Corrymore 1913

Robert Henri painted Corrymore during his time on Achill Island, off the coast of Ireland, sometime around the turn of the century. Henri was part of the Ashcan school of American art, focused on capturing urban life, yet here he turns to a rural scene. Henri's work often celebrated the spirit of the individual and the beauty of everyday life, irrespective of social class. In Corrymore, this comes across in the intimate portrayal of what appears to be a modest dwelling amidst the rugged Irish landscape. "The people in my pictures are free, and occupy space in full," Henri once said, and here that sense of freedom might relate to the natural, untouched landscape. This painting provides a glimpse into a specific time and place, inviting us to consider the lives of the inhabitants of this house and the social and economic realities of rural Ireland at the beginning of the twentieth century.