John Joseph Tracey (1813-1873) Painter of Classical Subjects
and Irish Scenes
He was born in Dublin in 1813. His mother was housekeeper to George
Meade of 6 Malpas Street. Displaying a bent for art Meade put him into the
Dublin Society’s School in 1829 and there he made good progress, carrying off
prizes in 1830 and 1831. In the latter year he sent two classical subjects to
the Royal Hibernian Academy, and began to practice as a painter, residing for
some years in Malpas Street. He at first confined himself to classical
subjects, influenced by the work of his patron Meade and his “Coriolanus” was
bought by the Royal Irish Art Union in 1841 for fifty pounds; but about 1842 he
began to paint scenes of Irish country life such as “The Irish Peasant’s Grave”
1843; “The Low-backed Car” 1853; “Larry O’Toole praying for a son and heir”
1860 a subject taken from one of Carleton’s stories. His “Irish Peasant’s Grave”
was purchased by the Royal Irish Art Union for seventy pounds and was won as a
prize by W.P. Hyndman of Aston’s Quay. It afterwards belonged to J. Hamilton
Read of Killarney Hill, Wicklow and was lithographed and published by E.J.
Harty of 9 Dame Street. Tracey was a frequent exhibitor in the Royal Irish
Academy. In 1860 he went to reside in Heytesbury Street, and he gradually
abandoned painting and confined himself to picture cleaning and restoring. His
patron G. Meade, who died in 1835, bequeathed three hundred pounds to him as
well as one hundred to his sister. He died at his residence in Heytesbury
Street, Dublin, in November 1873, in his 60th year. His two sons,
John (died 11th December 1911) and Edward (still living [in 1913]),
successfully continued their father’s business as picture cleaners at 13
Heytesbury Street.” He also had a painting in the first exhibition of the
Society of Irish Artists, held in the Royal Irish Institution, College Street
in April 1843.
Strickland WG (1969) A
dictionary of Irish Artists. Volume II. Irish University Press, Shannon.
p.451-2.) Originally published in 1913.
The
Peasant’s Grave (1843)
courtesy Daniel Sheppard
1 Nov 1859 Dublin Builder
Crawford Art Gallery,
Emmett Place, Cork,
Work of the Week | 17 July 2023
CAG.2633 John
Joseph Tracey, A Scene of Bygone Days,
1845, oil on canvas, 63 x 75 cm. Purchased, 2010.
This WORK OF THE WEEK presents a mystery, albeit recently solved!
Widely known as the cover image for the bestselling Atlas of the Great Irish Famine (Cork University Press, 2012), for many years this painting has been called The Eviction and thought to be the work of Daniel Macdonald (1821-1853).
It dramatically depicts the eviction of a tenant farming family against a rolling Irish landscape. Compelling new research, however, has uncovered not only its original title, but also an entirely different artist.
In an article published in History Ireland (July/August 2023), art historian Niamh O’Sullivan reflects on current contexts for this historic work and outlines a summary of her painstaking research that has led to a reappraisal of the painting and reattribution to Macdonald’s contemporary, John Joseph Trac[e]y.
Thanks to this new research, we can now definitively re-identify The Eviction as A Scene of Bygone Days (1845), a rare example of Tracey’s work in public ownership and a still rarer depiction of Famine-era eviction.
From an early age, John Joseph Tracey (1813-1873) attended the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) school, where he won prizes in 1830 and 1831, and soon after began to exhibit at the Royal Hibernian Academy. By the 1840s, the artist’s subjects had moved from the classical to the rural, with his prize-winning The Irish Peasant’s Grave (1843) – also in the Collection – being purchased by the Royal Irish Art Union and subsequently lithographed.
Crawford Art Gallery welcomes this new attribution and thanks Niamh O’Sullivan for her research in restoring a lost name to the Irish artistic canon.
A Scene of Bygone Days (1845) by John Joseph Tracey is currently displayed on our Gibson Landing (Floor 1).
https://crawfordartgallery.ie/work-of-the-week-17-july-2023/
Family History
3
February 1860 IT
Art Union of Ireland...subscribers...Mr. John
Tracey, jun;...
Joannis
Tracy &
Eleonora Kinsela
Joannes Josephus Tracy b. 1836
Sp. Christophero Kinsela & Joanna Kelly. St. Nicholas RC
John
Tracy &
Ellen Kinsella
John Edw Tracy b. 17 December
1838 Sp. Chris Kinsella & Sarah Kinsella. St. Nicholas RC
Joannes
Tracy &
Mariae Kinsella
Edvardus Tracy b. 22 January 1843
Sp. Patritius & Rosa Doyle. St. Nicholas RC
Joannis
Tracy &
Helenae Kinsella
Georgina Tracy b. 9 ??? 1851 Sp.
