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PAUL HENRY RHA (1876-1958) A Mountain Landscape, 1938-45, oil on board, signed 'PAUL HENRY' b.r., 12.5'' x 15.5 cm. (1) Note: When Henry first went to the West of Ireland, to Achill Island, in 1910 it was the way of life of the people he found there which initially caught his attention and formed the subject matter of his art for some time. Later, from around 1915, the landscape henceforth dominated his art and from it he made an art form as John Synge had done from Aran-for Henry, Synge, whom he had met briefly in Paris, 'touched some chord which resounded as no other music had ever done', he later wrote in his autobiography ('An Irish Portrait', Batsford, London, 1951, p.48). This scene may represent County Donegal, one is tempted to call it 'The Blue Mountains, Co. Donegal', of 1929-34, although that title is well-known in his work, similar to where the artist stayed with his elder brother, Bob, at McFadden's Hotel, in 1929-33. But, given its date, it is more likely to be set in the West of Ireland. It may have been made from drawings done earlier, which was common practice with Henry by this time. For Henry, fairly heavy impasto has been used throughout, notably in the sky which, with its cull-nimbus clouds are the glory of the piece. The mountains, as so often with Henry, provide a halt to the eye's recession. While the mountains have less impasto generally the light, which comes from the right hand side, is gently picked out in lighter paint. But the foreground and the turf stacks with their heavy impasto, are characteristic of Henry's work, as are the turf cuttings which are in shade to the right. 'A Mountain Landscape' is numbered 1312 in S. B. Kennedy's ongoing cataloguing of Henry's oeuvre. Dr S.B. Kennedy, November 2016