Morgan O'Driscoll Irish & International Art Auction 29th April 2019

I rish & I nternational A rt M onday 29 th A pril 2019 at 6.00 pm 33 27 Frank McKelvey RHA RUA (1895-1974) Harvesting (c.1930) signed lower left oil on canvas 46 x 61cm (18 x 24in) Provenance: Private Collection €10,000-€15,000 ($11,235-$16,853) (£8,474-£12,711) A consummate, if conservative, exercise in Academic Realism, with more than a touch of Impressionism, Frank McKelvey’s The Hay Wagon is a depiction of work in progress on a farm, in a summer’s day in Ulster. In the foreground, two figures watch the hay-makers at work. The figures, two girls, are in shadow but the clouds have parted to allow sunshine to illuminate the work going forward in the field. In the distance, a man piles hay on top of the wagon. The brushwork is inspired; quick dabs of colour suggesting sky, clouds, trees and grass. The composition is understated; a series of diagonal light and dark areas in the foreground contrast with the sinuous vertical trunks of trees rising to the left of the hay wagon. Although seen from a distance, the workers and wagon, bathed in light, are the focal point of this work. Peter Murray, March 2019