Guilielmus Kearney & Susanna Nichol?. St. Nicholas RC
Donohue
and Tracy - 2nd July 1870,
at St Kevins Harrington street, David youngest son of Patrick Donohoe, builder
of this city, to Ellen, eldest daughter of John Tracy, of 85 Heytesbury street
Helena Tracey of 85
Haylerbury St (d. of Johannis Tracey
& Helenae Kinsella of 85 Haylerbury St) married David Donohoe of 3? Digges
St (s. of Patritii & Helenae Drisdale
– defuntes [dead]) on 2 July 1870 Wit: Christophorus Nowlan of 2 Lr
Camden St & Matilda Drysdale of 84 Lr Cavandish St. Harrington St Parish
Ellen
Tracey, of full age,
spinster, lives 85 Heytesbury St, (d. of John
Tracy, Artist) married David Donohoe, of full age, bachelor, boot maker,
lives 6 Diggs St, (s. of Patrick Joseph Donohoe, builder) 2 July 1870 RC Chapel
St. Kevin Wit: Christopher Nowlan & Matilda Drysdale [Dublin South PLU]
Eleonorae Tracy & Davidis Donahoe
Maria Donohoe b. 6 May 1871 of Mt Pleasant Avenue Sp.
Patricio Cadogan & Josephina Cadogan. Rathmines RC
Eleonora Donohue b. 23 March 1873 Sp. Jacobo Hutchinson
& Margarita Donohue. Rathmines RC
Maria Donahoe b. 31 December 1874 of Rathgar Sp. Josepho
Connolly & Anna. Rathmines RC
Hellena Tracy & Davide Donohoe
Hellena Donohoe b. 6 January 1878 of Argus View Lr Roundtown Sp. Margarita Tyrrell. St. Joseph’s RC
John Tracey,
died 1873 Dublin South PLU, aged 58 years, b. 1815, married, an artist, died 15
Nov 1873 at 85 Heytesbury Street. Edward
Tracey, present at death, 85 Heytesbury Street
17
November 1873 Freeman's Journal
Tracey-Nov. 15, at 13? Heytesbury-street,
John Tracey, sen., Esq. His remains will be removed for internment on to-morrow
(Tuesday) morning to Glasnevin ...
1901
Census
John
Tracey, 62, M, 13 Heytesbury Street, Wood Quay, Dublin, Picture Cleaner, Roman
Catholic, Head of Family, Not Married, Dublin
Edward
Tracey, 58, M, Heytesbury Street, Wood Quay, Dublin, Picture Cleaner, Roman
Catholic, Brother, Not Married, Dublin
Georgina
Tracey, 47, F, Heytesbury Street, Wood Quay, Dublin, No business, Roman
Catholic, Sister, Not Married, Dublin
1911 Census
John,
Tracey, 13 Heytesbury St., 72, M, Wood Quay Dublin (brother, single, picture
restorer)
Edward,
Tracey, Heytesbury St., 68, M, Wood Quay Dublin (brother, single, picture
restorer)
Georgina,
Tracey, Heytesbury St., 58, F, Wood Quay Dublin (sister, single)
Will John Tracey
d.11 Dec 1911 13 Heytesbury Street Dublin, picture cleaner, to Edward
Tracey, picture cleaner
Will Edward Tracey
11 Jul 1919 13 Heytesbury street Dublin, retired picture restorer, to
Edward Emanuel Lennon
Jun 21, 1919 (IT) Death
Tracey - June 12 1919, at his residence ??? Heytesbury St., Edward
Tracey, aged 76 years.
Jun 12, 1920 (IT) In Memoriam
Tracey - In loving memory of Edward Tracy who died at 13 Heytesbury St,
12th June 1919.
There is a link death cannot sever,
Love and remembrance last for ever
Inserted by his fond sisters and nieces.
1919 London wills
Edward Tracey of
13 Heytesbury-street Dublin died 12 June 1919. Probate Dublin to Edward Emanuel
Lennon F.R.C.P.I. Effects £1840 in England. Sealed London 14 August.
1930
London Wills
Georgina Tracey of 568 North Circular road
Dublin spinster died 12 March 1930 Probate London 30 April to Edward Emanuel
Lennon F.R.C.P.S.I. Effects £1044.
