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Maurice Canning Wilks (born in Belfast, but who kept a studio in Sutton for years) is best known as a landscape artist, but I love his portraits.
The title of this one is ‘Roisin Dubh’ which is the Irish for ‘Dark Rosaleen’, a poetic symbol for Ireland. Lots of verses have been written about her trials and tribulations. One advantage, for an artist, of choosing this subject is that because a naturally worried look is characteristic of so many Irishwomen (hey, we’re sorely tried), he’ll never be short of models. The girl in the painting above was a great choice since she manages to look lovely as well as anxious. Gorgeous grey liquid eyes emanating sincerity. I much prefer her to the more self-conscious and precious Lady Lavery, also depicted by her husband as Dark Rosaleen in this better-known picture here.
An interesting contrasting portrait by Maurice of a feistier-looking lady with darker eyes and skin, beautifully carved upper lip and a delicately hooked nose (Spanish rather than Irish?) below. If the worried-looking girl in the first painting is in the midst of dealing with life’s pitfalls, the woman in the second, though not much older, has done that, and survived. Her quiet confidence appeals and inspires. As a hopeless worrier myself, to the extent of being surprised whenever the worst doesn’t happen, I would love to own a copy of this portrait…
Funny how some artists have bits they can’t do. Maybe they should use the atelier system. The top picture has perfect head (don’t you think she looks like Elizabeth Taylor?) but what’s happened to her right hand? The second one has an “aristocratic” head, and sits in the landscape as tho’ she owns it, but has thick, work-roughened fingers. Actually I think the second head is badly done: the proportions look wrong and if you imagine her turning towards the viewer what you’d see would be weird.
Lots of Irish people with aristocratic heads and work roughened fingers… check out Sean Keating’s portraits… Even among the Ascendancy in the past the hands would not have been what they should have been with hunting callouses and so forth! It was a rough and ready life.
I agree with you about the fingers in the first portrait and the angles of the head in the second one.. also the Liz Taylor comparison. Though the girl in the first portrait looks a bit like one of my grannies too…