The Girl in White
Artist
Grace Henry
(1868 - 1953)
Datec. 1910-1912
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions61 x 51 cm
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineCollection & image © Hugh Lane Gallery.
Donated by Mr Justice James Creed Meredith, K.C., 1930.
Object number654
DescriptionOften overshadowed by the career of her husband, Grace Henry's work was for many years overlooked, however recently her position has been re-examined. Her oeuvre is both restless and experimental. Born in north-east Scotland, Henry studied art in Brussels and Paris and it was there that she met Paul Henry in 1900. A chance holiday to Achill Island Co. Mayo in 1910 prompted a move to the West of Ireland that heralds much of the recognisable work by the two artists. Returning to Dublin in 1920 they co-founded the Society of Dublin Painters, which became synonymous with the avant-garde. The couple later separated and Paul Henry omitted any reference to her in his two volumes of autobiography. During the 1920s and 30s she travelled extensively around Italy and France, studying under André Lhote in Paris. In 1949 she was elected an Honorary Member of the Royal Hibernian Academy.The Girl in White contrasts the peasant scenes of Achill with a subtlety of tones and limited palette, referencing the influence of France and England and in particular James McNeill Whistler. The lone sitter's pose suggests a quiet moment in the expanse of the room. The subtlety of the portrait, with the face and hands barely suggested bears a simplicity and contemplative nature and particular to Henry's work is the sitter's inward gaze.
On View
Not on view
![No. 43 "Ploughing" [From 'The Great War: Britain's Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'Work on the Land' series]](/internal/media/dispatcher/18340/thumbnail)
![No . 44 "Drilling" [From 'The Great War: Britain's Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'Work on the Land' series]](/internal/media/dispatcher/18341/thumbnail)
![No. 46 "Potato-planting" [From 'The Great War: Britain's Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'Work on the Land' series]](/internal/media/dispatcher/18343/thumbnail)
![No. 11 "The Re-birth of the Arts" [From 'The Great War: Britain's Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'The Ideals' series]](/internal/media/dispatcher/1504/thumbnail)
