Gerald Leslie Brockhurst
, English, 1890-1978
Title
Irish PeasantsDate1916
MediumPen and ink wash on paper
Dimensions
54 x 36.8 cm
Signedlower right (in graphite): G L Brockhurst 1916
Credit LinePresented, Friends of the National Collections of Ireland, 2013
Object numberNGI.2013.23
DescriptionThis drawing was executed in 1916 while Brockhurst was living in Ireland. It is one of a number of works that he made of the people of Galway and Connemara. The image is bold and unsentimental and the main figure also appears in a print from this time (NGI.2009.6). Unlike his friend Augustus John, Brockhurst rarely idealised his Irish figures but focused on the weathered features of older people. This drawing may have been among the circa 20 pen and wash drawings Brockhurst exhibited at his one man show at Mills Hall, Dublin in 1916 (Irish Times, July 11, 1916, p. 4 exhibition notice)ProvenanceWith T.W. Spurr, Bradfrod, where purchased, December 1934; Wyndham T. Vint; Christie's, London, 12 July 2012, 20th century British Art Sale (6384), lot 429; purchased, Abbott & Holder, 7 September 2013; presented, Friends of the National Collections of Ireland, 2013Exhibition HistoryGerald Leslie Brockhurst, Sheffield City Art Galleries, Sheffield, December 1986 - February 1987