Paul Henry

Paul Henry RHA, RUA is often credited with creating our idyllic view of the west of Ireland. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland he remained there until just after 1898 when he left for Paris. Paris at the turn of the century was centre of the artistic avant-garde, visited by artists such as Degas and writers such as W.B. Yeats and James Joyce. Henry was impressed by the artist Millet who focused on ordinary people with traditional countryside lives. Henry painted in the 19th century realist tradition and was primarily a landscapist depicting scenes of the West of Ireland.