The Road to Coomasharn, County Kerry 

Paul Henry painted 'The Road to Coomasharn, County Kerry' using oil on canvas. He chose a medium that allowed him to capture the rugged landscape and the atmospheric qualities of the Irish countryside. The painting's materiality is defined by Henry's application of paint, creating texture and depth that evoke the physical reality of the scene. You can almost feel the weight of the peat stacks, carefully constructed from hand-cut sods of earth. This material was the lifeblood of rural communities, providing essential fuel. The artist conveys the labor involved in harvesting and stacking the peat, while hinting at the social context of rural life and the reliance on local resources. Henry's painting thus transcends a purely aesthetic representation; it becomes a meditation on the relationship between people and the land. By foregrounding the material qualities of the scene, Henry elevates the everyday into the realm of fine art.