September Art Auction Lot 37 - View Through The Archway by May Guinness
May Guinness was born in Dublin in March 1863. She was educated at home by governesses, and attended Mrs Power's school, leaving to teach her younger siblings. This responsibility delayed her development as an artist, as it was not until her 30s that she formally pursued art.
In France, Guinness’ artistic style truly developed whilst studying with Andre Lhote and Kees van Dongen. Prior, in 1894, she travelled with Mildred Butler to study under Norman Garstin at the Newlyn school, but it was the modern art circulating in Paris that became most present in her work. In 1892, she began exhibiting with the Water Colour Society of Ireland until 1951, exhibiting at least 129 pictures in total. She exhibited with the Royal Hibernian Academy between 1897 and 1911.
Guinness was part of a new generation of Irish women artists flocking to Paris after the First World War with many studying at Lhote’s studio. It was not until the 1920s that Lhote’s students became an identifiable school of Irish women in France, influenced by modern French painting and sparking a crucial turn in twentieth century Irish art. Guiness worked under Lhote for three years, and during this time exhibited at the Galerie Visconti in Paris in 1925. This exhibition also travelled to the Mayor Gallery, London. By the early 1920s, with many returning to Dublin with a new first-hand familiarity in modernism, these women artists were crucial in developing modernism in an Irish context.
Many joined the Dublin Painters’ Society formed principally by Paul and Grace Henry in 1920, acting as an alternative venue to the Royal Hibernian Academy for young artists to exhibit. May Guiness joined in the 1930s. By the mid 1930s, the society was majority women. One review of the 1935 Spring Show by the Irish Times wrote ‘the first time that there has been a women artists’ exhibition, as this show virtually may be taken to be.’.
Reviewing Guinness’s exhibition, a French critic, described her painting in the tradition of Corot, ‘those melancholy scenes in the neighbourhood of Dublin recall the sites of Ville-d’Avray’. This review was testament to her ability to replicate the teachings of French modernism to a local context. Her early work adopted an Art Nouveau quality being compared to Marie Laurencin, while later she become influenced by Matisse and developed into cubism and a simplification of forms. Her style varied, often through the adoption of various French artists.
Guinness continued to travel and exhibit later in life, into her 80s. In 1946, an exhibition of her work was held at the Victor Waddington Galleries, followed by an exhibition at the Leicester Galleries, London in 1949. She died in 1955 at the age of ninety-two. A memorial exhibition was held in 1956 at Dawson Hall, Dublin.
May Guinness was born in Dublin in March 1863. She was educated at home by governesses, and attended Mrs Power's school, leaving to teach her younger siblings. This responsibility delayed her development as an artist, as it was not until her 30s that she formally pursued art.
In France, Guinness’ artistic style truly developed whilst studying with Andre Lhote and Kees van Dongen. Prior, in 1894, she travelled with Mildred Butler to study under Norman Garstin at the Newlyn school, but it was the modern art circulating in Paris that became most present in her work. In 1892, she began exhibiting with the Water Colour Society of Ireland until 1951, exhibiting at least 129 pictures in total. She exhibited with the Royal Hibernian Academy between 1897 and 1911.
Guinness was part of a new generation of Irish women artists flocking to Paris after the First World War with many studying at Lhote’s studio. It was not until the 1920s that Lhote’s students became an identifiable school of Irish women in France, influenced by modern French painting and sparking a crucial turn in twentieth century Irish art. Guiness worked under Lhote for three years, and during this time exhibited at the Galerie Visconti in Paris in 1925. This exhibition also travelled to the Mayor Gallery, London. By the early 1920s, with many returning to Dublin with a new first-hand familiarity in modernism, these women artists were crucial in developing modernism in an Irish context.
Many joined the Dublin Painters’ Society formed principally by Paul and Grace Henry in 1920, acting as an alternative venue to the Royal Hibernian Academy for young artists to exhibit. May Guiness joined in the 1930s. By the mid 1930s, the society was majority women. One review of the 1935 Spring Show by the Irish Times wrote ‘the first time that there has been a women artists’ exhibition, as this show virtually may be taken to be.’.
Reviewing Guinness’s exhibition, a French critic, described her painting in the tradition of Corot, ‘those melancholy scenes in the neighbourhood of Dublin recall the sites of Ville-d’Avray’. This review was testament to her ability to replicate the teachings of French modernism to a local context. Her early work adopted an Art Nouveau quality being compared to Marie Laurencin, while later she become influenced by Matisse and developed into cubism and a simplification of forms. Her style varied, often through the adoption of various French artists.
Guinness continued to travel and exhibit later in life, into her 80s. In 1946, an exhibition of her work was held at the Victor Waddington Galleries, followed by an exhibition at the Leicester Galleries, London in 1949. She died in 1955 at the age of ninety-two. A memorial exhibition was held in 1956 at Dawson Hall, Dublin.
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