Share

License image

Matthew James Lawless , Irish, 1837-1864

Title

A Sick Call

Date1863

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions

63 x 103 cm

Signedlower right: M.J. Lawless 1863

Credit LinePurchased, 1925

Object numberNGI.864

ProvenanceColtart Sale, 1917; purchased, Captain R. Langton Douglas, 1925 Exhibition HistoryCorp. of Liverpool Walker Art Gallery, 1890

Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1863

Royal Jubilee Exhibition, Manchester, 1887

Ierse Schilders der 19e en 20e eeuw, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1951

Centenary Exhibition, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, October - December 1964

Irish Art in the 19th Century, Crawford Municipal School of Art, Cork, 31 October - 29 December 1971

The Revolt of the Pre-Raphaelites, Lowe Art Museum, Miami, 1972

Aspects of Irish Art, a Loan Exhibition; Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, Columbus, Ohio, 27 January - 3 March 1974; Toledo Museum of Arts, Toledo, Ohio, 17 March - 14 April 1974; St Louis Art Museum, St Louis, Missouri, 3 May - 9 June 1974

Label TextThe subject of this sombre picture, a clergyman being rowed across a river to administer the last rites, must have had a particular resonance for Lawless, who had suffered ill-health for some time. A lamp on the boat flickering dimly, another emitting no light at all, and a sickle and scattering of cut-flowers suggest that the travelling party’s anxious prayers are in vain. The setting was probably inspired by Lawless’s earlier journey to France and Belgium. A great admirer of Meissonier, Lawless is now known by illustrations and just a handful of highly detailed paintings.