MAINIE JELLETT AND THE VIRGIN AND CHILD

MAINIE JELLETT AND THE VIRGIN OF ÉIRE

THE VIRGIN OF ÉIRE AND OTHER DEPICTIONS OF THE VIRGIN AND CHILD BY MAINIE JELLETT IN THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF IRELAND

BY RUTH SHEEHY

Mainie Jellett (1897-1944), who was a major figure in Irish art during the 1930s and 40s, was trained at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art from 1914-17, where she studied under William Orpen (18781931). She later attended The Westminster School of Art, London from 1917-20, which was ‘then run by Walter Sickert’ (1860-1942). (Bruce Arnold, ‘Mainie Jellett and the Modern Movement in Ireland’ in Gill Tipton (ed.), Mainie Jellett 18971944, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin: Irish Museum of Modern Art, 1991-92, 16). She was a member of The Church of Ireland and not a liturgical artist like her fellow artist Evie Hone (1894-1955), but an independent painter who produced autonomous religious works. (Gesa Thiessen, Theology and Modern Irish Art, (Dublin: Columba Press, 1999, 39). Jellett’s interest in modernism led her and Evie Hone (1894-1955) to study cubism in Paris under André Lhote (1885-1962) and Albert Gleizes (1881-1953) in 1921. (Ibid., 37-38). The influence of modernism enabled Jellett to reinterpret traditional religious subjects which would stimulate the viewer to meditate on the meaning of the Christian mysteries and draw him/her into the religious experience. Her works on these themes were painted in a cubist-abstract manner, which combined expressive colour, form and shape. This resulted in contrasting tones of light and shade and an indirect mediation of religious meaning. Her religious works from the late 1920s to early 40s, executed in oils on canvas and gouache on paper, blended figuration with abstraction. Some were almost completely non-figurative.

The Virgin of Éire needs to be understood within the context of Jellett’s other late religious works, executed in oils on canvas, such as Deposition (1939), (Dublin City Gallery, the Hugh Lane) The Nativity (1940), (London, Pyms Gallery), The Ninth Hour (1941) (Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane) and I have Trodden the Winepress Alone (1943) (National Gallery of Ireland). These paintings, like The Virgin of Éire, are meditative images of religious themes where cubist-abstract form and expressive symbolic colour, convey the mood and pathos in a profound way. Jellett’s late religious works are imbued with a deep spirituality, that was due to her commitment to Christian faith and to her artistic and stylistic development. (Ibid., 40-45). She was influenced by the religious art of the modern French artist George Rouault (1871-1958). According to Bruce Arnold:

‘Rouault had achieved in his art that integration of pre-Renaissance spiritual directness and simplicity with

Plate 1 Mainie Jellett (1897-1944) The Virgin of Éire, 1943 Oil on canvas 64 x 92 cm NGI.4319 National Gallery of Ireland Collection Photo © National Gallery of Ireland

modernism, which she herself was increasingly concerned to resolve in her later paintings, a growing number of which had been on religious themes, and all of which were concerned with visual re-interpretation, as were those of Rouault.’ (Bruce Arnold, Mainie Jellett and the Modern Movement in Ireland, (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1991,192).

THE VIRGIN OF ÉIRE IN THE CONTEXT OF IRISH IDENTITY AND NATIONALISM IN IRELAND DURING THE 1930S AND 40S.

The painting of The Virgin of Éire (1943) (NGI.4319), (Plate 1), (sometimes referred to as The Madonna of Éire), is executed in oil on canvas, 64cm x 92cm, and was bequeathed to the National Gallery of Ireland in 1978. This work which is unsigned, reveals the connection between Irish identity and Christianity, or particularly Catholicism, during the 1940s in Ireland. Painted in 1943, it is one of Jellett’s last works and was exhibited in the Irish Exhibition of Living Art, in the same year.

