Cedric Morris
Connemara Landscape, 1936
Oil on canvas
24 x 29 in. (60.9 x 73.7 cm)
Philip Mould & Co.
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This atmospheric landscape by Cedric Morris was painted in August 1936 when he was visiting County Galway in Ireland with his friend Ralph Banbury. In a letter to his partner Arthur Lett-Haines dated 19th August 1936, Morris describes his love for the Irish landscape comparing it to his Welsh homeland.[1] He writes that he will ‘try to find somewhere in Connemara’[2] to paint and this work is the culmination of his search.
Like many of Cedric Morris’ landscape paintings, texture plays a central role in this work with a medley of thickly applied paint – as seen in the meandering lake – juxtaposed with meticulous sgraffito, scratched into the surface of the cottage roof. By employing these contrasting techniques, Morris weaves together the natural ruggedness of the landscape with the rigid geometry of the local dwelling.
Morris travelled prolifically throughout his life. In his early years whilst living in Paris and London, these expeditions were undertaken by Morris for the purpose of painting, and some of his most startlingly direct landscapes were painted during these years. In the latter half of his life following the establishment of the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing in 1937, Morris would combine painting with plant-hunting and would travel around the world searching for rare specimens which he could then cultivate back in England. Although Morris was a prolific artist and painted many landscape views throughout his career, the present view of Connemara clearly struck a chord and it is rightly considered one of his most sensitive and affecting landscape views from this period.
[1] Morris, C. Letter from Cedric Morris to Arthur Lett-Haines. [Manuscript.] TGA 8317.1.1.103. London: Tate Archives.
[2] Ibid.
This atmospheric landscape by Cedric Morris was painted in August 1936 when he was visiting County Galway in Ireland with his friend Ralph Banbury. In a letter to his partner Arthur Lett-Haines dated 19th August 1936, Morris describes his love for the Irish landscape comparing it to his Welsh homeland.[1] He writes that he will ‘try to find somewhere in Connemara’[2] to paint and this work is the culmination of his search.
Like many of Cedric Morris’ landscape paintings, texture plays a central role in this work with a medley of thickly applied paint – as seen in the meandering lake – juxtaposed with meticulous sgraffito, scratched into the surface of the cottage roof. By employing these contrasting techniques, Morris weaves together the natural ruggedness of the landscape with the rigid geometry of the local dwelling.
Morris travelled prolifically throughout his life. In his early years whilst living in Paris and London, these expeditions were undertaken by Morris for the purpose of painting, and some of his most startlingly direct landscapes were painted during these years. In the latter half of his life following the establishment of the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing in 1937, Morris would combine painting with plant-hunting and would travel around the world searching for rare specimens which he could then cultivate back in England. Although Morris was a prolific artist and painted many landscape views throughout his career, the present view of Connemara clearly struck a chord and it is rightly considered one of his most sensitive and affecting landscape views from this period.
[1] Morris, C. Letter from Cedric Morris to Arthur Lett-Haines. [Manuscript.] TGA 8317.1.1.103. London: Tate Archives.
[2] Ibid.
Provenance
Fine Art Society, London, 1940;Acquired from the above by Shrewsbury Technical College, 1940;
Philip Mould & Co., 2017;
Private collection, UK.
Exhibitions
Philip Mould & Co. Cedric Morris: Beyond the Garden Wall. 18 April – 22 July 2018, Cat.15.Publications
Book of Paintings: Arthur Lett-Haines, Tate Archive TGA 8317
Correspondence between Cedric Lockwood Morris and Arthur Lett-Haines, Tate Archive 8317.1.1.103
Philip Mould & Co. 2018. Cedric Morris: Beyond the Garden Wall. Exhibition catalogue, p.79.
