Representing the Irish emigrant: humour to pathos?

The nineteenth-century artist, Erskine Nicol (1825–1904) is well known for his anecdotal and humorous paintings of Irish themes. This article analyses one of his larger oils to show that on occasion he attempted a more serious representation of the rural Irish figure which asks for empathy as oppose...

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Main Author: Cullen, Fintan
Format: Article
Published: Taylor & Francis 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45751/
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author Cullen, Fintan
author_facet Cullen, Fintan
author_sort Cullen, Fintan
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description The nineteenth-century artist, Erskine Nicol (1825–1904) is well known for his anecdotal and humorous paintings of Irish themes. This article analyses one of his larger oils to show that on occasion he attempted a more serious representation of the rural Irish figure which asks for empathy as opposed to ridicule. The focus is on An Irish Emigrant Landing in Liverpool (signed and dated 1871; Scottish National Gallery). A key part of the analysis is an exploration of the relationship between the painting and a published account of a visit to England by the Irish emigrant depicted.
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spelling nottingham-457512020-05-04T19:56:04Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45751/ Representing the Irish emigrant: humour to pathos? Cullen, Fintan The nineteenth-century artist, Erskine Nicol (1825–1904) is well known for his anecdotal and humorous paintings of Irish themes. This article analyses one of his larger oils to show that on occasion he attempted a more serious representation of the rural Irish figure which asks for empathy as opposed to ridicule. The focus is on An Irish Emigrant Landing in Liverpool (signed and dated 1871; Scottish National Gallery). A key part of the analysis is an exploration of the relationship between the painting and a published account of a visit to England by the Irish emigrant depicted. Taylor & Francis 2017-08 Article PeerReviewed Cullen, Fintan (2017) Representing the Irish emigrant: humour to pathos? Visual Culture in Britain, 18 (2). pp. 176-191. ISSN 1941-8361 emigration humour empathy pathos Liverpool Ireland nineteenth century caricature http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14714787.2017.1328987 doi:10.1080/14714787.2017.1328987 doi:10.1080/14714787.2017.1328987
spellingShingle emigration
humour
empathy
pathos
Liverpool
Ireland
nineteenth century
caricature
Cullen, Fintan
Representing the Irish emigrant: humour to pathos?
title Representing the Irish emigrant: humour to pathos?
title_full Representing the Irish emigrant: humour to pathos?
title_fullStr Representing the Irish emigrant: humour to pathos?
title_full_unstemmed Representing the Irish emigrant: humour to pathos?
title_short Representing the Irish emigrant: humour to pathos?
title_sort representing the irish emigrant: humour to pathos?
topic emigration
humour
empathy
pathos
Liverpool
Ireland
nineteenth century
caricature
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45751/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45751/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45751/