CAG.0611 Beatrice E. Gubbins, Continental Street Scene, 1907, oil on canvas, 40.5 x 30.5 cm. Presented, the Artist.

We’re off to sunnier climes with this WORK OF THE WEEK!

Continental Street Scene (1907) by Beatrice E. Gubbins is a study in light, shadow, and colour.

This beautiful oil painting describes a narrow street, in Spain or Portugal perhaps, filled with activity. In the foreground, a grocer sits in the shade alongside baskets of produce set within a corner doorway. Further up the sun-drenched street, a vista towards a church tower opens up, with several people moving about, lending interest to the artist’s scene.

Gubbins’ warm Mediterranean or Iberian palette of whites, blues, and earth tones lend an atmosphere of warmth, while her fluid style echoes the shifts in painting practice that emanated from France, in particular, in the preceding decades.

Irish artist Beatrice E. Gubbins (1878-1944) lived at Dunkettle House, Cork. She was well-travelled during her lifetime, and counted England, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and the West Indies among her many destinations. She kept a written journal and painted as she went, later exhibiting her work with the Royal Hibernian Academy, Belfast Art Society, and Watercolour Society of Ireland. She was also honorary secretary of Queenstown Sketching Club (Cobh).

Congenitally deaf, Gubbins received treatment in London three or four years after making this painting, which was to improve her hearing ability. Follow the link for an ISL (Irish Sign Language) resource on the artist by Amanda Coogan. Click here to view.

Continental Street Scene (1907) by Beatrice E. Gubbins is currently displayed on our main staircase.

Free entry | Open daily

The Arts House: Conor Tallon chats with curator Michael Waldron about a work from the Collection every Sunday morning on Cork’s 96FM and C103 Cork. You can listen back to this week’s chat here:

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