Oil on canvas. Jellett and Evie Hone had sought out Albert Gleizes in Paris specifically because of his interest in pure abstraction, and produced a great many non-figurative works under him. But alongside those they also painted pictures that looked back to cubism's more representational origins, and this is one of them - it reads as a still life, objects of different shapes and scales arranged across a flat surface.
Still life mattered to cubism precisely because it let painters set aside conventional volume and space and work instead on multiple viewpoints and their interplay with pattern. The chessboard, with its regular geometry and contrasting colours, was a favourite motif of the period, turning up in work by Juan Gris, Jean Metzinger, Louis Marcoussis and Marcel Duchamp. Jellett's picture sits naturally in that company - and there is a direct Dublin link, since it was Evie Hone who bequeathed Gris's A Guitar to the National Gallery of Ireland.
Mainie Jellett (1897-1944), born in Dublin, studied under William Orpen before training in Paris with Andre Lhote and Albert Gleizes. With Evie Hone she exhibited the first abstract paintings shown in Ireland in 1923, and went on to found the Irish Exhibition of Living Art. Her work hangs in the National Gallery of Ireland.
Sizes & Format
30x40 cm / 12x16"
45x60 cm / 18x24"
60x80 cm / 24x32"
75x100 cm / 30x40"
Available framed (black, white, wood) or unframed
Print & Frame Details
Archival matte paper, 250gsm (110lb), acid-free and FSC-certified - off-white, uncoated. Framed prints: solid oak or ash wood frame, 20mm thick, with shatterproof protective glazing. Ready to hang, hanging kit included. Unframed prints up to A4 ship flat; larger sizes ship rolled in a protective tube.
Free Worldwide Shipping
Framed prints are packed with protective corners and wrap, boxed with reinforced edges, and braced with internal supports for extra rigidity (max 3 frames per package). Every order ships free, made to order and delivered from the hub closest to you: Ireland 3-7 business days, UK 4-8, USA 5-10, Canada 6-12, Australia 7-14.
