Bidspirit auction | Andrew Nicholl (Irish, 1804-1886) Rocky

Andrew Nicholl (Irish, 1804-1886) Rocky Glen, Tollymore Park, Oil on Canvas - This oil on stretched canvas painting, titled Rocky Glen, Tollymore Park, depicts a lush, wooded scene with two young figures navigating a stream bed filled with large, mossy boulders. One boy wears a white shirt and the other a blue jacket, both rendered with descriptive brushwork characteristic of the mid-19th-century Romantic landscape tradition. The composition emphasizes the dramatic atmosphere of the glen with filtered light illuminating the dense foliage and rocky terrain. The work is housed in a heavy, ornate gilded frame with deep-relief foliate and scrollwork patterns. A printed and handwritten label from the Royal Irish Art-Union is affixed to the verso of the canvas, providing documented provenance. The label reads: ROYAL IRISH ART-UNION. AT THE DISTRIBUTION OF PRIZES, DEC. 10, 1844. This Picture Rocky Glen Tollymore Park By J. Nicholl London Purchased for Twenty Five Pounds Was obtained by Mrs Nicholls of Dublin No. of Ticket, 3692 ORMONDE, President, STEWART BLACKER, Hon. Sec. The artist, Andrew Nicholl (RHA), was a prominent Irish landscape painter known for his depictions of the Antrim coast and County Down, including Tollymore Park. Overall frame width: 31.5 inches. The painting exhibits widespread fine craquelure across the surface and a notable accumulation of surface dirt and darkened, aged varnish. There is a small, irregular area of paint loss or damage in the center-left portion of the landscape. Textural irregularities and alligatoring are visible in the darker pigments, likely resulting from the use of bitumen. The ornate gilded frame shows several small losses to the plaster molding, some cracking, and overall age-related wear. The verso shows a strip of silver duct tape applied along the right side of the wooden stretcher frame.