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Artist: William Conor RHA RUA ROI (1881-1968) Title: The Horse Fair Signature: signed 'Conor' top right Medium: wax crayon on paper Size: 46 x 36½cm (18.1 x 14.4in) Framed Size: 77 x 68cm (30.3 x 26.8in) Provenance: Artist's Studio Label verso; The Eakin Gallery, Belfast; Private Collection a#morebtn { color: #de1d01; } a#morebtn:hover { cursor: pointer;} From the outset of his career, William Conor was interested in fairs and animals. While studying at the Government School of Design (now the Belfast College of Art) he made sketching visits to "Johnson's Horse Repository" in University Road, Belfast, where horses were looked after and stabled. Throu... Read more William Conor Lot 38 - 'The Horse Fair' Estimate: €10,000 - €15,000 From the outset of his career, William Conor was interested in fairs and animals. While studying at the Government School of Design (now the Belfast College of Art) he made sketching visits to "Johnson's Horse Repository" in University Road, Belfast, where horses were looked after and stabled. Throughout his career Conor drew on his knowledge of equine anatomy, depicting horses paraded at country horse fairs-and even during the annual Horse Show, held at the RDS in Dublin. As with most of Conor's paintings and drawings, his focus is on the enjoyment being derived by those present, as much as on the main subject. In this view of horses being paraded at a town fair, he shows onlookers chatting and admiring the turnout. The location is not identified, nor is there information about the people depicted. They are the ordinary country people and townsfolk of Ireland, taking part in an age-old tradition--the horse fair held at Ballinasloe is reckoned to be one of the oldest in Europe, and horses were an integral part of life and economy, both in town and countryside. Conor often depicted people travelling, by horse or donkey cart; there is an important collection of his works in the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. After beginning his career as a commercial artist and lithographer, during World War I Conor received a commission 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, portrait painter John Lavery. Two years later, Conor was recommended by Lavery for another prestigious commission, to record on canvas the ceremonial opening of Parliament in Northern Ireland. Over the following decades, he received regular commissions to paint portraits of judges, politicians, aristocrats and army officers. However, today Conor is better known for his depictions of the ordinary working people of Belfast and its surroundings; the shipbuilders, labourers, street musicians and washerwomen who struggled to maintain a livelihood, often in conditions of adversity. He painted shoppers in Belfast, their umbrellas raised to protect against driving rain, itinerant workers trudging along the road, and children playing in the street. Yet in spite of the hardships they faced, these people are depicted by Conor as resolute, smiling and cheerful, and the perennial popularity of his art is based largely on the respect he showed for people from all walks of life. Peter Murray, March 2023