Helen Huntington Hooker or Helen Hooker O'Malley Roelefs (1 January 1905 – 2 April 1993) was an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
sculptor and portrait painter who spent a considerable part of her career in Ireland.
Early life
Helen Huntington Hooker was born in
Greenwich
Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross.
Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...
,
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
on 1 January 1905. She was the third of four daughters of chemical engineer and business man
Elon Huntington Hooker, and Blanche (née) Ferry, the daughter of
Dexter M. Ferry. The family were wealthy and had six governors of Connecticut and Massachusetts among their fore bearers. Hooker attended
Miss Chapin's School in New York until 1923, and in the same year won the American national junior tennis championship, rating tenth on the tennis tables. She was artistic from an early age, making her first sculpture, of a rabbit, aged six. Instead of attending university, Hooker studied sculpture with
Mahonri Young
Mahonri Mackintosh Young (August 9, 1877 – November 2, 1957) was an American social-realist sculptor and artist. During his lengthy career, he created more than 320 sculptures, 590 oil paintings, 5,500 watercolors, 2,600 prints, and thousand ...
,
William Zorach
William Zorach (February 28, 1889 – November 15, 1966) was an American sculptor, painter, printmaker, and writer. He won the Logan Medal of the arts. He is notable for being at the forefront of American artists embracing cubism, as well as fo ...
, and
Edmond Amateis
Edmond Romulus Amateis (27 February 1897; Rome, Italy – 1 May 1981; Clermont, Florida) was an American sculptor and educator. He is known for garden-figure sculptures, large architectural sculptures for public buildings and portrait busts.
Lif ...
in New York, and later in Paris at
Académie de la Grande Chaumière
The Académie de la Grande Chaumière is an art school in the Montparnasse district of Paris, France.
History
The school was founded in 1904 by the Catalan painter Claudio Castelucho on the rue de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, near the Acadé ...
with
Antoine Bourdelle
Antoine Bourdelle (30 October 1861 – 1 October 1929), born Émile Antoine Bordelles, was an influential and prolific French sculptor and teacher. He was a student of Auguste Rodin, a teacher of Giacometti and Henri Matisse, and an important fi ...
. Hooker was well travelled, studying wood carving in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, sculpture and dance in
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
, theatre design in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
, and painting in
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, where she learned from the Russian avant-garde painter
Pavel Filonov
Pavel Nikolayevich Filonov ( rus, Па́вел Никола́евич Фило́нов, p=ˈpavʲɪl nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ fʲɪˈlonəf, a=Pavyel Nikolayevich Filonov.ru.vorb.oga; January 8, 1883 – December 3, 1941) was a Russian avant-gar ...
.
Time in Ireland
In 1933, Hooker met and fell in love with the Irish writer
Ernie O'Malley
Ernest Bernard Malley ( ga, Earnán Ó Máille; 26 May 1897 – 25 March 1957) was an IRA officer during the Irish War of Independence. Subsequently, he became assistant chief of staff of the Anti-Treaty IRA during the Irish Civil War. O'Malley ...
, who her family did not approve of. Despite that, the couple married on 27 September 1935 at Marylebone registry office, London. The couple first moved to 229 Upper Rathmines Road, Dublin, and later relocated to
County Mayo
County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...
in the autumn of 1937. With financial assistance from Hooker's father, the couple rented and then bought Burrishoole Lodge, near
Newport, County Mayo
Newport (), historically known as Ballyveaghan and for many years also known as Newport-Pratt, is a small town in the barony of Burrishoole, County Mayo, Ireland. The population was 626 in 2016. It is located on the west coast of Ireland, along ...
, with forty acres in Hooker's name. She bought an additional 30 acres in 1942, which the family worked as a farm. They amassed an extensive art collection, which included works by
Jack Butler Yeats
Jack Butler Yeats RHA (29 August 1871 – 28 March 1957) was an Irish art
The history of Irish art starts around 3200 BC with Neolithic stone carvings at the Newgrange megalithic tomb, part of the Brú na Bóinne complex which still stands ...
,
Evie Hone
Eva Sydney Hone RHA (22 April 1894 – 13 March 1955), usually known as Evie, was an Irish painter and stained glass artist.Nicola Gordon Bowe (May 2009)Hone, Eva Sydney (1894–1955) ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', online editio ...
