Lot 34: Estella Frances Solomons HRHA (1882-1968) A GAY DAY IN DONEGAL, 1915

signed with initials lower left; inscribed on reverse

h:17 w:21.50in.

oil on canvas

RHA, Dublin, 1915, catalogue no. 55;
'Irish Women Artists', National Gallery of Ireland and Douglas Hyde Gallery and The Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery, Dublin, July to August 1987, catalogue no. 76 (lent by D. A. O'Liaháin)

Ed., Ryan-Smolin, W., Mayes, E., & Rogers, J., 'Irish Women Artists', National Gallery of Ireland and Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, 1987, p.118, catalogue no. 76 (illustrated)

Purchased in 1936 by D. A. O'Liaháin;
Private collection

In the catalogue entry for the present work in Irish Women Artists the author notes:

"Estella Solomons visited Holland to paint landscapes in 1922, and at home continually explored the vicinity of Dublin. But it was not until 1914 or 1915 that she went to Donegal and here she developed her sense of colour. She was to return to Donegal repeatedly. Æ [George Russell] was already there, painting the more settled area around Marble Hill Bay, but Estella Solomons was drawn to the wild headlands and depths of the sea. Her manner is rapid and expressionist, using wedges of gleaming colour, with brilliant highlights. The whole view is vivacious, full of moving sea, shifting light and clouds, capturing the essence of a sunny day on the Donegal coast."