JAMES MAHONY ARHA (1810-1879) Cork Savings Bank, 1842 Watercolour, 38.5 x 48.5cm Exhibited: Maritime Paintings of Cork, Crawford Municipal Art Gallery, Cork 2005
James Mahony ARHA (1810-1879)The Official Opening of 'The National Exhibition of the Arts, Manufactures and Products of Ireland' Cork, 1852Watercolour, 74 x 66cm (29 x 26'')This large watercolour by James Mahony depicts the building designed by John Benson for the National Exhibition of the Arts, Manufactures, and Products of Ireland held in Cork in 1852. The exhibition took place on the Corn Exchange site on Albert Quay-where City Hall now stands-and was opened by the Lord Lieutenant, Archibald Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Elginton, on June 10th of that year. The watercolour depicts a long line of eminent citizens, waiting to be introduced to the Lord Lieutenant, who stands on a carpeted dais in the foreground. A tipstaff announces the names of those who are to ascend the steps to the dais; they appear to be mainly men, while the audience looking on from both sides is composed mainly of women. First in line is a man, hat in hand, wearing a blue sash and medallion. Galleries on either side of the hall are also packed with spectators. Benson was a brilliant engineer and architect, who used innovative building methods; the roof of the Cork Exhibition hall, with its four transepts, was constructed of laminated wood trusses, bent into semi-circles, and linked together to form a strong but light structure. Large skylights admitted light into the building. The same system was used in his designs for other Cork buildings, including the Butter Market, the Firkin Crane and the English Market. Following on from his success in Cork, Benson was engaged to design the buildings for the Dublin International Exhibition in 1853. Unfortunately, being constructed mainly of wood, over the years all of Bensons Cork buildings have been destroyed, or have lost their original truss roofs, as a result of fire. When the Cork National Exhibition ended, the building was dismantled and sold to the trustees of the Royal Cork Institution. Three years later it was re-erected, on a site beside the Cork School of Art (now the Crawford Art Gallery). Titled The Atheneaeum, it was inaugurated by the Lord Lieutenant, George Frederick Howard, Earl of Carlisle, and over the following decades was used mainly for lectures, exhibitions and performances. Re-named the Cork Opera House in 1877, it hosted many theatrical and opera performances before being destroyed by fire in 1955. Mahonys watercolour depicts the first inauguration of the building in 1852. He depicts an ornate but functional interior, one that combined conventional architectural elements, including Corinthian columns, with proto-Modernist construction methods. When the building was re-erected as the Athenaeum three years later, it was a simpler structure, and by the time it was remodelled as the Cork Opera House in the later nineteenth century, it had lost most of its original embellishments. A contemporary wood engraving by Mahony, published in The Illustrated London News, shows another transept in the Cork Exhibition complex, the Fine Arts Hall. Born in Cork in or around 1810, James Mahony specialised in views of historical events and paintings with religious themes. He first exhibited in the 1833 exhibition of the Cork Society for Promoting the Fine Arts and during the following years travelled extensively on the Continent, mainly in France and Italy. Returning to Ireland, he settled at the home of his father, a carpenter, at 34 Nile Street. The date of his return has not been established precisely; Strickland gives it as 1841, but in 1839 Mahony painted a large watercolour of the blessing of the Church of St. Marys on Popes Quay, a painting now in the Great Hunger Museum in Quinnipiac, Connecticut. During those years Mahony also set about founding, along with fellow artist Samuel Skillen, a Cork Art Union. The concept of an Art Union, where works of art from an annual exhibition were distributed by lottery amongst a group of subscribers, had already been put into operation in London and in other cities. An Art Union in Dublin had been founded two years previously, and there was also one in Belfast. Each member paid an annual subscription of one pound. This gave the subscriber (and up to three friends) free admission to the exhibition, as well as participation in the lottery of paintings. In the first year of the Union's operation in Cork, it was reckoned that more than £100 would be spent on the purchase of paintings, to be distributed amongst the subscribers. The first exhibition was held in September 1841 at Marsh's Rooms on the South Mall, and in spite of the bad weather was an immediate success, with Mahony and Skillen both amongst the exhibitors.Mahony showed again in 1844, submitting