Daniel ONeill (1920 - 1974)

Diane

Oil on board, 61 x 45cm (24 x 17¾)

Signed, inscribed with title verso

 

Provenance: Mrs. J.J Stafford

 

Exhibited: The Dawson Gallery, Dublin

 

Diane...

Daniel ONeill (1920 - 1974)

Diane

Oil on board, 61 x 45cm (24 x 17¾)

Signed, inscribed with title verso

 

Provenance: Mrs. J.J Stafford

 

Exhibited: The Dawson Gallery, Dublin

 

Diane was probably executed in 1955 when ONeill painted a series of female portraits, Girl Fiesta, Jacqueline and The Pearl Necklace. Described by the poet John Hewitt as a tall fair handsome man, ONeill was known to attract female company and women feature strongly in his oeuvre highlighting his female friendships and marriage to Eileen Lyle in 1943 and relationships with Sheilagh Deacon in the 1950s, Maureen ONeill in the 1960s and Margaret Allen towards the end of his life.

Throughout his career, ONeill was interested in painting techniques. He liked to use sable, hog and camel brushes to add translucent glazes to the paint surface. To apply paint, he used a palette knife, fingers, brush handles, crumpled paper, sponges and squeezed liquid paint from an icing bag to create lace-like effects on clothes and still life studies. Natural light and perspective were abandoned in favour of a glow that permeated from the paint achieved by the artists personal technique.

Diane may represent Sheila Deacon who was his partner at the time or the model may have been adopted from his fantasy world. Depicted against tones of blue, a colour favoured by the artist, the models mesmerizing gaze, Modigliani-like features and lavishly coloured hat belong to another era. ONeill has deliberately ensured the clothes do not belong to a time or a place thus shrouding her in mystery.

Remarking on ONeills paintings during his solo exhibition at Waddingtons in 1955, a critic in The Independent noted Painting with assurance and indeed authority, he [ONeill] now reveals himself as an artist with something to say and the technique to say it beautifully. Every picture bears the signature of his very personal and distinctive outlook.

Karen Reihill, November 2015

 

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