Apr 21, 1931 The Irish Times
Lived an Eccentric Life - Dublin Woman's £6400 - Bulk left to charities
...The plaintiff, as executor, sought to establish the last will, dated
21st January 1927, of Miss Georgina Tracey, late of 568 North Circular Road,
Dublin, who died on the 12 March 1930...the testatrix was aged about 76 years
and the estate valued at £6400. By her will, Miss Tracey appointed Dr. Lennon,
the plaintif, exeutor, and gave him a sum of £300 for so acting. She also left
him her land stock, which was worth £600, in consideration for his medical
services for eight years, for which services she had never lpaid him
anything...She left £1000 to the Meath Hospital to endow a bed to be called
after her brothers Edward and John and herself...She left the two ladies, in
whose house house she had lived for eight years, Lily McCrudden and Florance
McNamee [of 568 North Circular road], £20 and £10 respectively...The family had
originally consisted of John, Edward, Georgina (the testatrix) and another
sister, who married and became Mrs Kennedy and who was the mother of the
defendant in this action. They had lived as 13 Heytesbury street, Dublin. They
were picture restoters and they seemed to have accumulated a great deal of
money. For 31 years Dr. Lennon had been medical attendant of the family...John
died first and Edward died in 1919 and he by his will...left £1000 to his
sister Mrs Ellen Kennedy, [of 76 Kennedy Park Phibsboro] mother of the
defendant, Mrs Grey...
Newspaper and
Other References
Note: George
Meade of 6 Malpas Street died 1st June, 1835, in his eighty-first year.
1837 Dublin Almanac
John Tracey, artist, 6 Malpas Street
1840-1850 Dublin
Directory
John
Tracy/Tracey/Treacy, house painter/picture
restorer & painter, 6 Malpas St
1844 Jurors City of Dublin
St.
Nicholas Without
John
Tracey, 6 Malpas street, painter, householder
1847 Dublin
Directory
John Tracy, member of Society of Irish Artists, 6 Malpas-street
1848-54
Griffiths Valuation Dublin
John Tracy, 6 Malpas Street St. Nicholas Without Dublin
1851
Census
Jno Tracey, 6 Malpas St, Dublin City
1859 Thom's Almanac and Official Directory
of Ireland
John Tracy, 6 Malpas street
1862 Thom’s Dublin Street Directory
John Tracey, picture cleaner, (15l.) 85
Bell-villa. (Heytesbury-street)
July 15th, 1865. List of electors, City of
Dublin.
John
Tracey, 85 Heytesbury street, Bell's villa .. G P
1870 Slater
John Tracey, picture cleaner, 85 Heytesbury at
1874
85 Heytesbury-street Parish of Saint Peter Dublin, John
Treacy, £26, 0a/0r/7p, tenant from year to year
1881 Slaters
John Tracey, picture restorer, 13 Heytesbury st
1894 Slaters
John Tracey, householder, 13 Heytesbury st
1839 The Art journal
John Tracy, also a
young artist. No. 97, 'Brutus declaring his determination to revenge Lucretia,'
is very creditable to his talents. He appears imbued with the spirit of the
"olden school of France." Le Brun seems his model. The back ground
and draperies are beautifully got in, and shew talent far beyond what we could
expect from a hand hitherto unknown.
June 19, 1840 (FJ) Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA)
97. Brutus
declaring his determination to revenge Lucretia (Tracy). There are few good
attempts at historical subjects in the exhibition, but among the the present
picture takes a principal place. The artist's conception of the tragic scene,
and of the feelings of the several parties concerned in it, appears to have
been very correct, and he has succeeded in giving expression to his ideas on
the canvass. The variety and beauty of the grouping and drapery are peculiarly
striking, and the moer mechanical, though equally difficult, portion of the
work is alike worthy of commendation.
May 12, 1841 (FJ) RHA annual Exhibition
No. 20 Coriolanus
by Tracy, an arduous effort, our observations on which we must postpone to our
next notice.
No. 20 "The
family of Coriolanus entreating for the preservation of Rome", by Mr.
