Leo Whelan RHA (1892 - 1956) The Cello Player Oil on canvas...

Hammer

€20,000

Leo Whelan RHA (1892 - 1956) The Cello Player Oil on canvas, 103 x 85cm (40½ x 33½'') Signed, also signed and inscribed verso Provenance: Collection of the Hon. Francis D. Murnaghan Jr., thence by descent. Whelan worked within the academic tradition and his portraits often favoured a more restricted palette with his sitters presented in a focused and formal manner. They are similar in some respects to the Dutch genre scenes, following an upright composition, painted looking into a domestic interior, of a kitchen or living room such as A Kitchen Interior with Maid (sold these rooms, 2013). His figures are absorbed in their respective activity unaware of being observed. In this wonderfully presented portrait, a peaceful silence pervades the scene, and we are called on to imagine the sounds emanating from the cello. Whelan is noted for his ability to render the hands of his figures with particular skill. In this work, the elegant fingers are poised on the strings, in the other hand the musician holds the bow of the cello, drawing out the notes. He wears a formal black suit jacket, white shirt and bow tie. There is a wonderful detail captured in the red handkerchief that hangs from the jacket pocket, while his hat and coat are placed on a stool behind him as if he has just arrived in the room. Is he practicing a piece of music or performing for an unseen crowd Whelan leaves this open ended, pushing narrative elements beyond the picture plane. Whelan uses a series of framing devices within the image, with the thick heavy curtain hanging in front of the window which looks out onto, and, in through another window beyond. There is a strong use of vertical and horizontal lines in the window frame, repeated in the geometric pattern of the brick wall. Windows appear in many of his works, allowing him to play with spatial boundaries, and the patterns of the light falling across a room. The same male model can be seen in Whelan’s The Fiddler from 1932 (Crawford Art Gallery, Cork) which he exhibited in the RHA in the same year. In that work the sitter turns to face us, his instrument balanced on one knee. He wears the same round spectacles and white collared shirt. Unfortunately, we do not know the identity of the sitter and it is interesting that he is shown playing two very different instruments. In both works Whelan presents a naturalistic and sensitively characterised study of the act of playing music. Niamh Corcoran, October 2024