Robert Healy, Irish (1743-1771)  “Portrait of Mrs. Florind...

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€8,000 - €10,000

Robert Healy, Irish (1743-1771) 

“Portrait of Mrs. Florinda Gardiner (née Norman) standing by an urn,”  grisaille pastel on paper, signed and dated 1769, 61cms x 34cms (24” x 13 ¼”), bears label on reverse “Mrs Gardiner, mother of Luke Vic [?] Mountjoy, Killed in Battle 1798; Mrs Gardiner died 1812 . . drawing by R. Healy 1769” (1)

In this full-length portrait, Florinda Gardiner is depicted standing in a lawn or parkland setting, beside an urn on a pedestal, her hand reaching out to touch the pedestal. Posed formally, she wears a long dress, with a high lace collar, bonnet, and flowing lace sleeves. In her left hand she carries a pair of gloves. Behind are trees and ivy-covered walls. The drawing reveals Healy’s consummate skill in using grey and white chalk to create subtle tones, not dissimilar to a mezzotint.

Born in Derry in 1722, the daughter of Sarah (née Bolton) and Robert Norman, Mayor of Derry, Florinda Norman grew up at Lagore Co. Meath. In 1741 she married the twenty-one year old landowner and politician Charles Gardiner. The eldest son of Luke Gardiner, who had developed large areas of north inner-city Dublin, Charles went on himself to lay out Georgian terraces on Rutland Square and Cavendish Row. Inheriting the Mountjoy estates in 1769 he did not live long to enjoy them, as he died the same year. His interest in architecture is evident from his commissioning John Smith to design  St. Thomas Church on Marlborough Street (destroyed 1922), based on Palladio’s Il Redentore in Venice. He and Florinda had three sons and two daughters, among them Luke, Lord Mountjoy M.P, who was killed in the Battle of New Ross in 1798, and Anne, who went on to become Lady Clancarty. Florinda died in 1812, aged 90, at Naas, Co. Kildare.

Born in Dublin in or around 1743, Robert Healy (or Hayley), while living at Wood Quay, attended the Dublin Society drawing schools. He studied under Robert West, who in turn had studied in Paris under Francois Boucher, an artist whose preparatory chalk sketches were much sought after by collectors. As a consequence there was an emphasis on pastel and chalk drawing in the Society’s schools and Healy, like his contemporaries Hamilton and Hickey, excelled in small-scale portraits using only black and white chalks. Another contemporary of theirs in Dublin, Charles Forrest, also specialised in pastels, again using limited colour. In 1768 Healy was commissioned by Thomas Conolly to draw scenes of life in and around Castletown House, with people walking, skating and hunting. Some of these drawings depict Thomas and Louisa Conolly with grooms and horses. Healy preferred to set his figures in gardens and open-air settings rather than in interiors. The following year he won a prize at the Dublin Society for his drawing of a group of figures. As he died young, after sketching out of doors at Dangan Castle in inclement weather, Healy’s output was inconsiderable; some twenty-five drawings are attributed to him. His brother William, also an artist, drew in a similar style and took over Robert’s studio practice, and either finished or copied works by Robert, including a version of the present work. There are two self-portraits by Robert Healy in the National Gallery of Ireland. In one of these, signed and dated 1765, he holds a sketchbook and leans on a Classical bust. His full length portrait of Miss Cunningham holding her King Charles spaniel, signed and dated 1770, is in the Art Institute of Chicago, while his portrait of Anne, Countess of Clancarty, was in a Hamilton Osborne King sale in 1999.
Dr. Peter Murray 2022
Provenance:  Oldtown, Naas, Co. Kildare