Lot 7: Portrait of a lady, half-length, in a bonnet and ruffled gown

Robert Healy (1743-1771) Portrait of a lady, half-length, in a bonnet and ruffled gown black and white chalks, on prepared paper 11½ x 7¾ in. (29.3 x 19.8 cm.)

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Robert Healy was a pupil of Robert West (d. 1770), the first master of the Dublin Society Schools. The use of grisaille, as in the present drawing, was popular in the Society Schools and both Hugh Douglas Hamilton and Thomas Hickey worked in this medium early in their careers. Healy was perhaps one of the most original pastellists, working entirely in grisaille. His drawings show the influence of Thomas Frye's mezzotints. Healy's masterpieces are generally considered to be the series of pastels he drew for Lady Louisa Conolly, see A. Crookshank and The Knight of Glin, op.cit., pls. 71 and 72, which display his consumate skill in the depiction of horses.

Healy's working career was short, lasting only from circa 1765, when he was a student, until his early death in 1771.