The work shows The Virgin Mary in the centre with the Christ-child lying horizontally

in her arms. She is depicted with two of Ireland’s patron saints on either side of her, who are St Patrick on the left and St Brigid on the right. Among the drawings for the composition in the National Gallery Prints and Drawings Collection, is (NGI.18249), in graphite on paper, which shows St Brigid, originally on the left and St Patrick on the right of the Virgin and Child, in the centre. However, this was ultimately reversed in other drawings and in the final painted work. Bruce Arnold discussing Jellett’s love of Irish Celtic art, acknowledges: ‘the close relationship between the form of abstract Cubism she had practiced and the art of Celtic Ireland she so admired.’ (Ibid., 180)

Mentioning the Irish and nationalistic dimension of The Virgin of Éire, Kenneth McConkey states that:

‘In later years, Jellett tacked more complex abstractions. In The Virgin of Eire, (sic), (figure 59) she almost reverts to the antiquated visual language of Victorians like Maclise who essayed grand themes like ‘the spirit of chivalry’ or ‘the spirit of justice.’ But here in Jellett’s Erin there was a new language for a new concept. The national spirit was more than a wind-blown Cathleen ni (sic) Houlihan, if only it could be realised.’ (Kenneth McConkey, A Free Spirit Irish Art 1860-1960, (London: Antique Collectors’ Club, 1991), 76).

The Virgin and Child with two of Ireland’s patron saints, Patrick and Brigid, is a traditional Irish iconographical theme. Due to the Celtic Revival during the early twentieth century, the Virgin and Child with SS Patrick and Brigid was depicted in a lunette stained glass window (1932-33) by Irish artist Richard King (1907-74) for St Mary’s Church, Knockbridge, County Louth. (Nicola Gordon Bowe, David Caron and Michael Wynne, (eds.), Gazetteer of Irish Stained Glass, Revised New Edition, (Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 2021, 189). However, in The Virgin of Éire, by Jellett, the Celtic imagery of the Virgin and Child flanked by SS Patrick and Brigid is painted in a modernist idiom, as indicated by the composition, shapes, colour and figures, depicted in a cubist-abstract style.

The connection between Irish identity and religion is revealed in Irish art of the twentieth century by the female figure of Éire depicted occasionally as an Irish woman with a shawl and also as the Virgin and Child. This is exemplified by Eire, (sic) (1907), by Beatrice Elvery, in oils on canvas, that shows ‘an

Plate 2 Mainie Jellett (1897-1944) Drawing for The Virgin of Éire, 1943 Ink, pencil and wash on paper 40.4 x 49.6 cm NGI.18251 National Gallery of Ireland Collection Photo © National Gallery of Ireland

Plate 3 Mainie Jellett (1897-1944) The Virgin and Child Enthroned Gouache on paper 20.5 x 16.5 cm NGI.7842 National Gallery of Ireland Collection Photo © National Gallery of Ireland

allegorical picture’ of ‘Cathleen Ní Houlihan’ seen ‘with a child on her knee, ‘presumably Young Ireland.’ This iconography also alludes to the Virgin and Child. (Nicola Gordon Bowe, ‘The Art of Beatrice Elvery, Lady Glenavy (1883-1970)’, in Irish Arts Review Yearbook, 1995, 169-175). As Ireland was a predominantly Catholic country, the Virgin Mary with the Christ-child, as a symbol of Catholic motherhood, was a salient Pre-Vatican II theme, and was a prevalent image in Irish art, during this period.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE VIRGIN OF ÉIRE (1943) AND OTHER EARLIER DRAWINGS OF THE VIRGIN AND CHILD BY MAINIE JELLETT IN THE PRINTS AND DRAWINGS COLLECTION OF THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF IRELAND.

