Gerard Dillon (1916-1971) Out with the Nets (circa 1953) Oil on board, 45 x 55 cm (18 x 22'') Signed In 1950, while Dillon was living in London, he had his second one man show in Victor...

Gerard Dillon (1916-1971) Out with the Nets (circa 1953) Oil on board, 45 x 55 cm (18 x 22'') Signed In 1950, while Dillon was living in London, he had his second one man show in Victor Waddington's Gallery, Dublin. Recognizing the broad appeal of Dillon's West of Ireland subjects, Waddington encouraged the artist to frequent the area of Connemara with a view to having another exhibition in 1953. Over the next few years, Dillon became a familiar figure in Connemara and Roundstone, a village with Twelve Pin Mountains to one side, and the sea and the island of Inishlackan to the other. Inishlackan Island is made up of small fields and drained land, and the scarcity of fertile soil meant that fishing season would see men spending long nights at sea; shooting and hauling their nets many times between sunset and dawn. In 1951 Dillon rented a cottage on the island, inviting friends; George Campbell, James MacIntyre, and Nano Reid to join him, and their jaunts to and from the mainland became a great source of amusement for the islanders and the locals in Roundstone village, where their visits to Connolly's Bar and Kate O'Brien's house were later recounted in a book by James MacIntyre entitled ''Three Men on an Island'' published by Blackstaff Press in 1996. ''Out with The Nets'' was executed in the early 50's, when Dillon was staying in the area of Connemara. Fishermen in three currachs throw out their nets on a hazy sunny, calm day. A fisherman in the foreground stands balanced in his light currach reminding us of the old Aran man's saying that '' a man must keep his tongue in the centre of his mouth when in a curragh''. The men are dressed in traditional dress of jerseys with b?in?n or short coats and tweed caps. Woman knitted the jerseys with homespun wool to help their husbands or sons weather the often-treacherous sea conditions. Each family had their own distinct decorative stitch which also had its own meaning, and the locals could identify a fisherman by this stitch in fishing accidents. The island in the distance indicates the difficulties the Fishermen and Sailors encountered in their daily lives. In bad weather they had to overcome retrieving their Lobster Pots, being cut off from the mainland, and the frail construction of their currachs made them liable to damage on rocky shores in both the winter and summer storms. Keen on pictorial effects, Dillon often incorporated his interest in pattern, shape and design into his West of Ireland subjects. Limited colour, and the arrangement of the currachs adds scale, shape and pattern to the composition which stylistically is typically na?ve and straightforward. In March 1971, an exhibition of Gerard Dillon's early 1940's and 50's paintings of the West of Ireland was held at the Dawson Gallery, Dublin. ''Out With The Nets is listed as No. 20. James White wrote in the catalogue '' ?He made vivid design with the islands and water, the harbour and boats, the stone walls and geese and above all with the bain?n-clad men?.'' Karen Reihill, November 2010 Karen Reihill is currently researching the life and work of Gerard Dillon

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