IMPORTANT IRISH ART SALE

Tuesday 4th December 2012 12:00am

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Gerard Dillon RHA RUA (1916-1971) Bog Road Oil on board, 45.5 x 35cm (18 x 14'') Signed, inscribed with title verso Provenance: John Magee Gallery label verso A familiar figure in the area of...

Gerard Dillon RHA RUA (1916-1971) Bog Road Oil on board, 45.5 x 35cm (18 x 14'') Signed, inscribed with title verso Provenance: John Magee Gallery label verso A familiar figure in the area of Roundstone in the 1950's Dillon formed strong friendships with the locals who allowed him into their homes to paint direct portraits, ''Connemara Children'', bar interiors, ''Connolly's Bar'' or people outdoors, ''Snow in Connemara'' where he could observe and record the harshness of their lives and explore the universality of the human condition. ''The Bog Road'' was executed from one such visit to the area when the artist's style was deeply personal with distorted perspective incorporating pictorial devices to add pattern, shape and design to the composition. After the artist's solo shows with Victor Waddington Galleries in 1950 and 1953, critics wrote about the artist's narrative appeal and simplicity and later in an introduction to his retrospective in 1972, James White, his biographer stated, ''...his work exhibited a naivety which reflected his own wide-eyed view of life''. Like other Ulster artists, Paul Henry, James Humbert Craig, Frank McKelvey and Charles Lamb, the West of Ireland represented another world, away from the oppression and conflict they had left behind in Northern Ireland. It has been suggested that this bog road may be from Ballinaboy south of Clifden to Ruaim Beola, North of Roundstone. In the Foreground a young man with a two-toned face rests on the edge of a deep trough surrounded by a pattern of freshly cut butter-soft peat. Working independently the man is surrounded by bog, mountain and sea. In the distance a woman in a red skirt walks along a road towards an elderly man carrying hay on a pony passing cattle in fields, and to the left, footed turf is displayed in neat stacks. The two-sided face of the young man in homespun flannel pants and sleeveless waistcoat may relate to the artist's interest in self-analysis. In the 1950's Dillon depicted himself with a mask alongside two faces in ''Three Faces'' circa 1952. Two sided faces also appeared in his works on paper. This interest developed further in his final period of works as he embarked on a personal journey in search for answers from traumatic events in the Clown and Pierrot series, ''Clown with Red Canvas'' circa 1965, and ''The Lonely Man'' circa 1969, where the clown or Pierrot appears with a two-sided mask. In the 1950's the artist also wrote and illustrated (fig 1) for Ireland of The Welcomes, a monthly magazine published by Bord Fáilte. These images of local people record a time in the West of Ireland, when lives were non political and uncomplicated, but more recently the balance of the bogland as a priority habitat, and the fuel and income needs of the people continues to be debated today. Karen Reihill October 2012. Karen Reihill is currently researching the life and work of Gerard Dillon

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Hammer Price: €40,000

Estimate EUR : €40,000 - €60,000

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