Tracy, a young and certainly a promising artist. The subject is a bold and
arduous one and the very attempt would have been a merit in the artist, had he
not even suceeded so eminently as he has done. The picture is full of figures,
very much in Poussin's style of composition, and the colouring not unlike that
of Paul Veronnese, although it is not laid on with sufficient finish for the
subject. The artist has thus studied in no bad school. There is a good deal of
spirit in many of the figures, the expression being very good in the principal
ones, and unity is well preserved in the whole composition. There is evident anacronism
in the architure of the back ground, but too many precedents of high authority
could be pleaded in its behalf. On the whole, it is a picture which indicates
considerable genius in the author.
September 3, 1841 (FJ) Fine Arts - Royal Irish Art
Union
...Coriolanus,
Tracy, £50...
May 23, 1842 (FJ) Fine Arts - Royal Irish Art
Union
229. The Angel's
Whisper, by J. Tracey, Dublin, £30 - the artist's price.
June 7, 1842 (FJ) Royal Irish Art Union
71. Feeding the
Calf, by J. Tracey, Dublin, £10.
June 14, 1842 (FJ) Exhibition of the RHA
No. 229, "The
angel's Whisper", by Tracy, a very superior picture in many repects.
June 5, 1843 (FJ) Fine arts - Royal Irish Art
Union
'The Peasant's
Grave' by J. Tracey, £70, being the artist's price.
August 30, 1843 (FJ) Royal Irish Art Union -
Distribution of Prizes
The Irish Peasant's
Grave, J. Tracy, £70
2 September 1843 (N) Royal Irish Art-Union
Drawing of
prizes...[fourth] 'The Irish Peasant's Grave' by J. Tracy, 70l. W.P. Hyndman, 9
Aston's-quay
June 12, 1844 (FJ) RHA
In "Which is
the purtiest?" Tracy has very successfully given an heathen story in an
Irish dress. A lair of country little mountain woman lasses have selected as
umpire between them a rustic Paris, and are submitting their plump little feet
to his inspection, that he may decide "which is the purtiest." It is
very Irish and very natural.
July 22, 1844 (FJ)
Among the larger
ones we have No.4, "The Old Romance" by Tracy;
December 3, 1844 (FJ) The Art Union
Exhibition
"Which is the
purtiest?" by Tracy for £50
December 11, 1844 (FJ) The Art Union
Exhibition
"Which is the
purtiest?" by Tracy for £50 - Myles Sherlock, jun., Cork
21 December 1844 (N) Royal Dublin Society
...Mr. J. Tracy,
whose works show great originality and fine feeling; I would particularly
instance his "Peasant's Grave" of last year...
May 15, 1845 (FJ) Exhibition of the Society
of Irish Artists
Tracy, whose
treatment of Irish subjects is so homely and natural, has sent two charming
pictures Nos. 5 and 8. In the former he has depicted a number of Irish peasants
caught by a tempest, and kneeling around a rudely sculptured cross in a forest,
while the latter is named "A Scene of By-gone Days". We fear,
however, that the annals of our country furnish too many recent instances of
the scene represented to designate it as one of by-gone days. At the door of a
peasant's cottage are grouped some policemen, and a hard-featured,
relentless-looking man, into whose hands the peasant is giving the key of his
humble home, while the weaping wife, with the terrified children, proceed
before. This is a delightfully finished piece both in grouping and colouring.
June 17, 1845 (FJ) Royal Irish Art Union
From the Society of
Irish Artists, College street...8 A Scene of By-gone Days, by J. Tracey
(Dublin) £40...
December 11, 1845 (BL) The Royal Irish Art
Union - Distribution of Prizes
303 T M Gresham,
Raheny; A Scene of By-Gone Days; J Tracy, artist - £40
13 December 1845 (N) The Royal Irish Art Union -
Distribution of Prizes
...303. T.M. Gresham,
Raheny; A Scene of By-gone Days; J. Tracy, artist - 40l...
1853 “370. Christ driving the Devils out of the possessed Men. John
Tracy”
Sproule, John (1854) The Irish Industrial Exhibition of
1853, p.41, 461. J. McGlashan, Dublin.
October 24, 1853, December 12, 1853 and
January 17, 1854 (FJ) The New Irish Art Union
...No. 234 or 334
"Titon of Athens" by John Tracey, Dublin £80 (810) Jones, Co,
Stephen's Green...
January 27, 1859 (FJ) Cromo-Lithography
...The Peasant's
Grave...The original was painted by Mr. John Tracy, a Dublin artist of much
merit, and was purchased by the late Irish Art Union, and is now the property
of Mr. JH Read of Bray. The Lithographic impressions are to be laid before the
Art Convernazione of the Royal Dublin Society to-morrow evening.
