Potato Harvest, a 2ft 6in x 3ft 4in (76cm x 1.01m) oil on canvas painted in 1931 by Lilian Lucy Davidson (1893-1954), is among the highlights of a sale dedicated to Irish pictures at Whyte’s of Dublin on May 27.
Like the artist’s later work Gorta, which hangs in Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum in Connecticut, this industrious image shows the reliance of Irish peasantry on the potato for survival. It was exhibited at The Royal Hibernian Academy in 1931.
Davidson was prolific across a range of media including painting, book illustration, poster design and set design for theatre. In her early years as a painter Davidson was influenced by Stanhope Forbes, whose heightened palette, square-brush technique and strong impasto highlights became characteristics of her style.
Estimate €30,000-40,000.
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