Kilkenny born painter Tony O’Malley began painting full time in 1958 having worked as a Bank Clerk previously while painting in his spare time. He is best known for his paintings done in Cornwall, where he lived for thirty years after visiting St Ives in 1955 and returning to settle there in 1960. While he was strongly influenced by the St Ives artistic community, his relationship was one of engagement rather than direct participation, although he did meet and work with Peter Lanyon and Patric
k Heron. He spent winters in the Bahamas, which had a further strong influence on his art, which became more vibrant and colourful.
His work has been exhibited at the RHA, Taylor Galleries, Coram Gallery in London and he represented Ireland at ROSC ‘80. An honorary member of the RHA (elected 1990), he was elected Saoi of Aosdana in 1993 and the following year received an Honorary Doctorate from Trinity College Dublin. The Irish Museum of Modern Art held a major retrospective of his work in 2005.
Tony O'Malley's work featured strongly in the sale of 'The Collection of Nancy Wynne-Jones and Conor Fallon: Ballard House' (June 2015), who were close friends of the artist from the St. Ives days. Please click here to view the catalogue.
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