There are four drawings for The Virgin of Éire in the Prints and Drawings collection of The National Gallery of Ireland. These works show the composition divided into three parts to accommodate the three figures. These drawings also demonstrate Jellett’s understanding of design and the relationship of the three figures to one another. The religious theme is conveyed by dramatic light and dark contrasts such as in a drawing for the painting NGI.18251 (Plate 2), (1943), 40.4 x 49.6cm, executed in ink, pencil and wash on paper. Jellett’s thoughts on colour for the painting is indicated by another drawing for the work which is NGI.18249, executed in graphite on paper where the words ‘Blue’ and ‘Seagreen’ are written by her. The drawing NGI.18250, in graphite on paper, divided into three parts, is squared up for transfer, which indicates Jellett’s knowledge of art historical tradition.

Due to the Irish theme of The Virgin of Éire, the dominant colour in the painting is a vibrant green, which is also apparent in the figure of St Patrick, shown on the left, with an upraised right hand. Blue is the other principal colour, used for the Virgin and Christ-child. Red is visible with some blue, purple and white for St Brigid, on the right. White is also mixed in with these stronger primary colours to bring contrasts of light and shade. Indeed, a restricted colourrange, which is a characteristic of this work, also applies to other Drawings of the Virgin and Child by Jellett in the National Gallery Prints and Drawings collection. Repetition of a limited range of primary and secondary symbolic colours reflects Jellett’s knowledge of modernism in Ireland and Europe.

Apart from the three religious figures, the spiritual dimension of The Virgin of Éire is suggested by rays from heaven at the top and on either side, which add light, radiance and movement to the composition. Luminosity surrounds the halos of the three figures, which also evokes the spiritual. According to Daire O’ Connell: ‘The figures are enclosed in a carefully structured symmetrical composition.’ (Gill Tipton (ed.), Mainie Jellett 1897-1944, The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin: The Irish Museum of Modern Art,

1991-92, op. cit., 92). Visual harmony distinguishes this work which is inspiring and transcendent. Although this painting is figurative, the style is a combination of expressionism, cubism and abstraction, which shows a meditative approach to the visual interpretation of the religious theme. This draws the viewer into the experience in a reflective manner. The composition is distinguished by curved and circular shapes. The cubist interest in surface texture is shown by the pointillist dots at the bottom of the image.

Among the other earlier Drawings of the Virgin and Child by Jellett in the National Gallery Prints and Drawings collection is The Virgin and Child Enthroned (NGI.7842) 20.5cm x 16.5cm, that is executed in gouache on paper. This drawing is signed ‘M. Jellett’ and undated. (Plate 3) This moving work reveals the tenderness of motherhood, shown by the close relationship between the Virgin and the Christ-child in the centre. The innocence and vulnerability of the Christ-child as a baby are clearly seen. The restricted symbolic colour scheme, limited to blue, white, yellow, red, green and dark grey, focuses on the mystery of the incarnation and the completion of the Christevent, by prefiguring the Passion and Resurrection. These indirect references to the passion are made by symbolic colours red, orange, dark grey and brown tones in the lower part of the image. The promise of hope and resurrection is shown by blue, white and yellow in the upper part of the composition. This symbolism is based on Jellett’s knowledge of earlier religious paintings from the history of art, where works devoted to the infancy of Christ prefigure his passion in a poignant manner. In this regard, some of the compositions of Jellett’s images of the Virgin and Child such as this one demonstrate an awareness of altarpieces from early Italian and North European painting from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Bruce Arnold mentions Jellett’s knowledge of the art of Fra Angelico, Botticelli and Titian. (Bruce Arnold, Mainie Jellett and the Modern Movement in Ireland, op. cit., 181.) The colour blue in this work, symbolically associated with the Virgin Mary, also indicates the figures of the Virgin and Child surrounded by heaven and the presence of the divine. The faces of the two central figures confront the viewer in a manner which is arresting and moving. Although the two figures are clearly visible in the centre of the composition, the work is painted in a cubistabstract manner with contrasts of colour and light and dark tones. Hence the overall effect is to draw the viewer into the meaning of the incarnation and redemption. The meditative mood of the work, suggested by the interaction of the forms and shapes, conveys a rhythmical movement to the composition. Another version of The Virgin and Child Enthroned (NGI.7847), dated 1929, and executed

