On this day in 1974, Lilla Perry, nee Bagwell, died at the age of 86.
The painting below is called 'Cross at Ahenny' and is undated. It shows the remarkable 8th century high crosses in Ahenny and the beautiful Lingaun Valley in the background. We are delighted to have several of Lilla's watercolours in our collection.
While Lilla probably received some formal art training, and spent several months in Italy in her youth, it seems that she was largely self-taught. Working almost entirely in watercolours, she exhibited regularly over many years (1908–70) with the Water Colour Society of Ireland (WCSI), with whom she showed over 100 works, initially under her maiden name (Bagwell), thenas Lilla Perry.
She first exhibited at the London Salon in 1909, and was represented at exhibitions of the Society of Women Artists, London (1911–12).Though she painted throughout her life, she was most prolific in the 1920s and1930s. She showed five works at the RHA, all in 1927–30, and exhibited with the Munster Fine Art Club (1933) and the Ulster Academy of Arts, Belfast (1937).
While her subjects changed little – she favoured views of rivers, trees, and gardens, largely at Birdhill, Marlfield, and other locations around Clonmel – her style developed from an early attention to close detail executed in muted colours, to the brighter palette and looser brushwork of her later work.
At the WCSI centenary exhibition (1970) she was represented by ‘Kilmanahan castle near Clonmel’. She died at Marlfield on 30 August 1974.Most of her work is in private collections which makes us all the more honoured to have several of her paintings in our collection at Tipperary Museum of Hidden History. These include ‘Clonmel and the River Suir’ (1931), ‘Knocklofty bridge’ (1940), 'Snow in Clonmel' (undated), and the below 'Cross at Ahenny'(undated).
Sources:
https://www.dib.ie/biography/bagwell-richard-a0313#co-subject-A