,
Mainie Jellett
Mary Harriet "Mainie" Jellett (29 April 1897, Dublin – 16 February 1944, Dublin) was an Irish painter whose ''Decoration'' (1923) was among the first abstract paintings shown in Ireland when it was exhibited at the Society of Dublin Painter ...
,
Paul Henry,
Nano Reid
Nano, Nano-, NANO or NaNo may refer to:
People
* Nano (singer) (born 1988), Japanese-American J-pop singer
* Nano Omar (born 1986), Swedish singer
* Nano Riantiarno (born 1949), Indonesian director
* Agnese Nano (born 1965), Italian actress
* ...
,
John Piper,
Henry Moore
Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi- abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. As well as sculpture, Moore produced ...
,
Amedeo Modigliani
Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (, ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern style characterized by a surreal elongation of faces, necks, and ...
, and
Georges Rouault
Georges Henri Rouault (; 27 May 1871, Paris – 13 February 1958) was a French painter, draughtsman and print artist, whose work is often associated with Fauvism and Expressionism.
Childhood and education
Rouault was born in Paris into a ...
. The couple had three children, Cathal, Etáin, and Cormac. By 1944, their marriage was failing, leading to Hooker requesting a divorce in late 1946 in the United States. They finally separated, and were divorced in 1952, and Hooker abducted two of the eldest children to
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...
without O'Malley's consent. Their youngest remained with O'Malley in Ireland.
Hooker continued to be a generous patron of the arts in Ireland. She donated a collection of 434 photographic prints to the
National Library of Ireland
The National Library of Ireland (NLI; ga, Leabharlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is the Republic of Ireland's national library located in Dublin, in a building designed by Thomas Newenham Deane. The mission of the National Library of Ireland is ...
. The photographs were taken by Hooker and O'Malley, and featured ancient monastic sites, scenic views, and candid portrait photographs. Hooker established the O'Malley collection of paintings by other artists in collaboration with the Irish American Cultural Institution. Part of this collection is on permanent loan to the
Irish Museum of Modern Art
The Irish Museum of Modern Art ( ga, Áras Nua-Ealaíne na hÉireann) also known as IMMA, is Ireland's leading national institution for the collection and presentation of modern and contemporary art. Located in Kilmainham, Dublin, the Museum pr ...
, and the other half with the
Mayo County Council
Mayo County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Mhaigh Eo) is the authority responsible for local government in County Mayo, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and ...
. She originally wished a museum would be built in Mayo to house the collection, but this did not come to fruition.
Artistic work
After returning to Connecticut in 1930, she held an exhibition of her watercolours at the Darien art guild, and a further show at the national art club in New York in 1933. Hooker exhibited her first work in Ireland in 1943, ''Island woman'', at the
Irish Exhibition of Living Art
The Irish Exhibition of Living Art (IELA) was a yearly exhibition of Irish abstract expressionism and avant-garde Irish art that was started in 1943 by Mainie Jellett.
Background
World War II Ireland
During World War II, Ireland remained ...
, and ''A portrait of Mrs Kiernan'' at the
Royal Hibernian Academy
The Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823. Like many other Irish institutions, such as the RIA, the academy retained the word "Royal" after most of Ireland became in ...
(RHA). She showed seven more pieces at the Living Art exhibitions between 1944 and 1948. Hooker built a studio at Burrishoole in December 1943, but bought and moved into a house at 15 Whitebeam Avenue,
Clonskeagh
Clonskeagh or Clonskea (, meaning "meadow of the Whitethorn"; pronounced ), is a small southern suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The district straddles the River Dodder.
Location and access
Clonskeagh is a townland in the civil parish of Donnybro ...
, Dublin in autumn 1944. From Clonskeagh, she began work with the Players' Theatre, Dublin, doing theatre design. Following the breakdown of her marriage, Hooker split her time between Connecticut and Dublin. She held her first solo show in St Stephen's Green Gallery in 1950, which featured busts of
Liam O'Flaherty
Liam O'Flaherty ( ; 28 August 1896 – 7 September 1984) was an Irish novelist and short-story writer, and one of the foremost socialist writers in the first part of the 20th century, writing about the common people's experience and from their ...
and
Denis Johnston
(William) Denis Johnston (18 June 1901 – 8 August 1984) was an Irish writer. Born in Dublin, he wrote mostly plays, but also works of literary criticism, a book-length biographical essay of Jonathan Swift, a memoir and an eccentric work on co ...
