Kildare Arts Service : Municipal Collection

‘Morning Cry’ - Norah McGuinness (1901-1980)

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Dimensions: 49cm x 69cm

Location: Athy Library

Born in county Derry in 1901, Norah McGuinness studied at the Metropolitan School of Art (now the National College of Art and Design) in Dublin and at Chelsea Polytechnic in London. McGuinness spent some time in Paris studying under the French artist André l'Hote. McGuinness also spent time in London, where she was a member of the avant-garde London Group, and in New York before returning to Ireland in 1940. Alongside her career in painting McGuinness worked as a graphic designer and illustrator, designing theatre set and costumes as well as illustrating books.

This landscape painting by McGuinness shows the influence of the Fauvist movement on her art. McGuinness’s abstract style in this flattened landscape with its emphasis on colour and shape over perspective and realistic detail is quality found in the works of the Fauvist movement and the artists involved: artist such as Henri Matisse, André Derain and, McGuinness’s favourite, André Lhote.

Click here to compare this work to “The Joy of Life” by Henri Matisse

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