George W. Russell - A Study of his life, paintings and impact on Irish culture

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George William Russell, “Æ”

MICHAEL ARRHENIUS

DIT, AUNGIER STREET

GEORGE W. RUSSELL

Æ

A Study of his life, paintings and impact on Irish culture


INTRODUCTION

George William Russell (Æ), poet, painter, statesman and friend of many. George Russell definitely was all of those things. But why is it that I, a visiting student from the far North, takes such an interest in a man who despite his greatness not many people outside Ireland has heard of. When asked about visual arts in Ireland, names like Jack Yeats, Paul Henry and James Barry might be heard but only people with a deep interest in Irish culture will also mention George W. Russell, or Æ as he is more commonly known. But Æ Russell was, and still is, Irish culture, which is what I will try to prove to you with this paper.

My first encounter with Æ Russell was when I heard about one of the greatest love stories ever heard, the Irish legend about Deirdre and Naisi. Æ Russell took this tale and made it into a play, the one and only play he would ever write, published in 1901 under the name “Deirdre”. The mythological tales has always been a keen interest to me and to learn that Æ Russell wrote plays, poems and painted pictures with mythological content, sure was a true excitement for me.

But to get a better understanding of what kind of man Æ Russell was and what he had done for Irish culture I embarked on a cultural trip around Dublin. I started off by going to the Oriel Gallery a Clare Street to see some of his paintings. My next step was a visit to 3 Upper Ely Place (behind Saint Stephen’s Green), a place where Æ Russell lived between 1891 and 1898 (1897) and one of two places in Dublin where you still can see an original mural signed Æ Russell. Sadly, a lot of his other murals on Dublin walls has been torn down, taking an important part of cultural heritage away with it. Lastly I visited the Mount Jerome Cemetery (Harold’s Cross) where Æ Russell is buried. All this, together with my own strong interest in mythology, made this cultural “journey” in Æ Russell footsteps a pure pleasure.

GEORGE “Æ” RUSSELL, THE MAN

George William Russell, son and one of three children of Tomas Elias Russell & Marianne Russell (formerly Armstrong), was born in William Street, Lurgan, County Armagh on the 10:th of April 1867. At the age of 11, the family moved to Emorville Avenue in Dublin where in 1880 George Russell enrolled in the Art School on Kildare Street. At the age of 16, George Russell started taking evening art classes and it was here where he first became friends with other to-be-great Irish artists like W.B. Yeats and John Hughes. Although George Russell attended a number of schools up until the age of 18, moving more and more towards the direction of visual art, he never attended university and he seems to be mostly self-taught after his early school years.

It was in 1884 that George Russell first started taking an interest in the mystical world and the occult, which also can be seen in his paintings and poems. This also led up to the creation of his pseudonym Æ. After painting a series of pictures that shown the development of man, George Russell was “haunted” for a name for his paintings. One night in a dream, he heard a voice saying “Call it the birth Aeon” (Aön), After looking up the word in a library, George Russell found out that the word “Aeon” was used by the Gnostics to represent the first created men. For a while he then started using “Aeon” as a signature on his work, but later shortening it to Æ, which is how he’s now more commonly known. The first works with Æ as signature appeared in 1888.

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From pictures and drawings of Æ Russell that I’ve studied, his physical appearance in early years was that of a small and thin boy with a nice appearance. In his more mature years, Æ Russell grew to be a fairly tall, well proportioned but also heavy built man. Most of his life he wore a beard and in my view he looked somewhat imposing. But Æ Russell also had a “loud voice” and didn’t mind speaking his thoughts. Although he was born in Northern Ireland, he became one of the most powerful voices in the entire country during his ...

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