Daniel O'Neill (1920-1974)
And Yet Another
Oil on board, 50 x 60cm (19¾ x 23½'')
Signed


In his use of surreal forms and unearthly light, O'Neill moulds the Irish landscape into his own...

Daniel O'Neill (1920-1974)
And Yet Another
Oil on board, 50 x 60cm (19¾ x 23½'')
Signed


In his use of surreal forms and unearthly light, O'Neill moulds the Irish landscape into his own personal creation, particularly in his nocturnes which allowed for the exploitation of dramatic effects as well as being suggestive of, rather than actual depictions of, specific locations. Once O'Neill was confident that he could invent a landscape to suit his purposes, he was able to exploit it and found that it could become a backdrop to display his figures. Arland Ussher observes, 'He contrasts the dynamic aridity of place with the richly dramatic sky to expose the needs of the heart, searching always for a solace more desirable than can be conveyed by the inanimate'.

Brian Fallon remarked of Daniel O'Neill, 'he is an excellent Landscapist. But in the Yeatsian way - there is more imagination than topography' and concluded that O'Neill's best works 'are charged with that mysterious and unquantifiable quality which gives Art its purpose,' while quoting the American Critic, Hilton Kramer, who described the attempt to define the indefinable as 'aesthetic intelligence'.

John Hewitt, writing on the subject of O'Neill's impasto techniques, noted 'the work has both a sensory as well as a sensual quality'. Commenting further he remarked, 'through his poetry, he handles the great commonplace of being; birth, death, love, belief, wonder'. Hewett perceptively realises the elusiveness and the dangers that are present in work so personal, in its communication.And yet Another is a very poetic work, full of suggestion, pathos and mystery. The principal group of mourning figures are moving away from the burial ground where a fisherman has been laid to rest. The principal male figure, a fisherman himself, towering above the small group, wraps his arm around a grieving woman in an emotionally charged moment. The bright horizon provides us with the hope for a new day but the title reminds us that this devastatingly sad day is one that will inevitably be repeated amongst this community on into the future.

 

We are grateful to Anne-Marie Keaveney whose writings formed the basis of this entry.

 

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