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Artist: William Conor RHA RUA ROI (1881-1968) Title: Shuggleshoo Signature: signed lower left Medium: oil on canvas Size: 51 x 61cm (20.1 x 24in) Framed Size: 78 x 88cm (30.7 x 34.6in) Provenance: The Bell Gallery, Belfast (label verso); Private Collection Exhibited: Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition 1951, No. 40 a#morebtn { color: #de1d01; } a#morebtn:hover { cursor: pointer;} William Conor delighted in painting children; swinging from a lamppost on a city street, dancing at a Feis or laughing and playing. Shuggleshoo depicts an idyllic scene on a summer's day, with simple entertainment and games for children. The word 'shuggle' means to shake and Conor has captured the c... Read more William Conor Lot 54 - 'Shuggleshoo' Estimate: €20,000 - €30,000 William Conor delighted in painting children; swinging from a lamppost on a city street, dancing at a Feis or laughing and playing. Shuggleshoo depicts an idyllic scene on a summer's day, with simple entertainment and games for children. The word 'shuggle' means to shake and Conor has captured the children's excitement at the joy of balancing on the fairly primitive seesaw. Smiling and laughing, four children on the nearest end of the pole cling to each other as they seek to unbalance their opponents on the other end. The child at the furthest-and highest-end of the pole seems not so happy, and is getting ready to jump. In the background, adults busy themselves preparing a picnic lunch. The setting is an open sunlit field, bounded by trees in the distance. One of Conor's most charming paintings of everyday life, Shuggleshoo is also a document of social history in Ulster. Born in Belfast in 1881 and trained at the Belfast College of Art, after working as a commercial artist and lithographer, William Conor received an important commission during World War I, to paint portraits of soldiers and others involved in the war effort. By 1920, he had moved to London, where his work was promoted by a fellow-Belfast artist, John Lavery In 1922, Conor was recommended by Lavery for another prestigious commission, to record the ceremonial opening of Parliament in Northern Ireland, and over the following decades, he received regular commissions to paint portraits of judges, politicians, aristocrats and army officers. However, today Conor is far better known for his depictions of ordinary working people in Belfast and its surroundings; shipbuilders, labourers, street musicians and washerwomen who struggled to maintain a livelihood, often in conditions of adversity. His paintings form a visual social history of the time, in town and country, with shoppers, itinerant workers trudging along the road, people gossiping and mothers and their children. Conor's interest in scenes of everyday life included capturing images of children at play, and in Shuggleshoo he evokes the happy days of childhood, perhaps also conveying a message that such days can be fleeting. Peter Murray, September 2021