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Joseph Patrick Haverty, Irish, 1794-1864
Title: The Blind Piper
Date: 1841
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
76 x 59 cm
Credit Line: Presented, Mr W. O'Brien, 1864
Object Number: NGI.166
DescriptionThis picture is both a portrait of a locally recognisable figure and a representation of a familiar Irish type. Ennis-born Pádraig O’Briain was well-known for many years for performing at the corner of Hartstonge Street and the Crescent in Limerick. Here he plays the union pipes, a uniquely Irish form of instrument played throughout Europe since the sixteenth century. The use of the term ‘uilleann pipes’, derived from the Irish word for elbow, was preferred by the early twentieth century. The celebrated status of pipers in Ireland in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries is demonstrated by the relative frequency with which they were identified by artists, writers and poets.
Haverty’s representation of O’Briain boasts a sentimentality that was consistent with romantic and political sensibilities prevalent in early nineteenth-century Ireland, and can be found in several portraits of blind pipers and harpists by other Irish artists. Haverty produced another version of this painting, perhaps with an alternative destination in mind, in which the piper and young girl appear in noticeably finer attire. The painting was first exhibited under the simple title The Father and Daughter. Prints after this version adorned the walls of many Irish residences, grand and modest alike.
March 2016
Haverty’s representation of O’Briain boasts a sentimentality that was consistent with romantic and political sensibilities prevalent in early nineteenth-century Ireland, and can be found in several portraits of blind pipers and harpists by other Irish artists. Haverty produced another version of this painting, perhaps with an alternative destination in mind, in which the piper and young girl appear in noticeably finer attire. The painting was first exhibited under the simple title The Father and Daughter. Prints after this version adorned the walls of many Irish residences, grand and modest alike.
March 2016
ProvenancePresented, Mr William Smith O'Brien, 1864
Exhibition HistoryPaintings in England and Ireland 1700-1900, Dundalk, 1970
Pipes and Piping, National Museum of Ireland, Dublin, 20 July - September 1978
The Early Celtic Revival, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, April 1980
Lines of Vision. Irish Writers at the National Gallery of Ireland, 8 October 2014 —12 April 2015
Oidhreacht: Transforming Tradition, Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda, 13 June 2019 - 14 September 2019
Pipes and Piping, National Museum of Ireland, Dublin, 20 July - September 1978
The Early Celtic Revival, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, April 1980
Lines of Vision. Irish Writers at the National Gallery of Ireland, 8 October 2014 —12 April 2015
Oidhreacht: Transforming Tradition, Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda, 13 June 2019 - 14 September 2019
Label TextThis picture is both a portrait of a recognisable figure and a representation of a familiar Irish type. Ennis-born Pádraig O’Briain was well-known for performing at the corner of Hartstonge Street and the Crescent in Limerick. Here he plays the union pipes, a uniquely Irish form of an instrument played throughout Europe since the sixteenth century. Haverty’s representation of O’Briain boasts a sentimentality that was consistent with romantic and political sensibilities prevalent among an early nineteenth-century audience, and can be found in several portraits of blind pipers and harpists. Prints after this portrait adorned the walls of many Irish homes.