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John Butler Yeats , Irish, 1839-1922

Title

Portrait of Maire Nic Shiubhlaigh (1883-1958), Actress

Date1904

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions

91 x 71 cm

Signedupper left: JBYeats 1904

Credit LinePresented, Nicholas R. Burke in memory of his mother Mrs J. Murray Mitchell,1996

Object numberNGI.4621

DescriptionMáire Nic Shiubhlaigh, a famous beauty and tragedienne of the Irish cultural renaissance, acted with the Abbey Theatre before joining its rival, the Theatre of Ireland in 1905.This three-quarter-length portrait is one of two painted by the artist in 1904, the other commissioned for the Abbey Theatre collection. In this dreamy portrait, the actress, wearing a turquoise dress, gazes pensively into the distance. Lennox Robinson, praising Nic Shiubhlaigh as an actress, pointed to her grace, charm and poetic beauty, all of which are captured here. She published her memoirs The Splendid Years in 1955.

ProvenanceJ.E. Taylor, Chapellier Gallery, New York; purchased, Mrs J. Murray Mitchell, Lismore, Fort William, August 1966; presented, Private Collection, 1996Exhibition HistoryAt a Glance - Portraits by John Butler Yeats, National Gallery of Ireland, 24 October 2015 - 17 January 2016
Label TextMáire Nic Shiubhlaigh, a famous beauty and tragedienne of the Irish cultural renaissance, acted with the Abbey Theatre before joining its rival, the Theatre of Ireland in 1905. This three-quarter-length portrait is one of two painted by the artist in 1904, the other commissioned for the Abbey Theatre collection. In this dreamy portrait, the actress, wearing a turquoise dress, gazes pensively into the distance. Lennox Robinson, praising Nic Shiubhlaigh as an actress, pointed to her grace, charm and poetic beauty, all of which are captured here. She published her memoirs The Splendid Years in 1955.