The Green Sofa (1903) is one of Lavery's most intimate works — a woman traditionally identified as Mary Auras, one of his regular models, reclining across a green velvet sofa in a moment of quiet repose. The palette is muted and luminous — soft mauves, warm greens, the quality of afternoon light in a room that knows it is being watched. Lavery had absorbed Whistler and the Dutch Masters, and here both influences dissolve into something entirely his own: a painting that feels private, almost overheard.
It is not in a public collection — it was last recorded at Sotheby's in New York in 2012. It's often confused with Lavery's later, more famous portraits of his second wife Hazel — whose image appeared on Irish banknotes from 1928 to the 1970s — but Hazel and Lavery didn't marry until 1909, six years after this painting was made. The sofa is a different woman, a different decade, and a quieter kind of painting.
About this work
The Green Sofa was painted by the Irish artist Sir John Lavery (1856–1941), who was born in Belfast, around 1903. A young woman lies full length along a green velvet sofa in a moment of private repose; she is generally identified as Mary Auras, the German model Lavery met in Berlin around 1901 and painted repeatedly in a series of colour-harmony pictures. The original is oil on canvas, 65.4 × 92.4 cm, and is not in a public collection — it was last recorded at Sotheby's in New York in 2012. This print is an open edition, made to order and shipped worldwide.
Sizes & Format
A2 (42 × 59.4 cm
A3 (29.7 × 42 cm
Available framed (black, white, wood) or unframed
Print & Frame Details
Archival matte paper, 250gsm (110lb), acid-free and FSC-certified — off-white, uncoated. Framed prints: solid oak or ash wood frame, 20mm thick, with shatterproof protective glazing. Ready to hang, hanging kit included. Unframed prints up to A4 ship flat; larger sizes ship rolled in a protective tube.
Free Worldwide Shipping
Framed prints are packed with protective corners and wrap, boxed with reinforced edges, and braced with internal supports for extra rigidity (max 3 frames per package). Every order ships free, made to order and delivered from the hub closest to you: Ireland 3–7 business days · UK 4–8 · USA 5–10 · Canada 6–12 · Australia 7–14.
