Daniel O'Neill (1920-1974)
Boy from the North
Oil on board, 40 x 50cm (15¾ x 19¾'')
Signed; inscribed verso


Belfast painter Daniel ONeill made the decision to paint full time in 1945...

Daniel O'Neill (1920-1974)
Boy from the North
Oil on board, 40 x 50cm (15¾ x 19¾'')
Signed; inscribed verso


Belfast painter Daniel ONeill made the decision to paint full time in 1945 having worked as an electrician in the Belfast shipyards. He first exhibited with Victor Waddington in Dublin in 1946, and later with the Dawson Gallery in the 1960s. He moved to London in the late 1950s, finally returning to Belfast in 1969, where he continued to paint his highly recognisable portraits and figures in landscapes, including the present work, Boy from the North. His individual, evocative style and intense colours make for poignant and expressive pictures. The artists sister Maureen O'Neill recalled that when he was asked what he painted, O'Neill usually gave the cryptic response that, 'he painted landscapes with people and people in landscapes'.

 

In the present work, the use of colour throughout the composition is harmonious, giving unity and a timeless mood to the piece, while O'Neill's masterly use of impasto and glaze techniques impart interest to the various elements, inviting the viewer to re-interpret the meaning of the scene. Daniel O'Neill had created a pictorial world of his own and it was commented by the critic fromThe Irish Timesthat it was 'as strange and exotic as any Xanadu, rich in colour and sensuous in quality', whileThe Irish Independent critic remarked: 'rich with humanity, he makes the unequivocal statement in paint; his colour glowing yet controlled'.

 

We are grateful to Anne Marie Keaveney, whose writings have formed the basis of this entry

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