. The ''Dublin Magazine'' commented that Hooker was "in the academic tradition as a sculptor. She models well and surely; and in her straight portraiture shows excellent feeling for character. She is not so successful when she attempts to simplify or formalise which, admittedly, she does rarely."
After her return to Connecticut, she held her first exhibition of sculpture at the Taylor Museum, Colorado. Hooker spent six months of every year in Ireland from 1960, writing that "I have made my name as an artist in Dublin . . . My best years I gave to Ireland with all my heart and my soul." She modeled numerous famous Irish figures, such as
Mary Lavin
Mary Josephine Lavin (10 June 1912 – 25 March 1996) wrote short stories and novels. An Irishwoman, she is now regarded as a pioneer in the field of women's writing. The well-known Irish writer Lord Dunsany mentored Lavin after her father appr ...
,
Eavan Boland
Eavan Aisling Boland (24 September 1944 – 27 April 2020) was an Irish poet, author, and professor. She was a professor at Stanford University, where she had taught from 1996. Her work deals with the Irish national identity, and the role of w ...
,
Austin Clarke,
Dana Rosemary Scallon
Dana Rosemary Scallon (born Rosemary Brown; 30 August 1951), known professionally as Dana, is an Irish singer and former politician who served as Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2004.
While still a schoolgirl she won the 1970 ...
, and
Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of governm ...
. De Valera did not sit for Hooker, instead they had tea together for 20 minutes, after which Hooker retired to a Dublin hotel and reportedly worked for 36 hours, modeling from memory. She exhibited a portrait of Patrick Carey with the RHA in 1974, but she generally exhibited more in the States than in Ireland. A 1973 retrospective of her work was held at Fairfield Court, Greenwich, Connecticut and was sponsored by the
American Irish Historical Society
The American Irish Historical Society (AIHS) is a historical society devoted to Irish American history that was founded in Boston in the late 19th century. Non-partisan and non-sectarian since its inception in 1897, it maintains the most complete ...
. In 1980, 18 of her works cast in polyester from plaster originals were featured at the
Birmingham Museum of Art
The Birmingham Museum of Art is a museum in Birmingham, Alabama. It has one of the most extensive collections of artwork in the Southeastern United States, with more than 24,000 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, and decorative arts repres ...
, Alabama. The Ferguson Library, Stamford, hosted an exhibition of 21 of Hooker's portraits in 1985, including a portraits of
Seamus Heaney
Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. ,
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...
,
James Galway
Sir James Galway (born 8 December 1939) is an Irish virtuoso flute player from Belfast, nicknamed "The Man with the Golden Flute". He established an international career as a solo flute player. In 2005, he received the Brit Award for Outstan ...
, and
Seán O'Casey
Seán O'Casey ( ga, Seán Ó Cathasaigh ; born John Casey; 30 March 1880 – 18 September 1964) was an Irish dramatist and memoirist. A committed socialist, he was the first Irish playwright of note to write about the Dublin working classes.
...
.
Later life
Hooker married Richard Roelefs in 1956, and settled in Connecticut. She was widowed in 1971. Hooker died on 2 April 1993, in Greenwich. The
University of Limerick
The University of Limerick (UL) ( ga, Ollscoil Luimnigh) is a Public university, public research university institution in Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Founded in 1972 as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it beca ...
officially inaugurated the Helen Hooker O'Malley Roelefs Sculpture Trust in September 1993. The trust includes all 41 heads and figures of her Irish portraits.
The University of Limerick now hold a permanent exhibition of the O'Malley Collection since 2004.
References
Further reading
*O’Malley, Cormac and Barron, Juliet Christy, (2015) ''Western Ways: Remembering Mayo Through the Eyes of Helen Hooker and Ernie O’Malley'', Mercier Press.
External links
The Helen Hooker O'Malley Roelefs Sculpture Trust
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hooker, Helen
1905 births
1993 deaths
Sculptors from Connecticut
American women sculptors
Artists from Connecticut
20th-century American women artists
20th-century American sculptors
American female tennis players
American expatriates in Ireland
People from Newport, County Mayo