Art

Highlights of the Collection of Paintings

Some Highlights of the Collection

The peace and beauty of the island fostered artistic creativity among the Bryces’ relatives and friends. It also attracted figures prominent in the Irish literary and cultural revival that accompanied the home rule movement of the early twentieth century. These included the writer and painter George Russell (AE) (1867–1935) whose view of the Happy Valley was painted while visiting in 1923.

Complementing the ornate furniture, Oriental rugs and ceramics inside the Bryce house, artworks of local interest hung alongside Japanese prints, maps, family portraits and sketches, pencil and crayon drawings of historical scenes and watercolour images of foreign lands.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Roland added several artworks to the collection including those by: his friend Patrick Buchan-Hepburn, Lord Hailes (1901–74), the suffragette Lily Florence Waring (1877–1966), the Olympic medal-winning Irish artist Letitia Marion Hamilton (1878–1964) and Cork-born artists Sylvia Cooke-Collis (1900–73) and George Pennefather (1905–67).

Untitled, c. 1923, by AE Russell

Untitled, c. 1923, by AE Russell

Rune of Hospitality, c. 1925 - 1940. Cuala Press.

Rune of Hospitality, c. 1925 – 1940. Cuala Press.

Beauty in the Rain, c. 1802. Kitagawa Utamaro.

Beauty in the Rain, c. 1802. Kitagawa Utamaro.

Portrait of Roland Bryce. Paul Ayshford Metheun.

Portrait of Roland Bryce. Paul Ayshford Metheun.

The Himalyas near Nakunda. Edward Lear.

The Himalyas near Nakunda. Edward Lear.

Untitled. Giovanni Guercino (attrib.).

Untitled. Giovanni Guercino (attrib.).