Lot 61: Jerome Connor (1874 - 1943) The Pikeman (1940)

Jerome Connor (1874 - 1943) The Pikeman (1940) Bronze, 83cm high (32.75'') Signed Provenance: Purchased directly from the artist by the current owners' father, c1940 and thence by descent. Exhibited: 1942 RHA Annual Exhibition Cat. No. 310 where lent by current owners' father 1943 IELA 1st Exhibition ''Jerome Connor Memorial Section'' Cat. No. 10 1977 Wexford Arts Centre ''Irish Art from Private Collections 1870 - 1930'' Cat. No. 2 1988 Annascaul ''Jerome Connor'' Exhibition to coincide with a weekend seminar on his life and work at his place of birth. 1991 Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery,Dublin ''Irish Art and Modernism'' Cat. No.128 - this exhibition then toured to The Ulster Museum in Belfast. 1993 The National Gallery of Ireland ''Jerome Connor Retrospective'' Cat. No. 22 ''Ireland: Her People and Landscape'' The AVA Gallery, June - Sept 2012, Cat. No. 6 Literature: ''Jerome Connor I '' The Capuchin Annual 1963 by Mairin Allen pp 347 - 68 Illustrated p351 ''Irish Art and Modernism'' by Dr SB Kennedy 1991 Illustrated p340 ''Jerome Connor - Irish American Sculptor'' by Giollamuire O'Murchu NGI 1993 Illustrated p73 ''Ireland: Her People and Landscape'' Exhibition Catalogue, full page illustration p13 Jerome Connor was born near Annascaul in Co. Kerry but in 1874 when Connor was only thirteen the family emigrated to Massachusetts,U.S.A.. Shortly after their arrival his Father died and he had to leave home to seek work. He moved through various jobs including being a prize fighter before being trained as a bronze founder and he assisted Roland Hinton Perry in casting of ''The Fountain of Neptune'' bronzes for the Library of Congress. He worked for a period with the Roycroft institution and when his friend and patron Elbert Hubbard its founder died on the Lusitania he was commissioned to do a full sized statue of him. His Irish-American connections brought him the Robert Emmett commission and later the Lusitania Memorial commission which were to see him return to Ireland in 1925. Various other commissions in Ireland were to follow as well as a remarkable series of small bronzes which he described as 'little pieces of free work'' more loosely handled than his earlier work. They are of particular importance as they are the product of talent which first introduced the process of casting,chasing and patinating of bronze to Ireland. ''The Pikeman'' is Connor's second design for the unrealized 1798 Memorial ''Pikeman'' intended for Denny Street, Tralee,Co Kerry where it was to replace a stone figure destroyed by the British Forces during the Irish War of Independence. The contrast between this design and the earlier one of 1928 - 31 illustrates Connor's move from formal clarity and academic pose to a more expressive approach achieved through rugged modeling ,simplicity of pose and defiant expression. We acknowledge Christina Kennedy's private research and writings which formed the basis of this catalogue entry.