two paintings to the Cork Art Union Exhibition, Strada di son Giardino a Subraio, and Nella Chiesa di San Maria della Fiore a Genzano vicino di Roma, both priced at four pounds and four shillings. In November 1846, his view of the Fr. Matthew Memorial Tower at Glanmire was presented to Queen Victoria. Around this time, he resumed his travels, spending a number of years in Spain, before returning to Ireland. In 1852, as well as depicting the inauguration of the Cork National Exhibition, he showed several watercolours in the Fine Arts section, including The City of Cork from the river near the Custom House and Queens College, Cork, along with views of Venice and Rome. Settling in Dublin four years later, he exhibited at the RHA, and was also made an associate of the Academy. A large panoramic view of Dublin, in the National Gallery of Ireland, shows his talents in rendering architectural detail. Also in the NGI is his watercolour depicting the visit by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert to the 1853 Dublin Exhibition. In 1859 Mahony moved to London, where he worked as an illustrator, until his death in 1879. While he produced paintings of notable building, and civic and cultural events, Mahony is best known nowadays for his graphic images of the effects of famine in Co. Cork, which were published in The Illustrated London News in the 1840s. These harrowing images influenced public opinion, and helped changed the British governments official stance of indifference to the Great Famine. James Mahony is not to be confused with a later Cork artist, James Mahoney, who also painted in watercolour. (See Julian Campbell Irish Arts Review Vol 28, No. 2 (2011) p. 98]Peter Murray, April 2018
James Mahoney ARHA (1810-1879) The Church of St Roch, Paris oil on canvas extensively inscribed on a label on reverse h:61 w:76 cm. Provenance: William Tighe of Woodstock, Co. Kilkenny acquired through the Art Union of Ireland Private Collection Exhibited: Royal Hibernian Academy, 1844 as No.15 The Cork artist James Mahoney is best known today for his magnificent watercolours in the National Gallery of Ireland depicting the visit of Queen Victoria to the Industrial Exhibition in Dublin. His oils are less well known. The present work shows the interior of the church of St. Roch in Paris and is then a welcome addition to Mahoney's small oeuvre but it is also of interest in that it, and the other oil painting by the artist, in their focus on the Church Triumphant offer an alternative vision of nineteenth century Ireland to the material world of Victorian industrialisation which is the subject of the Exhibition watercolours. The picture's early history can be reconstructed in unusually precise detail and is of interest in itself. It was exhibited at the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1844 as No. 15, 'The Church of St. Roch, Paris', but a label on the reverse shows that by this date it had already been purchased for £18 by William Tighe of Woodstock, County Kilkenny, through the Art Union of Ireland. A related work by Mahoney which he exhibited at the RHA two years earlier has recently been published by Dr Edward McParland. It depicts the dedication on 20th October 1839 of the enormous Catholic Church of St Mary's, Pope's Quay, Cork, built by the Dominican Order as part of the programme of church construction that followed Catholic Emancipation in 1829. It is tempting to connect the view of the interior of St Roch, Paris, with this concerted spurt of building activity. Architectural models are needed to create a distinctly Catholic building typology and Dr. McParland notes that 'Paris provided good models for Roman Catholic churches' and suggests the possible influence of the Parisian churches of Saint-Vincent de Paul and Ste Geneviéve (the Panthéon) on Kearns Deane, the architect of St. Mary's. It is surely not coincidental that two years after painting the interior of the Dominican church in Cork, Mahoney exhibited a view of another Parisian church, the famous late Baroque building on rue Saint-Honoré dedicated to St. Roch.
James Mahony ARHA (c.1815-c.1859) THE CONSECRATION OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH OF ST. MARY'S, POPE'S QUAY, CORK, c.1842 oil on canvas h:37.50 w:43 in. Provenance: Presented to Kearns Deane, architect of St. Mary's Dominican Church, Cork from the artist; Thence by family descent to the present owner Exhibited: RHA, Dublin, 1842, no. 232 as The Consecration of the Roman Catholic Church of St. Mary's, Pope's Quay, Cork built from designs, and by Kearns Deane, Esq., Architect Literature: Eds., Gillespie, Raymond & Foster, R.F., Irish provincial cultures in the long eighteenth century, Essays for Toby Barnard, Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2012, illustrated plate no. 15 See PDF catalogue for a detailed note on this work.
