(Cork 1838–1918 London)
“Getting a Light”, according to title on the frame, signed, dated W. Magrath 1884, oil on panel, 41.5 x 31.5 cm, framed, (Rei)

William Magrath was an Irish-American painter known for his genre scenes. After studying at the School of Art in Cork he moved to America in 1855, aged only seventeen. Magrath had a rough start in New York, where he worked as a sign painter and later as a night porter in a hotel in order to pay for his education. After one of his works was purchased for the National Museum of Art in 1876, Magrath was elected as a member of the Academy of Fine Arts in New York. The artist returned to Europe several times from 1880 on; for instance, in 1883, when he showed some of his works at the Cork Fine Art Exhibition.
The rich details of his works, in this case the hot coals in the fireplace, the clothing and the objects on the shelf, give us a realistic illustration of Irish daily life. Proud of his origins and homeland, Magrath was determined to portray his fellow Irishmen with dignity, never falling into caricature. The Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society remembers him in his obituary as embodying ‘a love for the traditions and scenery of his native land’.