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Nathaniel Grogan , Irish, c.1740-1807

Title

Boats on the River Lee below Tivoli, County Cork

Datec.1785

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions

94.3 x 168 cm

Credit LinePurchased, 1973 (Shaw Fund)

Object numberNGI.4074

DescriptionThis is one of a number of landscapes that the artist executed around the city of Cork. It shows the estuary of the River Lee looking up towards the city. On the north bank is Tivoli, a house built in the Palladian manner for James Morrison, a wealthy merchant and Mayor of Cork. It was renowned for its garden temples, and the scene includes a temple of Gothic design located on the brow of the hill. In the far distance the city of Cork can be seen through a warm haze. Below on the water there is much activity. A yatch is about to enter a race, as signalled by the firing of a gun. In the left foreground passengers are being rowed out in a punt to take part. Behind the yatch is a large commercial boat with small rowing boats in attendance.
Grogan was born in Cork and was a largely self-taught painter. As a young man he longed to be an artist but received no encouragement from his family and so enlisted in the army, serving in America and the west Indies. When he returned to cork he made an adequate living as a painter. He is best remembered for his humorous genre scenes of Irish everyday life.

(National Gallery of Ireland: Essential Guide, 2008)
ProvenancePurchased, Messrs O. and P. Johnson, London, 1973Exhibition HistoryThe Architecture of Ireland in Drawings and Paintings, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 1975

A Question of Attribution: The Arcadian Landscapes of Nathaniel Grogan and John Butts, Crawford Art Gallery, Cork, 3 February - 2 April 2012

Label TextThis view of the estuary of the River Lee is one of many Grogan produced of his native Cork and its environs. The pleasure boat at the centre bears flags of the Cork Yacht Club, the world’s oldest institution of its kind. The plume of smoke indicates that a gun has been fired, perhaps marking midday or signalling the beginning of a race. Visible high on the north bank of the river is Tivoli, a Palladian country house built for James Morrison, a wealthy merchant and Mayor of Cork, and the Gothic style temple within its grounds.