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拍品專文
This picture is a particulary fine and well preserved example of George Barret's landscape painting. It is characteristic of the work which was to win him a reputation as one of the outstanding landscape painters of his day in Ireland and later England, where he had moved by circa 1763.
The picture was acquired by the 2nd Lord Brocket, from the Conolly family of Castletown, co. Kildare. Castletown, the first great Palladian house built in Ireland, had been built for 'Speaker' Conolly who had been elected Speaker of the Irish House of Commons in 1715. Work on the house and its grounds, which had begun in 1722, was to continue after Speaker Conolly's death in 1729 under his widow, who lived there until her death in 1752. The house was later inherited by Tom Conolly, who in 1758 had married Louisa Lennox (d.1821), daughter of the second Duke of Richmond, who had been brought up by her elder sister Emily, Countess of Kildare, later Duchess of Leinster, a few miles from Castletown at Carton. Tom Conolly and his wife were greatly to embellish the interiors of the house. George Barret is recorded among the artists to which the Conollys turned to in order to decorate their house. In a letter to her husband from Castletown dated 7 December 1762 Emily Duchess of Leinster recorded that 'Lord Powerscourt, Mr Marlay and Barret, a landscape painter have been here' commenting that the latter 'is painting views of this place' (Correspondence of Emily, Duchess of Leinster, ed. B. FitzGerald, Dublin, 1949, I B. FitzGerald (ed.). According to Strickland, two of Barret's landscapes, View of Castletown and View of Leixlip belonged to Captain Conolly at Castletown (W. Strickland, A Dictionary of Irish Artists, Dublin and London, 1913, p.32). Castletown was to remain in the possession of the Conolly family until 1965 when it was sold by Lord Carew, whose mother had been a Conolly, its contents being dispersed in an auction held at the house on 19 May 1965. While it is unclear when the present picture, which was at Castletown when it was acquired by the 2nd Lord Brocket, entered the Conolly collection it seems likely that it was also painted by Barret the Conollys. Stylistically it certainly seems close to the View of Castletown which the artist had commissioned from the artist (Fig. 1; F. O'Kane, Landscape Design in Eighteenth Century Ireland, Cork, 2004, p. 65, fig. 30) .
Lord Brocket had acquired Carton in 1949. It is not known exactly when he purchased this picture from Castletown but it thought likely to have been at some point inthe 1950s and it first appears in an inventory at Carton dated 17 November 1960, when it was recorded in the Drawing Room. It was later to hang there in the 'Chinese Dressing Room'. Carton was eventually sold by Lord Brocket's family in 1977 but this picture remained in the possession of his family.
The picture was acquired by the 2nd Lord Brocket, from the Conolly family of Castletown, co. Kildare. Castletown, the first great Palladian house built in Ireland, had been built for 'Speaker' Conolly who had been elected Speaker of the Irish House of Commons in 1715. Work on the house and its grounds, which had begun in 1722, was to continue after Speaker Conolly's death in 1729 under his widow, who lived there until her death in 1752. The house was later inherited by Tom Conolly, who in 1758 had married Louisa Lennox (d.1821), daughter of the second Duke of Richmond, who had been brought up by her elder sister Emily, Countess of Kildare, later Duchess of Leinster, a few miles from Castletown at Carton. Tom Conolly and his wife were greatly to embellish the interiors of the house. George Barret is recorded among the artists to which the Conollys turned to in order to decorate their house. In a letter to her husband from Castletown dated 7 December 1762 Emily Duchess of Leinster recorded that 'Lord Powerscourt, Mr Marlay and Barret, a landscape painter have been here' commenting that the latter 'is painting views of this place' (Correspondence of Emily, Duchess of Leinster, ed. B. FitzGerald, Dublin, 1949, I B. FitzGerald (ed.). According to Strickland, two of Barret's landscapes, View of Castletown and View of Leixlip belonged to Captain Conolly at Castletown (W. Strickland, A Dictionary of Irish Artists, Dublin and London, 1913, p.32). Castletown was to remain in the possession of the Conolly family until 1965 when it was sold by Lord Carew, whose mother had been a Conolly, its contents being dispersed in an auction held at the house on 19 May 1965. While it is unclear when the present picture, which was at Castletown when it was acquired by the 2nd Lord Brocket, entered the Conolly collection it seems likely that it was also painted by Barret the Conollys. Stylistically it certainly seems close to the View of Castletown which the artist had commissioned from the artist (Fig. 1; F. O'Kane, Landscape Design in Eighteenth Century Ireland, Cork, 2004, p. 65, fig. 30) .
Lord Brocket had acquired Carton in 1949. It is not known exactly when he purchased this picture from Castletown but it thought likely to have been at some point inthe 1950s and it first appears in an inventory at Carton dated 17 November 1960, when it was recorded in the Drawing Room. It was later to hang there in the 'Chinese Dressing Room'. Carton was eventually sold by Lord Brocket's family in 1977 but this picture remained in the possession of his family.