Henry Allan, Painter
(b. 1865, d. 1912)
Painter
From A Dictionary of Irish Artists 1913
Was born on 18th June, 1865, at Retreat House, Dundalk, County Louth, the youngest son of William Allan and his wife Anne, daughter of the Rev. Solomon Browne, Presbyterian Minister of Castledawson. After studying in Belfast and Dublin he continued his art education at Antwerp and elsewhere abroad. On returning to Ireland about 1889 he lived for a year or two in Downpatrick, and then took up his residence in Dublin where he spent the rest of his life. He began to exhibit in the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1889, sending in that and the following year small pictures of Dutch Interiors. In 1893 his "Little Matchseller," exhibited in the Academy, gained for him the Albert Prize. Allan's early works were full of promise, showing an artistic sense and painter-like qualities; but his later pictures, weak imitations of the French landscape painters, were poor and without vigour. He essayed portraiture, but with little success. He was elected an Associate of the Academy on 18th April, 1895, and a Member on the 18th January, 1901. On the death of P. V. Duffy he was made Treasurer. He died, after a long illness, in Leinster Road, Rathmines, on the 2nd September, 1912, and was buried in Mount Jerome Cemetery where his father and mother were also interred.