Henry O'Shea

Miniature portrait of a British officer by Henry O'Shea

1840

Red crayon on brown light-wove paper, 6 3/4 x 4 3/4 inches (172 x 121 mm). Light toning and extremely minor, small losses at the very extreme top right and left corners (1/8-inch).

Pen and ink with wash on watermarked J Whatman 1814 paper, 11 x 8 1/4 (280 x 210 mm). Scattered minor edge losses at the left sheet edge, well outside of image area. Minor handling w...

Black chalk and graphite on light weight cream wove paper, 16 1/8 x 11 1/4 inches, (410 x 286 mm), the full sheet. Signed, titled, and dated in sepia ink in the lower-center sheet area. With horizontal folds approximately 1-inch from the sheet edge at each of the four sheets. The drawing appears to have been folded at the sheet edges to fit into a frame. Finn mac Cumail (or mac Umaill), often anglicized Finn McCool or MacCool, is a hero in Irish mythology, as well as in later Scottish and Manx folklore. He is the leader of the Fianna bands of young roving hunter-warriors, as well as being a seer and poet. He is said to have a magic thumb that bestows him with great wisdom. He is often depicted hunting with his hounds Bran and Sceólang, and fighting with his spear and sword. Fionn MacCumhail was transformed into the character "Fingal" in James Macpherson's poem cycle Ossian (1760), which Macpherson claimed was translated out of discovered Ossianic poetry written in the Scottish Gaelic language. Fionn MacCumhail features heavily in modern Irish literature. Most notably he makes several appearances in James Joyce's Finnegans Wake...

Emperor Jahangir and Empress Nur Jahan exchanging lotus blossoms; a symbol of beauty, purity, honesty, rebirth, self-regeneration, and enlightenment....

A magnificent and sensitively treated line drawing in coloured ink, heightened with white. It depicts Argan, the hypochondriac from Molière's play of the same name. Dating from circa...

A virtuoso charcoal sketch by the Frech 19th Century master Gustave Jean Jacquet (1846-1904). It depicts a thoughtful woman (or woman in thought?) with her face resting on her hand...

Fiat Wedding Cake Car: Irony and Provocation in Marco Silombria's Pop Art. Circa 1970 Artist: Marco Silombria Technique: Mixed media drawing and collage on paper and cardboard Dime...

The murder of John Lennon. The birth of my children. Nixon’s resignation. Brain surgery. Driven by the desire to express myself, and leave a physical record of my life and times, I’v...