2. The painting itself
• The painting portrays a
typical scene in the west of
Ireland in the 1920s and
1930s
• The cluster of diminutive
whitewashed cottages
picked out by sunlight
against a backdrop of
mountains
• An impressive sky is a motif
that recurs in the landscape
painting of Paul Henry from
the early 1920s onwards
3. The painting itself
• These cottages emphasise
the grandeur of the local
scenery
• Simultaneously the painting
points to the isolation of the
rural communities and their
reliance on the land
• The turf stacks in the
foreground serve as further
evidence of the integral link
between the people and
their surroundings
4. The painting itself
• Free and spontaneous
brushstrokes
• Simple brushstrokes
• A wonderful array of colours
• Colours are crisp and clear
• ‘Full-breasted’ cloud
• Heavy cumulus sky takes up
two-thirds of the painting
• The light is focussed on the
cottages at the centre of the
painting
5. The setting
• The view
eastwards from the
quay on the
Clifden road just
over a kilometre
west of Letterfrack,
Co. Galway
• The mountain in
the background is
‘Doughruagh’
6. Assessment
• Pat Shortt discusses Paul Henry's masterpiece - YouT
• Typical of Paul Henry’s work in the 1930s
• Unusually large for a Paul Henry Landscape
• Regarded as one of Paul Henry’s finest works
when he was at the height of his career
• Purchased by the National Gallery in 2004 for
GB£295,250
