Gerard Dillon (1916-1971)
Clown Dreaming
Oil on board, 41 x 51cm (16 ¼ x 20")
Signed, inscribed verso

Provenance: With The Dawson Gallery, Dublin, label verso

A fantastically imaginative...

Gerard Dillon (1916-1971)
Clown Dreaming
Oil on board, 41 x 51cm (16 ¼ x 20")
Signed, inscribed verso

Provenance: With The Dawson Gallery, Dublin, label verso

A fantastically imaginative and slightly surreal work, Dillon has placed his sleeping clown atop of what appears to be the traditional striped roof of a circus tent. It spreads out around him enveloping him in a strange floating landscape. The bird perched on a nest of twigs offers an injection of colour within the otherwise grey environment of the painting. Its yellow and black body is reflected in the waxing circular orb rising above it, potentially the sun being overtaken by the moon and darkness setting in. Or is it an offering of hope by the artist, of the coming dawn which will awaken our sleeping protagonist?

Clowns were very common in Dillon's work from the 1950s onwards and he often depicted them in states of slumber such as Dreaming (sold in Whytes in 2018) or the watercolour Face in Sky sold in these rooms in 2020 as part of the McClelland Collection which depicts a harlequin figure awake while the clown dreams. In his works he adopted the traditional figure of Pierrot, the commedia dellarte character dressed in all white, wearing his typical pointed hat.

Usually, the landscapes around the sleeping figures are expansive and filled with colour but in this instance, it is a much more constrained composition. The only suggestion of something beyond this scene is the bird enclosed within a frame, as if looking through a window out onto another world, into the subconscious mind of our dreaming subject.

The darker palette and more sombre colour tones of this work may suggest the proximity to the danger or fear within our dreams. Works of this period are often associated with the traumatic events occurring simultaneously in Dillon's personal life, most notably the premature passing of his brother. Through sombre and somewhat haunting compositions, they are imbued with a sense of desolation and sorrow.

It has also been suggested that Dillon adopted the clown as an alter ego, a persona that he could express his own emotions and fears, and it is true that in some works he even depicted them as artists. In The Artist, sold in these rooms in 2017, the protagonist stands before an easel painting an unseen canvas, potentially creating the larger composition forming behind him. In this work the sleeping figure holds something aloft in his hand, his arm outstretched and reaching triumphantly into the air. Is it an instrument of his trade, a prop used to entertain? Or could it be a paint brush, the essential tool of Dillon's own trade, referencing his vital role within the creation of the work.

Niamh Corcoran, August 2022

 

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