Louis le Brocquy
, Irish, 1916-2012
Title
A FamilyDate1951
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions
147 x 185 cm
Signedlower left: Le Brocquy '51
Credit LineHeritage Gift, Lochlann and Brenda Quinn, 2002
Object numberNGI.4709
DescriptionA signal work in the development of Louis le Brocquy’s oeuvre, A Family is counted among the artist’s so-called ‘grey’ paintings, characterised by their restricted palette and melancholic tone. Painted in London, where le Brocquy had settled in 1946, the picture was conceived against a backdrop of nuclear threat, widespread social upheaval and the vast refugee crisis that followed the Second World War. In style, it owes a debt to the work of the Cubists, and Picasso in particular. In the picture, le Brocquy challenges conventional perceptions of both the family and the mother figure. Whereas the term ‘family’ traditionally stands for security, unity and refuge, the representation here is characterised by the separateness of the members. While the disconsolate male figure turns his back on the other members of the group, the child stands alone unnoticed. The figure of the mother assumes the general pose of the courtesan in Manet’s Olympia (1863; Musée d’Orsay, Paris), which le Brocquy had first seen in Paris in 1938. Le Brocquy was fascinated by traditional odalisque painting, from Titian’s Venus of Urbino (1538; Uffizi, Florence) to Goya’s images of Maja. However, like Manet, he eschews this traditional arrangement to challenge the viewer’s expectations. A Family was offered to the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin in February 1952, but was rejected, probably on account of its style and execution, but also possibly because its subject was inconsistent with prevailing notions of Irish culture and society.
March 2016
ProvenanceCollection Nestlè Italiana SpA, Milan, 1956; Private Collection; Heritage Gift, Lochlann and Brenda Quinn, 2002 Exhibition HistoryLouis le Brocquy, Drawing, Watercolours, Oils & Tapestries, Gimpel Fils, London, June 1951
Paintings and Tapestries by Louis le Brocquy, Victor Waddington Galleries, Dublin, December 1951
British Painting and Sculpture, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, 1954
Louis le Brocquy, Paintings, Gimpel Fils, London, February 1955
Venice Biennale, 1956
Cinquante Ans d'Art Moderne; de Cezanne a nos jours, World Fair Exhibition, Brussels, 1957-1958
Louis le Brocquy, A Retrospective Selection of Oil Paintings, Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin and Ulster Museum, Belfast, 1966-1967
Rosc. Irish Art 1943-1973, Crawford Art Gallery, Cork and Ulster Museum, Belfast, 1981-1982
Louis le Brocquy, Paintings 1939-1996, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, 16 October 1996 - 16 February 1997
Taking Stock: Acquisitions 2000-2010, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 13 March 2010 - 25 July 2010
Shades of Grey: Paintings without Colour, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 22 June 2013 - 29 September 2013
Label TextThis is counted among le Brocquy’s so-called ‘Grey’ paintings, characterised by their restricted palette and melancholic tone. Painted in London, where le Brocquy had settled in 1946, the picture was conceived against a backdrop of nuclear threat, widespread social upheaval and the vast refugee crisis that followed the Second World War. The painting calls to mind the work of the Cubists, and Picasso in particular, but also owes a debt to Manet’s Olympia, which le Brocquy had first seen in Paris in 1938. In his picture, le Brocquy challenges conventional perceptions of both the family and the mother figure.