Lough Anure, The Rosses Country, County Donegal

Date

20th century

Creator

Lough Anure, The Rosses Country, County Donegal is one of several paintings by Wilks that depict the remote northwest village of Loughanure (or Loch an Iúir), so named for the yew trees that live on islands in the lake. Viewed from a slight elevation, the landscape descends in green and ochre bands before rising again to mountains and low-hanging clouds. With its white thatched cottages, their chimneys smoking, neat haystacks, and woman tending a flock of geese, the vista suggests an existence bound to the rhythms of rural labor and nature. The painting is typical of Wilk’s works, presenting a scene that is for some emblematic is Irish identity. from Snay, The Donald and Marilyn Keough Collection of Irish Art (Notre Dame, 2019)