Patrick Hennessy (painter)

Patrick Hennessy, RHA (28 August 1915 – 30 December 1980) was an Irish painter.

Life and work

Patrick Hennessy was born in Cork Ireland in 1915. The son of an army officer John Hennessy of 2 Shandon Terrace and Bridget Hennessy (née Ring). The family moved to Arbroath(Scotland)in 1920 where they had relatives.[1] During the mid-1930s Hennessy studied at the Dundee College of Art under James MacIntosh Patrick (later RSA).[2] Here he met fellow artist Harry Robertson Craig who would become his lifelong partner.[3] He later conducted postgraduate work at Dundee Collage of Art and gained a travelling scholarship which enabled him to further his studies in Paris and Rome.[4] On his return to Scotland he continued his studies at the Hospitalfield Advanced College of Art in Arbroath.[5]

In 1939 at the outbreak of war the twenty-four-year-old Hennessy returned to Ireland the country he had left as a child and started his career as a professional painter.

In 1940 he joined the Society of Dublin Painters which was co-founded by the artist Paul Henry. In 1941 two years after his arrival in Ireland he had three of his works accepted by the Royal Hibernian Academy for their annual exhibition. He exhibited at the Royal Hibernian Academy virtually every year from 1941 until 1979 the year before he died. In 1948 he was elected an associate of the RHA and full member the following year. In 1956 the Ritchie Hendriks Gallery opened on St Stephens Green Dublin and it was this gallery that was to be the main outlet for Hennessys work over the years. He also had examples of his work accepted at the Royal Academy(RA)London and the Royal Scottish Academy(RSA)Edinburgh.[6] Along with regular group exhibitions he had several solo exhibitions among which included a retrospective at the Dublin Painters Gallery in 1951; an exhibition at Agnews Gallery London in 1956 and a US exhibition at the Guildhall Galleries Chicago in 1966. There were also regular annual exhibitions of his work held at the Ritchie Hendriks Gallery.

His style has been associated with Surrealism and anticipates Photorealism[7] while his subjects range from still life and interiors to landscapes and portraits.[8] In 1939 he painted a portrait of Dr Eduard Hempel (as well as ones of his wife and their children, Liv and Berthold), who was the German Envoy to Ireland between 1937 and 1945.[9] In 1957 he painted a portrait of his friend, the author Elizabeth Bowen (CBE) at her ancestral home of Bowen's Court, near Kildorrery, County Cork, while in 1963 he painted Farewell to Ireland depicting President John F. Kennedy departing Ireland at Shannon Airport five months prior to his assassination in Dallas, Texas.[10]

From the 1950's Hennessy (with his friend Craig) travelled extensively on the continent: France, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Greece, spending his winters in Morocco and Portugal and his summers working in Ireland. Always on the move, living a nomadic lifestyle that suited him.

Due to declining health Hennessy left Ireland with Craig for Morocco in 1968. They settled in Tangier where he continued to work prolifically.By 1980 with his health deteriorating they moved to Portugal where in December that year he was taken seriously ill. With no suitable medical facilities available he and Craig flew to London where he was admitted to the Royal Free Hospital. He died there on the 30 December 1980.[11] Following cremation his ashes were scattered in nearby Golders Hill Park.

Examples of his work can be found in the public collections of the Crawford Art Gallery; the Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane; the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA); the Limerick City Gallery of Art (LCGA); the National Gallery of Ireland (NGI); the National Self-Portrait Collection of Ireland (NSPCI) at the University of Limerick (UL); and in the collections of University College Cork (UCC) and University College Dublin (UCD).

While self-portraits and works such as that of Liv Hempel routinely make between €2,000-€4,000 at auction,[12] owing to the prominence of its subject Hennessy's portrait of John F. Kennedy had an asking price of over €75,000 ($98,000) in 2012.[13]

Selected Exhibitions

Selected Works

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See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ Illustrated Summary Catalogue of The Crawford Municipal Art Gallery (1991), p.175
  2. ↑ Illustrated Summary Catalgoue of The Crawford Municipal Art Gallery (1991), p.175, and Literary Lives: Portraits from the Crawford Art Gallery and Abbey Theatre, Ireland (2010), p.62
  3. ↑ Illustrated Summary Catalgoue of The Crawford Municipal Art Gallery (1991), p.175, and Literary Lives: Portraits from the Crawford Art Gallery and Abbey Theatre, Ireland (2010), p.62
  4. ↑ Illustrated Summary Catalgoue of The Crawford Municipal Art Gallery (1991), p.175
  5. ↑ http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/irish-artists/patrick-hennessy.htm
  6. ↑ Illustrated Summary Catalogue of The Crawford Municipal Art Gallery (1991), p.175
  7. ↑ Illustrated Summary Catalgoue of The Crawford Municipal Art Gallery (1991), p.175
  8. ↑ Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane (2006), p.80
  9. ↑ "Portrait of Hitler's envoy's daughter to be auctioned", The Irish Times, 29 January 2011
  10. ↑ "Irish JFK painting in US sale", The Irish Times, 12 February 2011
  11. ↑ Dictionary of Irish Biography-Patrick Hennessy - Rebecca Minch
  12. ↑ "Patrick Hennessy Portraits at Whyte's", Antiques and Art Ireland
  13. ↑ "Farewell to Ireland by Patrick Hennessy", M.S. Rau Antiques