George Russell AE (1867-1935) An Apparition, 1921 Oil on ca...

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€8,000 - €12,000

George Russell AE (1867-1935) An Apparition, 1921 Oil on canvas, 55cm x 63cm (21¾ x 24¾) Signed in monogram lower right, Provenance : Sale, Whyte's Dublin, 30 April 2008, Lot 118 Born in Lurgan, County Armagh in 1867 George W. Russell commenced studies at the Metropolitan School of Art in 1884. It was here that the young artist first met William Butler Yeats with whom he would share a formative yet fraught friendship for the rest of his life. Soon after beginning art school Russell began experiencing visions, claiming to have had his first encounter with elemental beings in the hills near Dublin. These Blakean apparitions were an important touchstone for Russell throughout his life and were a vital impetus in the creation of artworks such as this one, dating from 1921. Russell’s mystical leanings led to his affiliation with the Theosophical Society. Drawing upon Buddhism and Hinduism, this movement proposes the essential oneness of religions and the fundamental unity of all humankind. The Dublin Lodge of the Theosophical Society was comprised of non-conformists who lived together in a house at No. 3 Upper Ely Place, in a manner that would today be considered akin to that of an ashram or commune. Russell’s devotion to Theosophy is evidenced in his first book of collected poems, Homeward: Songs by the way' which was published in 1894 and secured his role as a central figure of the Irish Literary Renaissance. Russell originally wrote under the nom de plume AEON. The oft-told and possibly apocryphal tale goes that AEON was altered to AE as a result of a printer's error in the aforementioned book. This became the pseudonym the artist adopted and modified to the character Æ when signing paintings, as can be seen in the bottom right corner of this exquisite piece. Theosophical tenets were a particularly vital catalyst in early 20th century Ireland, because they precipitated a newfound interest in Celtic mythology. This is manifest throughout AE’s entire oeuvre and exemplified in this painting. The androgynous golden being that dominates this image is most probably Lugh, chief of the Tuatha Dé Danann who can be identified by the rod of flame that he holds. The presence of Lugh reflects Russell's deep interest in mining Irish folklore as a source of creative potential. In the 1890s he wrote “The Tuatha Dé Danaan (...) were different from the Gods of ancient Greece and India in that they were men who had made themselves Gods by magical or Druidical power. Superhuman in power and beauty; they raised themselves above nature; they played with the elements, they moved with ease in the air”. The elemental being in this painting splits the canvas with a striking diagonal axis that lends dynamism to the composition. The craggy peaks forming the backdrop are unusual for AE’s paintings, but the motif -of an otherworldly entity startling countryfolk- reoccurs throughout his oeuvre. Another particular variation of this theme can be seen in Couple and a Spirit with a Lute, in the collection of the National Gallery of Ireland. This painting exemplifies why AE is a singular figure in the history of Irish art. While there are several notable examples of Irish literary Modernism, visual art in Ireland was late to embrace progressive approaches. Russell’s paintings can be compared to those of Gustave Moreau and Odilon Redon and in this way he is one of few -if not the only- examples of Irish art that reveals influences of Symbolism. Interest in AE’s work is perennial and the significance of his paintings has been reappraised in recent years, as art historians have begun to understand the meanings of the complex visual vocabulary he developed which had previously all too often been dismissed as merely whimsical. Pádraic E. Moore, Spring 2025