Lot 8: Markey Robinson - Corn Carriers
Corn Carriers, painted whilst Markey Robinson was in Paris, represents the significant dialogue between Irish and French styles cultivated by the artist. The subject of rural workers draws directly from Julien Dupré’s The Gleaners. Dupré engaged in the growing representation of rural life in late 19th century France. The natural and unapologetic depiction of farm and countryside scenes by Courbet and Millet under the Realism movement would provide inspiration during Markey’s time in France.
Another source of artistic influence developed from Markey meeting the French Fauvist, Raoul Dufy. The darker palette and stark contrasts link more closely to French Fauvist and Expressionist, Georges Rouault, in his naïve distortion of landscapes, portraits and still lifes. By prioritising strong painterly qualities of line and colour over representation, Corn Carriers marks a meeting point between the moody realism depicting rural life and the liberation of Expressionist style.
Illustrated on page 141 of Maverick Spirit by Michael Mulreany, the painting is significant in retracing the artist’s international history. In 1952, Markey received help from the French Consulate in Belfast to identify exhibition opportunities in France. By 1956, his work was exhibited in the Salon des Independants at the Grand Palais, and applauded in the French art journal, La Revue Moderne: ‘[in his paintings] one finds here all that is picturesque and poetic in fishing villages’. As described by Mulreany, Paris ‘remained a place of pilgrimage, an artistic beacon and a liberating influence’ for Markey, with Corn Carriers representing a significant moment in his adoption of French modernism for an Irish Context.
Corn Carriers, painted whilst Markey Robinson was in Paris, represents the significant dialogue between Irish and French styles cultivated by the artist. The subject of rural workers draws directly from Julien Dupré’s The Gleaners. Dupré engaged in the growing representation of rural life in late 19th century France. The natural and unapologetic depiction of farm and countryside scenes by Courbet and Millet under the Realism movement would provide inspiration during Markey’s time in France.
Another source of artistic influence developed from Markey meeting the French Fauvist, Raoul Dufy. The darker palette and stark contrasts link more closely to French Fauvist and Expressionist, Georges Rouault, in his naïve distortion of landscapes, portraits and still lifes. By prioritising strong painterly qualities of line and colour over representation, Corn Carriers marks a meeting point between the moody realism depicting rural life and the liberation of Expressionist style.
Illustrated on page 141 of Maverick Spirit by Michael Mulreany, the painting is significant in retracing the artist’s international history. In 1952, Markey received help from the French Consulate in Belfast to identify exhibition opportunities in France. By 1956, his work was exhibited in the Salon des Independants at the Grand Palais, and applauded in the French art journal, La Revue Moderne: ‘[in his paintings] one finds here all that is picturesque and poetic in fishing villages’. As described by Mulreany, Paris ‘remained a place of pilgrimage, an artistic beacon and a liberating influence’ for Markey, with Corn Carriers representing a significant moment in his adoption of French modernism for an Irish Context.
