Born in Belfast, Frank McKelvey was an esteemed Irish painter. In 1918, his work was exhibited at the Royal Hibernian Academy where he would become a member and in 1921, he was elected a member of the Belfast Art Society.

As former director of the Ulster Museum S. B. Kennedy has written, McKelvey “helped forge a new and distinct way of representing the Irish scene”. With a sharp eye, he could distill his subject, creating immersive odes to the Irish landscape, like this watercolour painting of the Northern Irish river Lagan. Romantic yet perceptive, it pictures the river skirt by ghostly trees, a few figures at its banks.

On the work’s verso, McKelvey has written “On the River Lagan (at maze)”, a reference to the HP Prison Maze – a prison in Northern Ireland that housed paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles between 1971 and 2000. The year of McKelvey’s death, 1974, fifteen prisoners escaped its confines, using the River Lagan as a cover. Despite its serenity here, the River Lagan is not just a waterway but a site steeped in Irish history.

Represented at Queen’s University Belfast, the Royal Ulster Academy and the Royal Palace of Soestdijk, among others, McKelvey is a compelling Irish painter. For collectors of historical landscapes and watercolours, he is a rich find.

Frank MCKELVEY (1895 - 1974)
'On the River Lagan' c. 1970s
watercolour on paper
Image Size: 27 x 37 cm
Dimensions: 48 x 56 x 3 cm
Signed: Signed 'FRANK MCKELVEY' lower left corner
Comes with Letter of Provenance
As per images, verso of work is in-tact. Inscribed with: On the River Lagan (at maze); By. Frank McKelvey, R.H.A.
Condition:Very Good: Describes a work of art's image as Excellent, but may show some small signs of surrounding wear to paper or frame. There are no tears to paper margin or disruption to the paint surface.
(c) Frank McKelvey / Copyright Agency