James Mahoney ARHA (1810-1879) The Church of St Roch, Paris oil on canvas extensively inscribed on a label on reverse h:61 w:76 cm. Provenance: William Tighe of Woodstock, Co. Kilkenny acquired through the Art Union of Ireland Exhibited: Royal Hibernian Academy, 1844 as No.15 The Cork artist James Mahoney is best known today for his magnificent watercolours in the National Gallery of Ireland depicting the visit of Queen Victoria to the Industrial Exhibition in Dublin. His oils are less well known. The present work shows the interior of the church of St. Roch in Paris and is then a welcome addition to Mahoney's small oeuvre but it is also of interest in that it, and the other oil painting by the artist, in their focus on the Church Triumphant offer an alternative vision of nineteenth century Ireland to the material world of Victorian industrialisation which is the subject of the Exhibition watercolours. The picture's early history can be reconstructed in unusually precise detail and is of interest in itself. It was exhibited at the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1844 as No. 15, 'The Church of St. Roch, Paris', but a label on the reverse shows that by this date it had already been purchased for £18 by William Tighe of Woodstock, County Kilkenny, through the Art Union of Ireland. A related work by Mahoney which he exhibited at the RHA two years earlier has recently been published by Dr Edward McParland. It depicts the dedication on 20th October 1839 of the enormous Catholic Church of St Mary's, Pope's Quay, Cork, built by the Dominican Order as part of the programme of church construction that followed Catholic Emancipation in 1829. It is tempting to connect the view of the interior of St Roch, Paris, with this concerted spurt of building activity. Architectural models are needed to create a distinctly Catholic building typology and Dr. McParland notes that 'Paris provided good models for Roman Catholic churches' and suggests the possible influence of the Parisian churches of Saint-Vincent de Paul and Ste Geneviéve (the Panthéon) on Kearns Deane, the architect of St. Mary's. 1 It is surely not coincidental that two years after painting the interior of the Dominican church in Cork, Mahoney exhibited a view of another Parisian church, the famous late Baroque building on rue Saint-Honoré dedicated to St. Roch. 1 Edward McParland, 'Chapel or Church? The Case of St. Mary's, Pope's Quay, Cork', in Raymond Gillespie and R.F. Foster (eds), Irish Provincial Cultures in the Long Eighteenth Century' (Dublin, 2012) p.231.
James Mahoney ARHA (1810-1879) Violets Watercolour, 20 x 15cm (8 x 6'') Signed and dated 1870 Provenance: Sold in these rooms, Important Irish Art Sale, May 1999, Cat. No. 105, where purchased by current owner
James Mahony (1810-1859) Blessing of the Fishing Fleet oil on canvas h:93 w:129 in. Provenance: Private Collection Co. Cork Literature: James Mahony was born in Cork in c.1810. His father William was a carpenter and his brother Patrick was later to become an architect. In 1833 Mahony first exhibited at the Cork Society for Promoting the Fine Arts. He spent some years travelling on the Continent, studying in Rennes, Brittany and in Rome. Visiting Paris, Rouen, Milan, Florence and Venice, painting watercolours of Continental subjects and church interiors, often directly from the motif.In c.1841 Mahony returned to Cork, living in his father's house in Nile Street. He and fellow artist Samuel Skillen (c.1819-47) established the Cork Art Union. The first exhibition was held at Marsh's Rooms, South Mall. Mahony also exhibited paintings at the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin. These included scenes from Shakespeare, Cork subjects and Continental scenes, which display his skill as a watercolourist and sensitivity to atmosphere. In 1843 he won a prize at the Royal Irish Art Union.Mahony also painted some oils, scenes of the terrible storms off the Co. Cork coast, The Consecration of St. Mary's Church and the present picture, probable an Italian subject. From 1846-53 he was employed as an artist and reporter for the Illustrated London News (ILN). He also painted pleasant genre scenes, for example of the old Bridge at Blarney, 1850 (Crawford Art Gallery, Cork). He made a series of watercolours recording the visit of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert to the Great Exhibition, Dublin, 1853 (National Gallery of Ireland), which included many figures and a large brilliant panoramic view of Dublin from St. George's Hardwick Place, 1854 (NGI). Mahony visited the West of Ireland and contributed to the Handbook to Galway, Connemara and the Irish Highlands, 1854. In 1856 he was elected an Associate member of the Royal Hibernian Academy. Among Mahony's oil paintings are The Consecration of the Roman Catholic Church of St. Mary's Pope's Quay, Cork (exhibited RHA 1842, Private Collection) The