Plate 4 Mainie Jellett (1897-1944) The Virgin and Child, 1936 Gouache and graphite on paper 27.5 x 20 cm NGI.7840 National Gallery of Ireland Collection Photo © National Gallery of Ireland

in gouache and graphite on squared paper, 37.5cm x 49cm, is signed ‘M. Jellett 29.’ This work is more abstract with the figures of the Virgin and Child barely discernible in the centre. The cubist-abstract style here is more developed with layering of shapes and differences in surface texture, such as the pointillist dots, all of which are usually visible in Jellett’s earlier paintings entitled Abstract Composition. The pointillist areas in this drawing, surrounding the Virgin and Child and the abstract shapes on either side, may signify the religious dimension of the work. (Bruce Arnold, Mainie Jellett and the Modern Movement in Ireland, op. cit., 116, 166-167. The Virgin and Child, (NGI.7840), (Plate 4), (1936), executed in gouache and graphite on paper, 27.5 x 20cm, and signed ‘M. H. Jellett 36’ is a later work where the blend of cubism and abstraction is very evident. The position of the two central figures of the Virgin and Child seen within circular shapes indicates Jellett’s use of ‘Abstraction-Création and ‘Translation-Rotation,’ originally derived from Gleizes. (Ibid., 139144). The faces of the Virgin and Christ-child look out at the viewer as in the undated version of The Madonna and Child Enthroned, NGI.7842, already mentioned. The mystery of the incarnation is mediated by the harmonious arrangement of colour, movement, light and dark tones, and by the circular shapes. Although speculative, the colour green, surrounding the Virgin and Child and at the top and bottom of the image, may symbolise ‘hope and promise’ with which the colour is associated. (Ruth Sheehy, The Life and Work of Richard King: Religion, Nationalism and Modernism, Reimagining Ireland series, (Oxford: Peter Lang International Academic Publishers, 2020, 25). The pointillist areas framing the two central figures provide visual texture to the cubist composition. Another almost identical version of The Virgin and Child, in oils on canvas c. 1936, 61cm x 46cm, (private collection), for which the drawing (NGI.7840), may be a study, also includes pointillist areas in the border. Gesa Thiessen, discussing these aspects of the version of The Virgin and Child, c. 1936, in oils on canvas, notes transcendence and the divine. She remarks on:

‘Jellett’s choice of pointillist spaces that serve like a frame around the circles and semicircles that enclose the figures. These spaces contribute to the sense of the sacred as they remind the viewer of the incisions used in icons and Early Renaissance altarpieces, or the dotting technique which was applied in Irish illuminated manuscripts, such as the Book of Durrow.’ (Gesa Thiessen, Theology and Modern Irish Art, op. cit., 127-128))

CONCLUSION

Although the three versions of the Virgin and Child already discussed are earlier than The Virgin of Éire, they nevertheless reveal how the theme was developed by Jellett from the late 1920s to early 40s, and how it preoccupied her. In The Virgin of Éire, as a late work, there is an invitation to the viewer to recognise the relationship between Ireland and Christianity in a manner which is Celtic, contemplative and modern. The reinterpretation of the Celtic Revival theme of the Virgin and Child flanked by SS Patrick and Brigid in a cubist-abstract style testifies to European artistic modernist influences on Irish artists such as Mainie Jellett during the early part of the twentieth century. Hence this vibrant, harmonious and spiritual religious work is an authentic expression of the Irish soul during this time.

Ruth Sheehy MLitt is an Art Historian and Slide and Photographic Librarian emerita, Department of the History of Art and Architecture, Trinity College, Dublin.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My thanks are due to Niamh McNally, Curator of the Prints and Drawings Study Room, National Gallery of Ireland and to Anna Gavigan, Library, National Gallery of Ireland for all their help with research for this article.