JAMES BARRY
Irish (Cork 1741-1806 London)
Irish artist James Barry settled in London in 1771. He was already known there
in artistic circles through connections and a previous stay in the mid-1760s.
Barry’s return to London happened to coincide with the exhibition at the Royal
Academy of Benjamin West’s landmark Death of General Wolfe. Barry, who considered
himself a rival to West in the field of history painting, undoubtedly felt the
enormous impact of West’s success. He must have decided to mount a challenge, in
part redressing the acknowledged historical inaccuracy of the famous painting.
Barry’s Death of General Wolfe was exhibited at the Royal Academy exhibition in
1776. Appearing just five years apart, the West and Barry treatments were bound
to be compared. While straying from the known facts of Wolfe’s death, West had
created a grand theatrical drama. In striving for greater accuracy, Barry
carefully studied reports of the event and developed a simpler composition, which
he claimed also possessed a more ennobling spirit. Despite its merits, Barry’s
painting was not well received. It could not withstand comparison to West's
wildly popular and well established version. Disheartened by public reaction,
Barry never exhibited at the Royal Academy again and his painting sank into
obscurity. Since its rediscovery in 1901, however, it has come to be recognized
as an integral part of an important chapter in British art.
|
.jpg)
