William Magrath Landscape Oil Painting of the Irish Countryside (1900)

This signed oil on composite board was painted by noted Irish (and American Irish) artist William Magrath — probably around 1900.

According to the Schwarz Gallery in Philadelphia: "William Magrath was a Cork, Ireland-born figure painter and follower of Alma Tadema. He was educated at the Blue Coat School and the School of Art in Cork, after which he stowed away to New York where he was to eventually become an elected member of the Academy of Design in America. He returned to Ireland in the 1880s and made a sketching tour of West Cork and Kerry. Forever restless, he traveled through Europe. His watercolor Bacchantes was exhibited at the Crawford in 1893 and was said to portray "vivacious figures in the foreground ... admirably displayed against the bright blue of the Hellenic Sea" (Cork Examiner, 24 November 1893). Examples of his work are in the Crawford Gallery, Cork, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. (See also Peter Murray, Illustrated Summary Catalog of the Crawford Municipal Gallery of Art, 1992, pp. 178-179 and Snoddy, pp. 405-407)."

This evocative view of what we believe is the Irish countryside (noted for its deforestation) has a melancholic yet soothing impact upon the viewer. Magrath (pronounced "Ma-graw") lived in Washington, DC and New York City as part of his peregrinations. We purchased this piece at an estate sale in Alexandria, Virginia in the 1980's. We believe the frame is more modern than what must have originally surrounded the painting. The canvas is about 30 inches high and 40 inches wide.

Own this piece of Irish and American history and place it in a restful corner of your own castle. There is certainly a tale that this painting can tell us, but only the lonely caption on the verso of the piece gives us a clue (see the description above) ...