Lot 145: Isabel Odell (1871-1943) PORTRAIT OF AN OFFICER OF

Isabel Odell (1871-1943) PORTRAIT OF AN OFFICER OF IV KING'S OWN REGIMENT OF FOOT (LANCASTER) oil on canvas 79 by 66cm., 31 by 26in. Provenance: Fitzgerald family of Lady Lane, Waterford; Thence by descent to present owner Born in Dublin Isabel Mary Grant Ussher was the only daughter of Richard J. Ussher of Cappagh, Co. Waterford, and an aunt of author and artist Arland Ussher. She studied at the Slade School in London and at Julian's atelier in Paris, where Constance Gore-Booth was a fellow student. Upon returning to Ireland she settled at Cappagh House, Lismore, and from there sent four portraits to the RHA in the 1890s. In 1901 she married William Odell and shortly afterwards moved to Ardmore, before moving to Bristol and later Southwold, Suffolk. She returned to Ardmore in 1934 as a widow, and with her daughter Mary, who was also an artist, built a studio cottage, which was open to visitors each summer. The two women held a joint exhibition at the Country Shop in Dublin in 1942. Isabel was sometimes asked by relatives to copy old family portraits such as the one here. She is represented in the Waterford municipal art collection (see Snoddy p. 478). In the original frame of R. and W. Clarke, 40 and 41 Grand Parade, Cork.