Irish Arts Review

AUCTION PREVIEW: Whyte's, 29 NovemberSource: Irish Arts Review (2002-), Vol. 27, No. 4 (WINTER (DECEMBER 2010 - FEBRUARY2011)), p. 50Published by: Irish Arts ReviewStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20798529 .

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UNDER THE HAMMER

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4

FLORA MITCHELLS OLD DUBLIN_ Published in 1966 Vanishing Dublin by Flora

Mitchell (1890-1973) has since become a

highly prized collector's item, not least

because the book's plate was subsequently

destroyed and the original drawings pur chased by the National Gallery of Ireland.

The work features reproductions of fifty watercolours Mitchell had made of the capi

tal. Mitchell's book appeared precisely at the

moment when, despite the protestations of

conservation groups, Dublin was undergoing

widespread redevelopment with widespread demolition of its old streets and houses, and

as a result with a decisive alteration of both

the city's appearance and character.

Perhaps her interest in the city was due to

the fact that she was not a native but had

moved to Ireland from Nebraska when her

father was offered a position at William

Jameson & Co. In 1930 she married the

great-grandson of the distillery's founder.

Mitchell began drawing at the age of four

teen and after leaving school studied at the

Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin. During this time she developed the technique which

was forever after used: a pencil sketch on

site followed by a more detailed drawing which would be traced out in ink followed by

washes of watercolour. After an exhibition of

such work in September 1957, the Irish

Independent's reviewer rightly commented

that Mitchell's pictures were 'precise in

detail, excellent in concept and wonderfully sensitive in atmosphere'. Mitchell was a

successor to Malt?n, providing us with an

image of what Dublin looked like before it

underwent fundamental change. Her pic

tures are therefore inescapably imbued with

a certain nostalgia, not least because

Mitchell's style is conservative and her incli

nation was always to present the city at its

most charming. This is evident in two

watercolours which were offered for sale at

Whyte's Irish art sale in Dublin in early October. One showed Aungier Street, (Fig 4) the other a view of the Customs House (Fig 3) from the other side of the Liffey and

caught between two berthed vessels. In

both cases, the scene shown is far more

orderly than would usually be the case, then or now, in Dublin as though the citi zens had mostly fled, but not before tidying

up the place. This, of course, is part of

Mitchell's appeal: her depictions contain an

element of idealization.

Hence the pictures are assured of sales,

as was the case at Whyte's where the

Aungier Street view went for 1,800 and the

Customs House prospect for 1,300.

HER PICTURES ARE THEREFORE INESCAPABLY IMBUED WITH A CERTAIN NOSTALGIA, NOT LEAST BECAUSE MITCHELL'S STYLE IS CONSERVATIVE AND HER INCLINATION WAS ALWAYS TO PRESENT THE CITY AT ITS MOST CHARMING

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Whyte's, 29 November AUCTION PREVIEW

Afine canvas by Nathaniel Hone entitled Fishing Boats at Villefranche 1880 will be

included in Whyte's Irish art sale at the end of November (Fig 5). The work, a

seascape, is a departure from the stormy coastal prospects painted by Hone in the 1870s.

Hone spent seventeen years in France, mostly living in and around Barbizon, although

frequently travelling elsewhere. He was also attracted by the coastal towns of Menton

and Villefranche, with their fortified buildings and narrow alleyways, built as a defence

against invaders, and pirates from the Barbarry coast. This work was presumably painted

during one of those journeys and shows a cluster of fishing boats in the foreground of a

tranquil sea at evening, with the walls of a port town rising behind. Although not a large

work, it is very handsome and is expected to make in the region of 40,000- 60,000.

3

3 FLORA H MITCHELL (1890-1973) THE CUSTOMS HOUSE, DUBLIN pencil and ink with watercolour 25x32cm

4 FLORA H MITCHELL (1890-1973) AUNGIER STREET, DUBLIN, 1966 pen and ink

with watercolour 24x27cm

5 NATHANIEL HONE RHA (1831-1917) FISHING BOATS AT VILLEFRANCHE 1880 oil on canvas 35.5x101.5cm

50 IRISH ARTS REVIEW I WINTER 2010

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