Sir Egerton Bushe Coghill, 5th Baronet (7 February 1853 – 9 October 1921) was an Irish

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

Life and family

Coghill was born on 7 February 1853 in

Castletownshend Castletownshend () is a village about south-east of Skibbereen, in County Cork, Ireland. The village developed around a small 17th-century castle built by Richard Townsend. History Evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number ...

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

. He was the second son of Irish painter Sir John Joscelyn Coghill, 4th Baronet, and his wife the Hon. Katherine Frances, daughter of

John Plunket, 3rd Baron Plunket John Span Plunket, 3rd Baron Plunket of Newtown, County Cork (10 July 1793 – 16 April 1871) was an Irish peer and Queen's Counsel. He was the second son of William Plunket, 1st Baron Plunket, and Catherine MacAusland. He succeeded his brother Th ...

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

recipient

Nevill Coghill Nevill Henry Kendal Aylmer Coghill (19 April 1899 – 6 November 1980) was an Anglo-Irish literary scholar, known especially for his modern-English version of Geoffrey Chaucer's ''Canterbury Tales''. He was an associate of the literary discuss ...

was his elder brother.

Edith Anna Somerville Edith Anna Œnone Somerville (; 2 May 1858 – 8 October 1949) was an Irish novelist who habitually signed herself as "E. Œ. Somerville". She wrote in collaboration with her cousin "Martin Ross" ( Violet Martin) under the pseudonym " Somervil ...

was his cousin. He initially trained as an engineer at

Haileybury School Haileybury is a co-educational Public school (United Kingdom), public school (fee-charging boarding school, boarding and day school for 11- to 18-year-olds) located in Hertford Heath, Hertfordshire. It is a member of the Rugby Group and enrols ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

. Cohgill married Elizabeth Somerville of Drishane, Skibbereen, County Cork. She was a sister of Edith Somerville. Coghill was succeeded as baronet by his eldest son Marmaduke Coghill, a soldier in both World Wars. His second son was

, a professor at Oxford University, while a younger son was the actor

Ambrose Coghill Sir Joscelyn Ambrose Cramer Coghill, 7th Baronet (30 September 1902 – 6 June 1983) was an Anglo-Irish actor and aristocrat, being the 7th Baronet of Coghill (1778) (1981–1983). He was born in Skibbereen in County Cork in Ireland ...

. Coghill died during a visit to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

on 9 October 1921. He was initially buried at

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

, but was exhumed in 1923 and brought back to Ireland to be reburied at St Barrahane's churchyard, Castletownshend.

Career

He left a career in engineering to pursue one in the arts, studying in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

and he

Académie Julian The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. From 1883 to 1884 he lived at

Barbizon Barbizon () is a commune (town) in the Seine-et-Marne department in north-central France. It is located near the Fontainebleau Forest. Demographics The inhabitants are called ''Barbizonais''. Art history The Barbizon school of painters is n ...

near

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau ( , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the Kilometre zero#France, centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a Subprefectures in Franc ...

, then travelled to

where he became a member of the

New English Art Club The New English Art Club (NEAC) is a society for contemporary artists that was founded in London, England, in 1886 as an alternative venue to the Royal Academy. The NEAC holds an annual exhibition of paintings and drawings at the Mall Galleries ...

. Coghill exhibited at 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 ...

between 1882 and 1919, and the Liverpool Autumn Exhibitions at the

Walker Art Gallery The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group. History The Walker Art Gallery's collection dates from 1819 ...

. He returned to his native land and settled in his home town of Castletownshend having left Paris in 1884. He showed once at the Paris Salon in 1886, and he never exhibited with the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

. Many of his paintings feature the landscapes of County Cork. Coghill had no desire for publicity and was not competitive, which resulted in him showing his work relatively rarely. The Crawford Gallery, 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 ...

, and the

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street in Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University ...

all hold examples of his work. A retrospective exhibition of his work was held in the Ashmolean in 1964, displaying 73 of his paintings. In 1965, a smaller exhibition was held at the

Alpine Club Alpine clubs are typically large social clubs that revolve around climbing, hiking, and other outdoor activities. Many alpine clubs also take on aspects typically reserved for local sport associations, providing education and training courses, se ...

gallery, London. The "Egerton Coghill Landscape Prize" was established in his memory at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coghill, Sir Egerton, 5th Baronet 1853 births 1921 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain 19th-century Irish painters 20th-century Irish painters Irish male painters Irish Impressionist painters People from Castletownshend 19th-century Irish male artists 20th-century Irish male artists