Painting Collection
A Walk in the Woods at Marlay
Hone, Evie
No Definate Date, oil on board, 41 x 46 cm (gift of the Friends of the National Collections in 1973)
Evie Hone (1894-1955) was born in Dublin. She is better known for her work in stained glass; however, examples of her abstract paintings are held in collections through out Ireland. She befriended another Irish artist, Mainie Jellett, while attending Westminster School of Art in London, and the pair moved to Paris together where they studied under the direction of Albert Gleizes, a cubist painter. Hone designed windows for many religious and secular institutions in Ireland and England.
You can see how A Walk in the Woods at Marlay could easily translate into stained glass. The trees are boldly outlined, as though they were shapes of coloured glass, leaded to emphasise their forms. The yellow trees illuminate the rear, casting light from behind, perhaps to indicate the sun trying to enter this little copse. This work reflects Hone’s background education in Cubism in her attempt to show multiple views of an object simultaneously on a flattened plane. Her understanding of Expressionism is demonstrated in bold, expressive use of colour and brushstroke.
