Bartholomew Colles Watkins
, Irish, 1833-1891
Title
Murlough Bay and Fair Head, Coast of AntrimDatec.1860
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions
34 x 52 cm
Credit LinePurchased, 1999
Object numberNGI.4673
DescriptionMurlough Bay, located a few miles east of Ballycastle, is one of the most beautiful spots along the celebrated County Antrim coast. It was also, and remains, relatively inaccessible. Watkins emphasises the remote nature of the location by obscuring the view of the tiny cottage in the background, and placing an isolated figure of a young peasant girl on the beach. Though the painting is physically very small, the landscape it describes, dominated by the angular profile of Fair Head in the background, is imposing. Watkins garnered an extensive knowledge of the Irish countryside from excursions he made around the country from his student days onwards. Following visits to West Cork and Kerry in the 1850s, he committed much of his time to painting mountains, and in 1860 visited Norway, where he was inspired by its mountainous expanses. The harmonious colour-range and quiet activity of the figures in Watkins’s paintings recall the Romantic landscapes of James Arthur O’Connor, while the meticulously rendered detail and high finish reflect the methods of academically-trained artists of the period throughout Europe.
March 2016
ProvenancePrivate collection; purchased, Gorry Gallery, Dublin, 1999Exhibition HistoryRoyal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, 1873
Label TextWatkins garnered an extensive knowledge of the Irish countryside from excursions he made around the country from his student days onwards. He emphasises the remote nature of Murlough Bay, one of the most beautiful spots along the celebrated Co. Antrim coast, by obscuring the view of the tiny cottage in the background, and placing an isolated figure of a young peasant girl on the beach. Though the painting is physically very small, the landscape it describes, dominated by the angular profile of Fair Head in the background, is imposing.