Count John McCormack and his Family
Artist
Sir John Lavery
(1856 - 1941)
Date1929
MediumOil on board
Dimensions50.8 x 61 cm
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineCollection & image © Hugh Lane Gallery.
Lady Lavery Memorial Bequest through Sir John Lavery, 1935.
Object number755
DescriptionCount John McCormack (1884-1945) was the most adored singer of his generation. He showed early on an interest in a career as a singer, winning the Gold Medal at the Feis Ceoil with little formal training. A tenor of the bel canto school, he enjoyed an immensely successful career in opera, on the recital stage, and with the sale of his recordings. In 1917 he became an American citizen and in 1928 he was created a Papal Count. A master of interior scenes and an enormously successful society painter, John Lavery shows the McCormack family group in various stages of repose with the Count himself looking directly out at the viewer. The painting shows Lavery's skill in depicting the dress fashionable at that time as well as the furniture, decorative details such as flowers and lucid quality of light. The composition of this painting is daring and shows the grand interior continue far into the distant sunlit room.On View
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