GERARD DILLON RHA RUA (1916-1971) Men Talking in the West Oil on board, 56 x 70.5cms (22.5 x 28'') Signed Provenance: Originally in the Peter O'Connell Collection Dundalk and then in the...

GERARD DILLON RHA RUA (1916-1971) Men Talking in the West Oil on board, 56 x 70.5cms (22.5 x 28'') Signed Provenance: Originally in the Peter O'Connell Collection Dundalk and then in the collection of George and Maura McClelland and on loan from them to IMMA from 1999-2004. Exhibited: Gerard Dillon Retrospective, The Ulster Museum, November-December 1972 The Municipal Gallery Dublin, January-February 1973, Cat. No. 27 Works from the McClelland Collection, IMMA, September 2000-January 2001 Gerard Dillon Retrospective, Droichead Arts Centre, January-February 2003; Art Tank Gallery Belfast, February-March 2003, Cat. No. 13 Literature: The Hunter Gatherer, IMMA, November 2004, Fig. 32, Page 31 Over a period of thirty years on visits to the West of Ireland, Gerard Dillon's style and technique changed, but whether painting primitive or abstract images, applying sand, or cut out pieces of paper, his strong attachment to Connemara and its coastline never altered. ''Talking in The West'' was executed in the 1950's following one of the artist's many trips to Connemara while he was resident in his sister Mollie's house in London. A familiar figure in the area, Dillon moved easily amongst the farmers and fishermen enabling him to record people's lives that were in stark contrast to his native city of Belfast, and urban life in Abbey Road in North West London. The artist had a practice of using various sequences to create a narrative story in one composition or rendering a bird's eye view of his subject, or as in this case, using scale to accentuate the central figures. The 50's was a busy time for the artist. He was exhibiting with the IELA, involved in BBC radio, was representing Ireland at the International prize exhibition in the Solomon Guggenheim Gallery in New York, and was employed by the Irish Export Board to assist in a promotion of goods in Macy's store in New York. The artist also illustrated and wrote for Ireland of The Welcomes, a monthly magazine published by Bord F?ilte, the Irish Tourist Board. In Vol. 4 of the May/June issue Gerard wrote a letter ''Dear Tourist'' from a painter. He described the light, people, and landscape of Connemara. ''It's the difficulty to paint this place makes it so fascinating. It has so many aspects. It has so much to give..A grey gaunt man in a grey mood on a grey day in a black-brown bog cutting his turf, with silver grey bog-deal roots standing up over the bog like ghosts of the little people...'' In a small farm, a dog runs free as two men are in deep discussion. One man wearing a knitted gansey stands at the gable end of a single story cottage facing the viewer resting his hands on a spade. Traditionally in Springtime at the first sign of dry weather, men would set out with their tools to their strip of bog. Slicing off the top layer, or 'scraw' with the spade and using the long handled metal wing of a Slane, slice down into the peat with one stroke, and toss each sod up onto the bank where the rest of the family would spread them out to dry. Cutting, storing, and transporting turf by cart and pony were common place in Connemara in the 1940's and 50's. The sea in the distance is a reminder that islands dotted along the coastline relied on the men from the mainland to cut and deliver turf, which was their only fuel source for the winter. The red painted wheel, the spade and the curling turf smoke represent a time in Connemara when lives were simple but more recently the balance of the bogland as a priority habitat, and the fuel and income needs of the people continue to be debated today. Karen Reihill Karen Reihill is currently researching the life and work of Gerard Dillon dillonresearchproject@adams.ie

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