George Campbell RHA (1917-1979)
Clifden, Connemara
Oil on board, 76 x 91cm (30 x 35¾'')
Signed; signed and inscribed verso

Exhibited: George Campbell Arts Council Gallery, Bedford St...

George Campbell RHA (1917-1979)
Clifden, Connemara
Oil on board, 76 x 91cm (30 x 35¾'')
Signed; signed and inscribed verso

Exhibited: George Campbell Arts Council Gallery, Bedford St Belfast, January 1972, Cat No.39

Provenance: Previously in the collection of Film Director John Huston

In the late 1960s, Campbell embarked on a series of subjects centered on the town of Clifden in Connemara. These works were largely concerned with structure and form but in the early 1970s detail became less important and Campbells attention centered on mood and atmosphere. An impression of Clifden emerges from shapes of cool watery greens and tones of grey. The subtle control over line and colour combined with the action of scraping away paint to suggest roof tops is visually effective. The harbour on the right and the soft shapes in the background direct our eye towards the dominant feature, St Josephs Catholic Parish Church. The view may be from Errislannan Hill or from the John DArcy monument on the Sky Road. In an interview, Campbell was asked did he paint on location and the artist replied:

No, I never paint on the spot. For instance, I never paint in Spain at all. If I go to Connemara, I dont paint. I only paint in my own room. The things I remember are the important things, a distillation of things (Irish Times, 30.6.62, pg.10)

Clifden, Connemara was chosen to be included in Campbells retrospective exhibition at the Arts Council gallery in Belfast in January 1972. It was purchased by the American film director, John Huston (1906-1987). Filming Moby Dick in Cork with Gregory Peck in the 1950s, Huston was out hunting with the Galway Blazers, when he came across St. Clerans, a large derelict Georgian house in Co. Galway. He surprised neighbours by filling the house with an extensive art collection which included pre-Colombian art and African sculpture.

Included among the six thousand pieces were two paintings of Clifden by George Campbell as well as works by the founder of French Impressionism, Claude Monet and the Spanish cubist painter, Juan Gris.

Karen Reihill
November, 2018

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