.2 x 63.5 cm

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineCollection & image © Hugh Lane Gallery. Purchased, 1975. © The Estate of Edward McGuire.

Object number1404

DescriptionEdward McGuire is best known for his portraits of literary figures and also for his still-life paintings. A trip to Florence and Rome in 1951, where he encountered the work of the Italian masters Giotto and Piero della Francesca, was a formative influence. In 1954-55, he attended the Slade School of Fine Art in London where he met Lucian Freud, and was very influenced by his work. He also encountered Francis Bacon.

The sitter for this painting was the poet and novelist, Francis Stuart (1902-2000). Born in Australia but brought up in Ireland, at the age of 18 Stuart eloped with Iseult MacBride, daughter of Maud Gonne who was W.B. Yeats's muse. During his lifetime, Stuart's literary successes were overshadowed by a prevailing controversy concerning an alleged collaboration with the Nazis in the Second World War, an allegation he always denied. Stuart recalled that this painting was done partly from photographs but there were a number of sittings at McGuire's house toward the end of the work. McGuire placed great emphasis on the technical aspects of the painter's craft and he was a painstakingly slow and meticulous artist. This contributes to the static, almost austere quality of his work. The giant leaves outside the window recall the Surrealist works of René Magritte, whom the artist admired.

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