Jeremiah Hodges Mulcahy, Irish (1804-1889) "Lake Scene," O....

Hammer

€5,200

Jeremiah Hodges Mulcahy, Irish (1804-1889)

"Lake Scene," O.O.C., approx. 76cms x 104cms (30" x 41") signed, in ornate gilt frame. (1)

* Although perhaps based on a scene in Kerry, this landscape painting by Jeremiah Hodges Mulcahy depicts an imagined landscape, with a tomb set beside a lake. In the foreground, wearing a blue tunic and red dress, a shepherdess holds a staff aloft. Around her sheep, goats and cattle graze peacefully by the lake’s edge. To her right, beyond a solitary tree, at the base of a monumental fountain, two musicians are seated. One plays a buisine or straight trumpet, while the other holds a viola da gamba, which he is playing by plucking the strings with his fingers rather than using a bow. Although there is an inscription on the base of the tomb, it is not clear enough to be deciphered, while the tomb (or perhaps memorial) is adorned with a statue of a man holding on his shoulder something wrapped in bindings—perhaps a reference to the deceased. In the middle distance, sailing boats ply the quiet waters of the lake or sea inlet, while in the distance mountains rise high above the surrounding countryside, pale and misty. At the water’s edge there is a small castle or tower house. The overall feeling is elegiac, a peaceful classical landscape evoking the work of Claude Lorraine. Like his contemporary Nathaniel Grogan in Cork, Jeremiah Hodges Mulcahy produced cabinet paintings like this to adorn the walls of Irish houses, mainly in Munster. His work is characterized by an ability to convey the impression of a landscape with the most delicate of tints.

Born in Limerick, probably to parents who came from Cork, little is known of the early life of Jeremiah Hodges Mulcahy, other than that he was taught by Morris O’Connor at an art school in Limerick. Working principally as an landscape painter, he found a ready market for his works in Munster, and counted among his patrons the Dunravens, Fitzgeralds of Glin, Vandeleurs and Mounteagles. He painted views of houses, including Curragh Chase, home of the de Vere family, and of Glin Castle. In 1842, Hodges opened his own academy in Limerick, at 19 Catherine Street. After the death of his wife in 1862, aged just twenty-four, he closed his school in Limerick and moved with his family to Dublin. In 1843 he was awarded a prize at the Royal Irish Art Union for a landscape painting, and began to exhibit at the RHA that same year. However his hopes of becoming an academician were disappointed when he was beaten by Francis Danby, by just one vote. In 1875 Hodges was elected ARHA, but after 1878 ceased to show with the Academy. He died in 1889.

Peter Murray 2025