Gerard Dillon (1916-1971) 'Beach People' Watercolour and collage, 56 x 76cm (22 x 30'') Signed Provenance: The McClelland Collection and on loan to IMMA from 1999 to 2004. Exhibited: ''Northern...

Gerard Dillon (1916-1971) 'Beach People' Watercolour and collage, 56 x 76cm (22 x 30'') Signed Provenance: The McClelland Collection and on loan to IMMA from 1999 to 2004. Exhibited: ''Northern Artists from the McClelland Collection'' IMMA, January - February 2005, Droichead Arts Centre March - April 2005 Literature: ''The Hunter Gatherer- The Collection of George and Maura Mc Clelland at the Irish Museum of Modern Art'' Fig. 39, Page 49. Executed in the final stage of Dillon's life, we can date this painting from the early 1960's when Dillon's paintings regularly depict the theme of the artist as a clown or pierrot kneeling over coffins, flitting through landscapes, confronted by a muse, or simply shanding alone in a landscape. In 1962, Dillon's brother, Joe, a musician died. Of all of the family, Joe was the one to whom he was most attached. Both were bachelors, and both had traveled to London in pursuit of the arts. Tragically, Dillon had to face the loss of two more brothers, Patrick in 1964, and John in 1966. All were to die of the same heart defect, which Dillon himself died from in 1971. Anxious about his own mortality, Dillon said of his pierrot paintings; 'I think its natures way of letting you know that you are on the way out''. In the foreground a pierrot sits opposite a masked muse. To the left, a pierrot holds hands with a child suggesting loss or childhood memories, and a single masked swimmer sits alone, and above, floating shadowy figures depicts those that have already departed. Dillon loved to experiment with techiniques and different approaches to image making. Here, Dillon has scraped away paint with a serrated spatula and continuing a practice from childhood, cut out pictures from magazines and newspapers. The lines and cut outs add texture and intensity to an otherwise flat painting. Although a personal story, Dillon allows the viewer from all ages to connect with the collage shapes, a familiar childhood memory of school projects with cut out pictures pasted down onto scrapbooks. Karen Reihill, December 2008

View more View less