Caroline Scally (29 October 1886 – 26 September 1973), was an Irish landscape artist.

Early life and education

Caroline Scally was born Caroline Stein on 29 October 1886 at 7 Corrig Avenue in

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...

, County Dublin.Snoddy, T. (2002). Dictionary of Irish artists: 20th Century. Dublin: Merlin. Her parents were Robert Francis and Mary Josephine Stein. Her family relocated to Blackrock in 1889, when Scally attended the Dominican Convert,

Sion Hill Sion Hill is a National Historic Landmark in Havre de Grace, Maryland, notable as an example of high-style Federal architecture and as the home of a family of prominent officers of the United States Navy. Work began at Sion Hill around 1785 ...

. Herfather, Robert Stein, was an engineer, he was educated at the English Institute of Nymphenburg, near Munich. Just like her father, Scally spent some time in Germany studying at the English Institute of

Nymphenburg The Nymphenburg Palace (, Palace of the Nymphs) is a Baroque palace situated in Munich's western district Neuhausen-Nymphenburg, in Bavaria, southern Germany. The Nymphenburg served as the main summer residence for the former rulers of Bavaria ...

. Having returned to Ireland, Scally joined the

Royal Hibernian Academy The Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts (RHA) is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823. Like many other Irish institutions, such as the Royal Irish Academy, the academy retained the word "Royal" after mo ...

Schools and the Metropolitan School of Art as a student in the early 1900s. Here she met future artists James Sinton Sleator and

Sean Keating Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Hiberno-English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as '' Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; ang ...

. One of James Sleator’s most famous paintings is his oil portrait of Caroline in a fancy dress, and is held in the

National Gallery of Ireland The National Gallery of Ireland () houses the national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre of Dublin with one entrance on Merrion Square, beside Leinster House, and another on Clare Street, Dublin, Clare Street. It ...

. At the Metropolitan School of Art, Scally faced a strictly academic approach to art. Although he was one of her professors, the renowned artist

William Orpen Major (United Kingdom), Major Sir William Newenham Montague Orpen, (27 November 1878 – 29 September 1931) was an Irish artist who mainly worked in London. Orpen was a fine draughtsman and a popular, commercially successful painter of portrai ...

had less of an impact on Scally than he did on Sleator, Keating and other classmates.KENNEDY, D. S. (2005). Caroline Scally: A retrospective exhibition of work. Dublin: Frederick Gallery In 1911 Caroline won the Taylor art scholarships and prize competitions. She used the prize money to travel across Europe. She returned to Ireland in 1913, and the following year she wed Dublin businessman Gerald Scally. They had five children. Her career was hindered at the time by family and domestic life, and her

exhibitions An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

grew less regular. After spending many years in Northern Ireland, Scally returned to, living Dublin at number 81 Leeson Street Upper.

Career

She held her first solo show in 1930 in the Dublin Painters' Gallery. She was among the first exhibitors at the

Irish Exhibition of Living Art The Irish Exhibition of Living Art (IELA; ) was a yearly exhibition of Irish abstract expressionism and avant-garde Irish art that was started in 1943 by Mainie Jellett. Background World War II Ireland During World War II, Ireland maintai ...

exhibition in 1943 and showed with the

and Watercolour Society of Ireland. She became a committee member of the WSI in 1958 and went on to be President of the

Society of Dublin Painters The Society of Dublin Painters or Dublin Painters Group was formed in Ireland in 1920 to promote Irish modern art. History The Society of Dublin Painters was founded in 1920 by Paul and Grace Henry, Mary Swanzy, Letitia Marion Hamilton, Jack B ...

in 1962. According to the

Evening Herald ''The Herald'' is a nationwide mid-market tabloid newspaper headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and published by Independent News & Media who are a subsidiary of Mediahuis. It is published Monday–Saturday. The newspaper was known as the ''Ev ...

, she was one of the best contemporary painters, with her style was also described as "mannered, with a pleasing dryish colour sense and a sense of humour". In 1952

described Scally as a painter of power originality and the spurning of nature. Scally's constant movement throughout her early life and thereafter is reflected in the names of her paintings such as 'Achill Graveyard'.

Legacy

Her paintings remain displayed in the National Gallery of Ireland such as "The Canal Lock House". Several of Scally's works have disappeared in past years with her son, Sean Scally, was attempting to track down the whereabouts of her paintings in order to carry on her legacy and preserve her work in 1995.

Featured exhibitions

* A Celebration of Irish Art and Modernism' (2011) * 'Ireland: Her People and Landscape' (2012) * 'Irish Women Artists: 1870-1970' exhibition (2014)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scally, Caroline 1886 births 1973 deaths 20th-century Irish painters People from Dún Laoghaire Alumni of the National College of Art and Design Irish landscape painters Artists from County Dublin 20th-century Irish women painters