John Luke, Irish, 1906-1975
Title: Shaw's Bridge
Date: c.1934
Medium: Linocut on Japanese paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 30.5 x 40 cm
Image: 26.2 x 36.5 cm
Signed: lower right (under the image, in graphite): John Luke
lower left (in the block): JL
Credit Line: Purchased, 2008
Object Number: NGI.2008.86
DescriptionIn 1934 Luke exhibited the linocut, Shaw’s Bridge at the ‘Ulster Unit’ exhibition, in Locksley Hall, Belfast. Another view of Shaw’s Bridge, in oil glazes over a tempera base, dated 1939, was exhibited at a retrospective exhibition shown at the Ulster Museum in 1978. This print is a fine example of Luke’s decorative formalism, which gives a dreamlike feel to the landscape despite the precise detailing of figures, dogs and swans. The superb quality of the printing, along with the use of Japanese paper, are characteristic of the artist’s few known linocuts.
ProvenancePrivate Collection, Northern Ireland; purchased, James Adams/ Bonhams, Dublin, 28th May 2008, Important Irish Art Sale, lot 78
Exhibition HistoryPossibly 'The Ulster Unit', Locksley Hall, Belfast, December 1934