In his book, Changing Winds (1917), St. John Greer Ervine asked whether there ‘was anyone on earth less like the typical Ulsterman than George Russell [AE], who preached mysticism and better business?’ Indeed, Russell’s life was a ‘radical divide between two aspects: the ‘strayed angel’ (as Susan an...

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1. Verfasser:	O'Connor, Éimear (VerfasserIn)
Format:	Artikel
Sprache:	English
Veröffentlicht:	2022
Schlagworte:	Russell, George William > 1867-1935 Geschichte 1904-1934 Kunst
Zusammenfassung:	In his book, Changing Winds (1917), St. John Greer Ervine asked whether there ‘was anyone on earth less like the typical Ulsterman than George Russell [AE], who preached mysticism and better business?’ Indeed, Russell’s life was a ‘radical divide between two aspects: the ‘strayed angel’ (as Susan and Elizabeth Yeats called him), artist, poet, spiritualist, and visionary; and the practical man: agricultural economist, organiser in the Irish co-operative movement, journalist and newspaper editor.’ Although his role was somewhat overlooked until recently, through his work on both aspects of the ‘radical divide’, Russell was a crucial link in the network of cultural connections between Ireland and America before the onset of the Second World War. He had an extensive network of male and female friends and acquaintances among the Irish American expatriate community – writers, politicians, lawyers, artists – whom he enjoyed visiting, and with whom he frequently corresponded. Powerfully positioned as the editor of The Irish Homestead, organ of the Irish Agricultural Organisations Society (IAOS), he was a resolute advocate of economic, religious, and social equality, and a concomitant quality of life for all in Ireland and America. First published as a poet while still in his twenties, he was an inveterate letter writer, a peacemaker, a mediator, and a self-proclaimed visionary. Russell was also a trained artist. Influential Irish-American lawyer and art collector John Quinn (1870-1924) began to purchase paintings from the artist during his initial visit to Ireland in 1902. This essay focuses on Russell’s largely unplanned career as a visual artist and the moments in which it intersected with the American art scene. It considers Quinn’s interest in his work, examples of which he loaned to the Armory exhibition in New York in 1913, and displays of his paintings in New York by gallerists Helen Hackett and Patric Farrell. Their focus on Irish art in general, and on Russell in particular, was noteworthy for creating and sustaining the market for Irish art in New York in the 1920s and 30s.
Beschreibung:	Illustration
ISBN:	978-1-032-12127-7