January 29, 1859 (FJ) Photographic Society
Two exquisitely
finished crom-lithographs of Tracy's fine picture of "the peasant's
grave" were exhibited by Mr. Harty of Dame street, and proofs from the
seventeen stones required to produce the picture in the same colours, as the
original...
29 January 1859 (N) Chromo-Lithography
We have been
favoured with a specimen of the very first effort ever made in Ireland in the
new and beautiful style of art...It is a colourful lithograph of Mr. Tracy's
exquisite picture, "The Peasant's Grave" by Mr. Harty of
Dame-street...
January 29, 1859 (FJ) Photographic Society
Two exquisitely
finished crom-lithographs of Tracy's fine picture of "the peasant's
grave" were exhibited by Mr. Harty of Dame street, and proofs from the
seventeen stones required to produce the picture in the same colours, as the
original...
14 May 1859 (N) The City.
"The
Peasant's Grave" Mr. Harty's beautiful [colour] chromo-lithograph of the
"The Peasant's Grave", after the original painting by J. Tracey,
Esq., of this city, is now published...
July 24, 1860 (FJ) RHA
One of these
pictures is No.232 "Larry O'Toole and his wife praying for a son and heir
to the half acre" by Mr. J. Tracy...
8 May 1861 (IT) Art Union of Ireland
Prizeholders of one guinea…John Tracey,
Heytesbury Street…
2 June 1871 (FJ)
"Mrs. Floyd
refusing admittance to Mary Warner" by John Tracy...[painting]
18 January 1872 (FJ)
The Late rev Dr.
O'Hanlon. To sell by Auction..."Christ Casting Out Devils" by
Tracey;...
29 November 1873 (N) Dublin Gossip
Amongst those past
boyhood there are few interested in Irish art who do not recall with a pleasant
sadness "The Peasant's Grave" by John Tracy, whose death swells the
obituary of the past week. That most truthful and touching picture was painted
at a time when some of his admirers were wont to say the artist's genius had
waned, but the facile grace with which a most difficult subject was set forth
restored for a while a reputation founded on works which, at one time, divided
admiration with those of the worthies of art. Amongst these, "The
Eviction", "The Roadside Disaster", "Timon" and
"The Pattern", were, perhaps, the most notable, and the acquirement
for the National Gallery of a couple of these really national Chef d'oeuvres
will be looked forward to by many outside those who are sad to-day at the loss
of a most kind-hearted genial man, and very true artist.
October 1876
Some time ago a
picture by the late John Tracy was exhibited in the Royal Hibernian Academy
Exhibition of three Irish peasant girls entitled "Which is the
purtiest".
In July 1880, a fine painting of “The
Crucifixation”, size 54 x 38 unframed, painted for the owner by the late Mr.
Tracey, was sent for auction.
20 February 1884 Freeman's Journal
... Messrs Tracey
for the renovation of valuable pictures in the Mansion House was adopted, and
orders were issued for the execution of the work under the...
November 1887 Auction of Fine Arts property of Mr.
Charles Brien, 51 South Richmond street, Dublin ..."The Eviction",
"Timen and Alcibiades" and "Virginius and Virginia" by John
Tracey (three works illustrative of the versatile and comprehensive genius of
this talented Irish artist)...
In the 19th century, in major
exhibitions of art and industry in Ireland, very few Irish historical pictures
appeared in the art sections. The exception was the Irish exhibition at South
Kensington in 1888, which was at a time when the Land League agitation had
already proved to be successful as a mass rural movement. Five paintings
related to either evictions or boycotts. This exhibition demonstrated the close
connection between the production of historical paintings and the emotion
generated by contemporary political movements. At the Irish Exhibition at South Kensington the five 'land war' paintings
were, 'A Boycotted House' by Georgina Borrer; 'Boycotted' by M.D.
Webb-Robinson; 'Notice to Quit' by James Brenan (Headmaster of the Cork School
of Art); 'An Impending Eviction' by R. Staunton Cahill; 'The Eviction' by J.
Tracey.
Ref:
John Turpin. Irish History Painting. The GPA Irish Arts Review Yearbook,
(1989/1990), pp. 233-247
courtesy
Professor Niamh O'Sullivan
courtesy Daniel Sheppard
Pinx is the abbreviation of the Latin word pinxit, which
follows the name of the author of a painting reproduced in engraving,
lithography, photoengraving, etc.
Who
painted Spice Bag’s original? By Niamh O’Sullivan
Last
update: 03 July 2024