Lily Williams (1874 - 1940), Self portrait

This self portarit shows a beautiful young woman holding a wooden pallette. An easel is in the background, as well as the tall wooden windows of an art studio. Her expression is concentrated and serene. Small touches of red in her clothing hint at a determined character. Williams was a student at the Dublin Metropolitan School for Art and trained under Walter Osborne and May Manning. This painting could date from this period. Her life was an interesting one: born in Dublin into a Presbyterian, Unionist family, she went on to become a supporter of Sinn Fein during the Easter rising of 1916, designed stamps for the Free State, painted portraits of Arthur Griffith and Padraig Colum and most famously painted Hibernia, a beautiful red-haired young woman, penning the constitution, victory-wreath in her hair, draped in the controversial tricolour of the new republic. Lily Williams exhibited at the Royal Hibernian Academy between 1904 and 1939 and became an associate member in 1929. Her portrait of Arthur Griffith is held by the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin. She died in Ranelagh in 1940.

Oil on canvas mounted on board. 40x 30cm. On display in our Clare Street shop.