Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers IRISH & INTERNATIONAL ART November 16th 2022

57 Fonsie Mealy’s Est. 1934 200. Fr. Jack P.Hanlon (1913-1968) Madonna and Child c. 1955, O.O.C., 48cms x 41cms (19” x 16 ¼”). (1) This charming painting of a Madonna and Child by Fr. Jack Hanlon embodies both his instinctive skill with colour, and his ability to introduce religious themes into a broadly Modernist aesthetic. A connection with the religious-themed paintings of Mainie Jellett is clear, but this is to be expected, as early in his career, Hanlon attended classes given by Jellett. The inclusion of figures of farm workers in the background ties in with his aesthetic and also his social beliefs. Although the central figures of Madonna and Child are important, the painting is also a joyful quasi-abstract essay in bright colours, with passages of ultramarine blues, pale yellows, light ochres and purples. Born in Dublin, Jack Hanlon studied at UCD and trained for the priesthood. Coming from a relatively affluent family, he was able to travel regularly on the Continent, including studying with Andre Lhote in Paris, painting on the Cote d’Azur, and even receiving advice from Henri Matisse. In 1936, two years after first exhibiting at the RHA, he joined the Dublin Painters group. After his ordination in 1939, Hanlon’s first clerical appointment was as Chaplain at Arbour Hill Prison. That same year, his art was shown at the World’s Fair in New York. He is best known for his semi-abstract watercolours and gouaches, and for his fresh and lively approach to colour and form. He had his first solo show at the Waddington Galleries in Dublin in 1941, and two years later was a founder, along with Jellett, Norah McGuinness and others, of the Irish Exhibition of Living Art. He was a prolific artist, exhibiting annually with the IELA and Oireachteas shows, and receiving commissions for Stations of the Cross and other mainly religious works of art. His murals include Our Lady of the Sea, painted in 1953 in the chapel of the Irish Naval base on Haulbowline Island, Cork. Provenance: Formerly in the collection of An t’Athair Eric Mac Fhinn (1895-1987) of Galway, Patron of the Arts & Noted Scholar. * Dr. Peter Murray, 2022 €3,000 - €4,000