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Artist: William Conor RHA RUA ROI (1881-1968) Title: Moore Street, Dublin Signature: signed 'Conor' lower right Medium: wax crayon on paper Size: 30 x 41½cm (11.8 x 16.3in) Framed Size: 55.2 x 66.2cm (21.7 x 26.1in) Provenance: Chichester Galleries, Belfast (label verso); Private Collection a#morebtn { color: #de1d01; } a#morebtn:hover { cursor: pointer;} Dating probably from the 1940s, Moore Street depicts a typical Dublin street market scene, with people, mainly women, gathered around a stall. The medium of oil pastel suits the subject-matter, adding a sense of a fleeting glimpse of a busy street scene. In Moore Street, Conor captures a sense of th... Read more William Conor Lot 59 - 'Moore Street, Dublin' Estimate: €3,000 - €5,000 Dating probably from the 1940s, Moore Street depicts a typical Dublin street market scene, with people, mainly women, gathered around a stall. The medium of oil pastel suits the subject-matter, adding a sense of a fleeting glimpse of a busy street scene. In Moore Street, Conor captures a sense of the community feeling that made Dublin's north inner city, in spite of deprivation and poverty, a vibrant place. William Conor's depictions of scenes of ordinary life in Ireland's cities and towns, are an enduring legacy of one of Ireland's best-loved artists of the twentieth century. He delighted in painting everyday scenes, of children playing on streets, and people going about their daily lives, smiling and laughing. Born in Belfast in 1881, the son of a metal worker and gas fitter, William Conor was part of a large family. He trained at the Belfast College of Art and after working as a commercial artist and lithographer for David Allen & Son, received an important commission during World War I, to paint portraits of soldiers and others involved in the war effort. By 1921, 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 four years later he went on an extended trip to the United States. Returning to Ireland, 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, people gossiping and mothers and their children. Peter Murray, September 2022