I
RISH
& I
NTERNATIONAL
A
RT
A
UCTION
M
ONDAY
10
TH
A
PRIL
2017
AT
6.00
PM
15
10 James Humbert Craig RHA RUA (1878-1944) SALROCK, CONNEMARAsigned lower left, signed & titled on reverse
oil on panel
41 x 54cm (16 x 21in)
3URYHQDQFH
John Magee Gallery, Belfast (label verso);
Private Collection
([KLELWHG
Ulster Museum, November 2000 - March 2001.
€5,000-7,000 (£4,347-6,086)
The Irish landscape painter James Humbert Craig was born in Belfast but spent his youth in the countryside of County Down.
&UDLJ EULHÀ\ DWWHQGHG %HOIDVW &ROOHJH RI $UW ZKHUH KH VWXGLHG GUDZLQJ DQG ¿QH DUW SDLQWLQJ +H WRRN DOO KLV LQVSLUDWLRQ IURP
the scenery, people and culture of Ireland - above all, from what he saw with his two eyes. He never attempted to embellish or
GLVWRUW QDWXUH +LV MRE DV D ODQGVFDSH SDLQWHU ZDV WR UHÀHFW QDWXUH DV LW ZDV 'HVSLWH WKLV ¿GHOLW\ WR QDWXUH &UDLJ ZDV QRW DERYH
dramatising his landscape painting in the style of Paul Henry. Also, despite his indifference to Barbizon landscape art, Craig’s
SOHLQ DLU SDLQWLQJ PHWKRG ZDV VLPLODU WR WKDW RI WKH ,PSUHVVLRQLVWV DV KH ZDV DW KLV KDSSLHVW RXW RI GRRUV HLWKHU SDLQWLQJ RU ¿VKLQJ
Many of his colour schemes are consciously sober and the raw beauty of the landscape is expressed in rugged paintwork. He
painted in many different locations, including the Glens of County Antrim, as well as the more inhospitable coastal landscapes of
Donegal and Galway. A successful painter of his day, Craig exhibited regularly at the Royal Hibernian Academy from 1915 and
was elected to both the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) and the Royal Ulster Academy (RUA).