Art, Literature and Partition
Ilse Capuchin Annual, 194.3. (Ws. 60.1 Reviewed by GRACE CONWAY
WHEN you get your copy of the
Capuchin Annual I suggest you turn to the section in photogravure, " Foreign Representatives in Ireland." and being very strict with yourself not to look at the name of the enuniry printed at the right-hand side of the page or the name underneath the photographs, guess the nationality of each representative by studying his physiogonomy. I tried this on myself and on some friends. The only one any guessed correctly was the German. (I don't count the Japanese—that was too easy!)
1 ought, of course, to have known Sir John Maffey's wise. humorous face but didn't !
A most interesting section. this, in over five hundred pages of good reading matter, beautiful reproductions of Ireland's art treasures, pictures of Ireland's landscape treasures and the strong. strict patterns of Richard King.
THOMAS MacGreevy contributes a valuable article on " Pictures in the National Gallery "—a collection of which Dublin may justifiably be as proud as a peacock — Era Angelico, Verrochio, Mantegna, Baldassare, Castiglione, Gheerhardt David, Jan de Cock, Rubens, Rembrandt, Jan Steen,
El Lizeco, Goya, del Mazo, Poussin, Chardin, Hogarth. Reynolds, Gainsborough—all periods and countries are represented with the Irish artists, James Barry. James Butler, Yeats and Walter Osborne striking a brave note for the Irish school. The excellent reproductions whet the appetite for the originals ! The Annual's own artist, Richard King, is the subject of a special article by Mairin Allen.
BY far the lion's share of the Annual, JI-R however, is given to the subject that is uppermost in all Irish people's minds—Partition. Every aspect of the problem is analysed and discussed (grim reading some of the facts make) and commented upon by a company of responsible writers.
Whether the tackling of this problem is to he part of England's post-war policy remains to be seen. Meanwhile all but those who wish to remain culpably ignorant might study this considerable section of the Capuchin Annual and at least be ready with an informed opinion in place of the unintelligent and customary English habit of waving away anything that touches Ireland. (It is published separately under the title Orange Terror.) After all, it is that very habit applied to international affairs generally that played a large share in the present world fracas.