Shawlies, Galway

In 1915 John spent two months in Galway observing 'the shawled women murmuring together on the quays, with the white complex of the Claddagh glimmering across the harbour' (M. Holroyd, Augustus John, London, 1996, p. 405). However, due to the War he was forbidden to sketch in the streets, complaining in a letter to Ottoline Morrell that 'there are wonderful people and it is beautiful about the harbour but if one starts sketching one is at once shot by a policeman ...' (ibid, p. 406). The result was that he had to observe his subjects and then rush back to the studio in order to capture his memories on paper. These ink and wash drawings were subsequently worked into the monumental mural painting Galway now in the Tate Collection.