Arts Week with Judy Murphy

Galway journalist and author, Mary J Murphy, who lives in Belclare and formerly wrote a country music column for this newspaper, is set to launch her latest book.

Achill Remembers Marie Howet (1897-1984) is a tribute to the Belgian artist who was one of the many renowned painters who found inspiration on Achill in the early 20th century.

It will be launched in Achill on Sunday, August 4, as part of a 40th anniversary celebration to the well-known impressionist painter, who was admired by the more famous Henri Matisse.

Howet’s first visit to Achill was in 1929, when she stayed in the Dooagh home of Caherlistrane-born designer Eva O’Flaherty.

Special guests at the August 4 launch will be Dooagh sculptor, John McHugh; Howet expert, Dr Edward King; and Anne Burke, whose family had links with Howet for 53 years.

This celebration comes after 95 years after the Belgian’s initial visit to her beloved Achill and is, says Mary, “long overdue.

The commemoration of  “such an important European painter, with lengthy and tenacious island links”, will also feature the launch of Mary’s book, and a display of eight specially commissioned biographical banners.

Dr Edward King will speak on Howet’s magnificent book, A La Source D’Ara, published in Paris in 1934 and containing 25 of the artist’s vibrant watercolours, mostly of Achill.

On a recent research trip to Belgium, Mary J Murphy discovered that Howet had been staying with the Burke family in Dooagh in 1933, while she was in correspondence with the famous French publishers Saudé & Ducros Colas, as they prepared the layout of the book. It’s now a collector’s item.

Never-seen-before landscapes of the island by Howet were also unearthed in Belgium by Murphy, as were two portraits of the famous painter by Irish artists George Russell (AE) and Seán O’Sullivan. A photograph of Howet standing at her 1929 Dooagh ‘home’ also turned up. While in Belgium, Mary J laid an inscribed pebble from Dooagh Beach on Howet’s grave. It came from Anne Burke and marked the island-woman’s family’s 53-year friendship with the artist.

Pictured: Mary J Murphy on Achill Island, where the book will be launched as part of an event celebrating Marie Howet.