File:Henry Albert Hartland - 9404004bd8.jpg

Henry Albert Hartland (1840-1893) Trout Stream, Co. Mayo (1877) watercolour on paper signed lower left and dated 1877 h:63  w:99 cm. Provenance: Private Collection In the latter half of the nineteenth century, counties in the West of Ireland such as Galway and Mayo attracted increasing numbers of visitors, attracted by the wild mountain and coastal scenery, and also by recreation sports, particularly fishing. Oscar Wilde's father had a fishing lodge on Lough Fee in Connemara, while the hotels at Delphi and Leenane, prospered. The Erriff and the Moy were among the most celebrated fishing rivers. Artists such as Douglas Alexander, Percy French and Henry Albert Hartland were also attracted to these areas of scenic beauty. This watercolour by Hartland, of a trout stream in Co. Mayo, is both a fine rendering of a mountain landscape, and also highlights the growing importance of tourism in the West of Ireland. Born in Mallow in 1840, into a family well known for plant nurseries (his grandfather had come from Kew to be the gardener for the Earl of Kingston at Mitchelstown), Henry Albert Hartland was educated at the Christian Brothers School in Cork, then studied at the Cork School of Art. His artistic career included painting theatre sets, in Cork and in Dublin. In 1865 he began exhibiting at the RHA and by the late 1860's was showing at the Society of Artists in London, and the Royal Academy. After a period in London he settled in Liverpool, painting mainly in Cheshire and north Wales. Even after moving to England, Hartland continued to make regular painting trips to his home country, finding there was a ready market amongst collectors in England for views of Irish scenery. A prolific and successful artist, he is represented in the collections of the Walker Art Gallery Liverpool, the Victoria and Albert, and the Crawford Art Gallery Cork. Peter Murray, September 2021