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Irish Arts Review
FLORA MITCHELL'S OLD DUBLINSource: Irish Arts Review (2002-), Vol. 27, No. 4 (WINTER (DECEMBER 2010 - FEBRUARY2011)), p. 50Published by: Irish Arts ReviewStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20798528 .
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UNDER THE HAMMER
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4
FLORA MITCHELLS OLD DUBLIN_ Published in 1966 Vanishing Dublin by Flora
Mitchell (1890-1973) has since become a
highly prized collector's item, not least
because the book's plate was subsequently
destroyed and the original drawings pur chased by the National Gallery of Ireland.
The work features reproductions of fifty watercolours Mitchell had made of the capi
tal. Mitchell's book appeared precisely at the
moment when, despite the protestations of
conservation groups, Dublin was undergoing
widespread redevelopment with widespread demolition of its old streets and houses, and
as a result with a decisive alteration of both
the city's appearance and character.
Perhaps her interest in the city was due to
the fact that she was not a native but had
moved to Ireland from Nebraska when her
father was offered a position at William
Jameson & Co. In 1930 she married the
great-grandson of the distillery's founder.
Mitchell began drawing at the age of four
teen and after leaving school studied at the
Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin. During this time she developed the technique which
was forever after used: a pencil sketch on
site followed by a more detailed drawing which would be traced out in ink followed by
washes of watercolour. After an exhibition of
such work in September 1957, the Irish
Independent's reviewer rightly commented
that Mitchell's pictures were 'precise in
detail, excellent in concept and wonderfully sensitive in atmosphere'. Mitchell was a
successor to Malt?n, providing us with an
image of what Dublin looked like before it
underwent fundamental change. Her pic
tures are therefore inescapably imbued with
a certain nostalgia, not least because
Mitchell's style is conservative and her incli
nation was always to present the city at its
most charming. This is evident in two
watercolours which were offered for sale at
Whyte's Irish art sale in Dublin in early October. One showed Aungier Street, (Fig 4) the other a view of the Customs House (Fig 3) from the other side of the Liffey and
caught between two berthed vessels. In
both cases, the scene shown is far more
orderly than would usually be the case, then or now, in Dublin as though the citi zens had mostly fled, but not before tidying
up the place. This, of course, is part of
Mitchell's appeal: her depictions contain an
element of idealization.
Hence the pictures are assured of sales,
as was the case at Whyte's where the
Aungier Street view went for 1,800 and the
Customs House prospect for 1,300.
HER PICTURES ARE THEREFORE INESCAPABLY IMBUED WITH A CERTAIN NOSTALGIA, NOT LEAST BECAUSE MITCHELL'S STYLE IS CONSERVATIVE AND HER INCLINATION WAS ALWAYS TO PRESENT THE CITY AT ITS MOST CHARMING
U
Whyte's, 29 November AUCTION PREVIEW
Afine canvas by Nathaniel Hone entitled Fishing Boats at Villefranche 1880 will be
included in Whyte's Irish art sale at the end of November (Fig 5). The work, a
seascape, is a departure from the stormy coastal prospects painted by Hone in the 1870s.
Hone spent seventeen years in France, mostly living in and around Barbizon, although
frequently travelling elsewhere. He was also attracted by the coastal towns of Menton
and Villefranche, with their fortified buildings and narrow alleyways, built as a defence
against invaders, and pirates from the Barbarry coast. This work was presumably painted
during one of those journeys and shows a cluster of fishing boats in the foreground of a
tranquil sea at evening, with the walls of a port town rising behind. Although not a large
work, it is very handsome and is expected to make in the region of 40,000- 60,000.
3
3 FLORA H MITCHELL (1890-1973) THE CUSTOMS HOUSE, DUBLIN pencil and ink with watercolour 25x32cm
4 FLORA H MITCHELL (1890-1973) AUNGIER STREET, DUBLIN, 1966 pen and ink
with watercolour 24x27cm
5 NATHANIEL HONE RHA (1831-1917) FISHING BOATS AT VILLEFRANCHE 1880 oil on canvas 35.5x101.5cm
50 IRISH ARTS REVIEW I WINTER 2010
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