Lot 120: William Guy Wall (1792-1864) SCENE IN THE GLEN OF

William Guy Wall (1792-1864) SCENE IN THE GLEN OF THE DOWNS, 1848 original exhibition label on reverse oil on canvas 52 by 81cm., 20.5 by 32in. William Guy Wall was born and educated in Dublin, but moved to America in 1818. There he achieved recognition for his series of watercolour landscapes which were published in aquatint form as the Hudson River Portfolio (c.1820), and which were later used as transfer printed designs for Stevenson's Cobridge pottery works in Staffordshire, England. In 1826 Wall helped found the National Academy of Design in New York, from where he exhibited, whilst also showing at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. He returned to Ireland around 1832 and began exhibiting at the RHA in 1840. In 1843 Wall was one of the nine founding members of the Society of Irish Artists (along with Edward Hayes, Michael Angelo Hayes, and the Brocas family). However, a perceived neglect of his work led Wall to return to America in 1856 for a period of four years. He finally returned to Dublin in 1860 where he died in relative obscurity. His work hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, and in the collection of the New York Historical Society. Strickland records that many of Walls paintings were purchased by the Royal Irish Art Union and given as prizes to subscribers during the years 1843-46 (vol. II, p. 499). However, Wall's association the National Art Union was hitherto unrecorded. The National Art Union was founded in 1846 with the object of encouraging Irish artists. According to Strickland, 'it began with great promise, but, owing chiefly to want of funds, had only a brief existence, and came to an end in 1851' (vol. II, p. 663).

National Art Union for Ireland, 1848