Arthur Griffith by Sir John Lavery (1921)

The true companion portrait to any Michael Collins portrait has to be this stunning portrait of Arthur Griffith who supported Collins through thick and thin following the Treaty. Speaking of Collins in the Treaty debates in December 1922 he said " He was the man whose matchless energy, whose indomitable will carried Ireland through the terrible crisis, and though I have it not now, and never had, an ambition about either political affairs or history, if my name is to go down in history, I want it associated with the name of Michael Collins".

The original founder of Cumann na nGaedheal (1900) and Sinn Féin (1906 following the collapse of his United Irishman Journal) ,and a pacifist by nature who believed fervently in the art of persuasion and argument to win his cause, he had been a giant of Irish economic nationalism and working tirelessly for self-determination since the turn of the 19th century. His pacificism was deeply shaken following the response of the British authorities to the 1916 Rising and he was arrested despite Sinn Féin having little involvement in the Rising. Gradually Sinn Féin became the party of all nationalists culminating with a clean sweep of the 1918 election results after which he resigned his position of President of Sinn Féin in favour of De Valera .He had been arrested and jailed a number of times during the War of Independence but following his release during the Truce led the Treaty negotiations in 1921 . He became President of Dáil Eireann defeating De Valera following the Treaty split. Tragically, Arthur Griffith died of a brain haemorrhage shortly after the outbreak of the Civil War on the 12th August 1922, just ten days before Collins death.

This limited edition reproduction is from a rare original Wilson Hartnell & Co. Publishers lithographic colour print which the Walton Collection has acquired and we are delighted to add it to our collection.
Beautifully mounted in a simple mahogany style frame (570mm x 670mm) with a gold sightline.