ABSTRACT
An interesting collision of ideas caught the imagination of artists and writers in the early years of the century. As the Celtic renascence in literature broadened to embrace a revival of national consciousness in Ireland, the possibility of a national school of painting emerged. The extraordinary idea of those who led the discussions around 1905 was that a closer engagement with modern French painting would pave the way to something distinctly Irish. In the paintings of Walter Osborne, the image is seedy and worn out. How people behave in front of pictures, how they look — how they actually look, and how they look to an observer — these issues preoccupied William Orpen throughout his career. The painting of The Valuers shows four frock-coated notaries’ assistants examining household contents. The circumstances surrounding the acquisition and appreciation of Manet’s picture are recounted and through them the belief in the efficacy of Manet’s factura is explained on the level of the visual.
