The
Ratification of the Irish Treaty in the English House of Lords, 1921 |
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Study for Earl Morley Addressing
the House of Lords, 1921 |
Throughout his career, Lavery saw himself
as an artist-reporter. In 1921, for instance, when negotiations for the
Irish Treaty were taking place, he produced portraits of all the members
of the Irish delegation. As the bill passed from the Commons to the Lords
in December of that year, he painted a record of the event in two commemorative
canvases. The practice of making small head studies for large works began
in 1888 when Lavery was working on The State Visit of Queen Victoria to
the International Exhibition, Glasgow.
 In the present case, Earl
Morley addressing the House of Lords (Glasgow Art Gallery and Museums) was
painted from a compositional study (National Gallery of Ireland) and from
the detailed notes of the protagonists contained in the present sketch,
the majority of whom are identified. An ironic addition to this miscellany
is the head of Hazel Lavery, seen at right angles to the others, in the
head dress of Pavlova in La Morte du Cygne 1913 (Tate Gallery). The ghost
of Lady Lavery thus symbolically presides over the scene, as she did over
the dinner tables at which the negotiations were conducted. [from
Pyms Gallery exhibit]
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At Grez-sur-Loing, he learned to like the open air life
and began to paint landscapes, set mainly around the river Loing, particularly
the fine stone bridge whose arches spanned the river. Lavery's plein-air subjects and river scenes certainly
show his awareness of Impressionism. The 'impressionistic' elements in,
for example, his treatment of water, may have come from Manet, Degas and
Whistler. He also loved to paint women a leisure: idling in a hammock, painting
in the garden, or drifting in a canoe, and he continued to depict such subjects
at home. His plein air work is mainly
associated with France and with Tangiers, where he bought a house.
