Goyesca III

Artist Sir Gerald Festus Kelly (1879 - 1972)

Date1939

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions83 x 57.8 cm

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineCollection & image © Hugh Lane Gallery. Bequest of Dr R. I. Best through the Friends of the National Collections of Ireland, 1960. © The Estate of Gerald Festus Kelly.

Object number1099

DescriptionA young woman dressed in the costume of a Spanish 'maja' is the subject matter of Gerald Kelly's 'Goyesca III. Standing in three-quarter pose, she wears the traditional 'mantilla' and black shawl so familiar from Goya's paintings of the aristocracy. It is not just in costume that Kelly attempts to emulate the Spanish master. In technique the highly polished and delicate treatment of the face, set in contrast to the more fluid handling of the lace and the background, also discloses a familiarity with Goya's portraiture. The figure turns to look out at the viewer, her rosy complexion framed by the black lace. The diaphanous lace is skilfully painted to reveal the white dress underneath. The wall behind the figure is painted in a semi-transparent slate blue, the skirting of the wall a matt sky blue and the floor a dull brown. This limited colour range might indicate the influence of Whistler, an artist whom Kelly admired from before the time he spent in France. The pink flower and the rosy lips are the only high tones. The figure is isolated in the canvas, no objects or props are present and the only indication of depth is created by the shadow of the model, which falls on the wall behind her.

(Catalogue Entry [24]: A Century of Irish Painting - Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin, 1997, p. 149)

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