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Michael
Michael
@mdstamper.bsky.social
1 year ago
Irish artist Sir John Lavery married his second wife, Hazel Martyn, in 1909. She was a beautiful and artistic young American, with striking good looks and theatrical poise. This splendid and dramatic painting was one of several portraits he painted of her. In 1917, Lavery painted her as The Madonna of the Lakes for St Patrick’s, the church in Belfast where he was christened, and in 1927, as Kathleen ni Houlihan, the personification of Ireland, for the currency of the new Irish State. In this 1926 painting, Hazel stands in front of a fireplace and mirror on mantelpiece. She wears a strapless purple dress with a floral motiff and attached flower at the top. A rich green material trimmed in gold fringe is draped around her as a coat. There is an interesting juxtaposition between the elaborate nature of the green coat and delicate, feminine dress plus her bare shoulders and exposed neck. Hazel looks beautiful, but somewhat lost among her opulent surroundings, and capturing his wife lost in thought and looking slightly vulnerable, despite her finery, suggests the depth of the relationship between the artist and the sitter. In its original form, where Hazel’s arms and shoulders were bare without the coat, the painting was used as an advertisement for Pond’s Cream, which Lady Lavery herself endorsed. She was very happy for the finished painting to be given to the Belfast Art Gallery (now the Ulster Museum) in 1929, saying “it is to my thinking the best one of me he has ever painted.” Born in Belfast, Lavery was orphaned early in his life. He was sent to Scotland in 1866 and began his career in Glasgow, working in a photography studio and making art in his spare time. He progressed quickly as a painter and during the 1880s he visited Paris and the artists’ colony at Grez-sur-Loing, near Fontainebleau, where he painted several significant works. By 1910, he had become an artist of international renown and by the 1930s had collected many accolades and titles like “sir.”

Irish artist Sir John Lavery married his second wife, Hazel Martyn, in 1909. She was a beautiful and artistic young American, with striking good looks and theatrical poise. This splendid and dramatic painting was one of several portraits he painted of her. In 1917, Lavery painted her as The Madonna of the Lakes for St Patrick’s, the church in Belfast where he was christened, and in 1927, as Kathleen ni Houlihan, the personification of Ireland, for the currency of the new Irish State. In this 1926 painting, Hazel stands in front of a fireplace and mirror on mantelpiece. She wears a strapless purple dress with a floral motiff and attached flower at the top. A rich green material trimmed in gold fringe is draped around her as a coat. There is an interesting juxtaposition between the elaborate nature of the green coat and delicate, feminine dress plus her bare shoulders and exposed neck. Hazel looks beautiful, but somewhat lost among her opulent surroundings, and capturing his wife lost in thought and looking slightly vulnerable, despite her finery, suggests the depth of the relationship between the artist and the sitter. In its original form, where Hazel’s arms and shoulders were bare without the coat, the painting was used as an advertisement for Pond’s Cream, which Lady Lavery herself endorsed. She was very happy for the finished painting to be given to the Belfast Art Gallery (now the Ulster Museum) in 1929, saying “it is to my thinking the best one of me he has ever painted.” Born in Belfast, Lavery was orphaned early in his life. He was sent to Scotland in 1866 and began his career in Glasgow, working in a photography studio and making art in his spare time. He progressed quickly as a painter and during the 1880s he visited Paris and the artists’ colony at Grez-sur-Loing, near Fontainebleau, where he painted several significant works. By 1910, he had become an artist of international renown and by the 1930s had collected many accolades and titles like “sir.”

The Green Coat by Sir John Lavery (Irish) - Oil on canvas / 1926 - Ulster Museum (Belfast, Ireland) #womeninart #art #oilpainting #SirJohnLavery #JohnLavery #Lavery #womensart #portraitofawoman #UlsterMuseum #IrishArtist #BelfastMuseum #artwork #IrishArt #fashion #fineart #oiloncanvas #artoftheday

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