present painting of fishing people is a massive composition, almost three x six feet in scale with the frame included, perhaps Mahony's largest picture. The exact title is not known but the subject is clearly inspired by the artist's Continental travels. It shows a bishop blessing a fishing community and their boats. Such ceremonies as the blessing of the fishing fleet before going to sea were practiced in different Catholic countries throughout Europe, for example here in Italy, in Brittany and in the West of Ireland. Mahony includes nearly twenty figures in his composition: the bishop, fishermen, women and children. The bishop stands beneath a cross, one arm raised in blessing. His bearded face and pose recall those of the figure of Prospero in Mahony's watercolour, Prospero and his daughter Miranda (NGI). To the left and right of him are groups of women, children and men wearing Italian peasant costume, some standing, some seated. There are echoes of the Swiss artist Leopold Roberts's Romantic paintings of Italian fishermen and girls painted some twenty years earlier. The slight formality of the composition and some of the poses in Mahony's picture is lightened by some charming vignettes, for instance the woman in the right-hand group who stands in statuesque, 'Caryatid-like' pose, water container balanced on her head; the woman seated below her, tiny baby upon her lap; the powerfully-built fisherman who stands near her, his figure providing a balance to the composition and helping to lead our eye into the picture. The heavy wooden fishing vessels with their oars and nets also provide a strong presence to the right of the composition.The women wear a variety of attractive Italian costumes; pink or faded red blouses with long sleeves or shirts with full white sleeves; pink or red bodices; long blue and gold dresses and some women wear scarves while some are bare-headed. Mahony's canvas may have been painted in Italy or after his return home from studies made there around the early 1840's. Little known in Mahony's oeuvre, it has remained in a private collection in Co. Cork for many years. Julian Campbell, July 2012 Notes: 1.W.G.Strickland, Dictionary of Irish Artists 1913, Vol.2, give the date of Mahony's birth as c.1810; Rodney Enghen, in Dictionary of Victorian Wood Engravers 1985, gives c.1816. 2.eg. After the Storm 1842, in Irish sale, Sotheby's, London, 18th May 2001 lot 153 3.see Margaret Crawford, 'The Great Irish Famine, 1845-51', in Ireland : Art into History ed. B.P. Kennedy & R. Gillespie, 1994 and Peter Murray, Whipping the Herring, Survival and Celebration in 19th Century Irish Art, Crawford Art Gallery, 2006 4.Nancy Netzer, 'Picturing an Exhibition: Mahony's watercolours of the Irish Industrial Exhibition of 1853 in Visualizing Ireland. National Identity and the Pictorial Tradition, ed. Adele Dalsimer, Boston 1993, p.88-89. 5.see 'Separating Mahony from Mahoney in Irish Arts Review, Summer 2011 6.I am grateful to Dr. Edward McParland for communicating this information to me and to Stuart Cole for assistance in my research.
The Cherokee Physician or Indian Guide to Health, as Given by Richard Foreman, a Cherokee Doctor. Chattanooga: Printed at the "Gazette Office," 1846 In 8s (7 x 4 1/2 in.; 180 x 120 mm). Moderate foxing and staining. Contemporary calf; text block split in half, boards off.
James Mahoney (Irish, 1810-1879) Watching the boats come in; and A sail boat at sea signed with monogram (lower right and left respectively) oil on board 5½ x 8¾ in. (14 x 22.3 cm.) a pair (2)
James Mahoney ARHA (1816-1879) A Smoke on the Sly Gouache on card, 12.5 x 14.75cm, (4.8 x 5.8") Signed Inscribed artist's label with title verso Provenance: Loan label giving owner as Harold Hartley verso James Mahoney was born in Cork in 1810, the son of a carpenter. Strickland tells us that he studied in Rome as a young man and travelled extensively on the continent exhibiting many of his European watercolours in the RHA from 1842 to 1859. He settled in London and exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1866 and 1877 and at the new Watercolour Society. At the same time he worked as an illustrator for many of the leading periodicals and magazines of the day and his best known work as an illustrator was in the "Household Edition" of Dickens' work. He died in Cork on May 29th 1879. Provenance: Purchased in these rooms 29th September 2004, Lot 21 by current owner
Cattle by a brook, Hathersage, Derbyshire signed with monogram (lower right) and inscribed 'Hathersage' (on the reverse) oil on board 6 x 9 1/8 in. (15.2 x 23.1 cm.)
After the Storm signed and dated 'J. MAHONEY CORK 1842' (lower left) oil on canvas laid down on board 181/4 x 253/4 in. (46 x 65 cm.) NOTES The present picture shows the aftermath of the 'Night of the big wind', a legendary storm on the 6th and 7th January 1839 with hurricane force winds that wrecked many ships.
