110
101 Daniel O’Neill (1920-1974)
Self Portrait on Western Shore
Oil on board, 45 x 56cm (17¾ x 22”)
Signed
Exhibited: “Gerard Dillon - Art and Friendships” Exhibition, Adams, Dublin, July
2013 and The Ava Gallery, Clandeboye, August 2013, Cat. No. 18
Literature: “Gerard Dillon, Art and Friendships”, illustrated p.19
Much of the strength of Dan O’Neill’s earlier work lies in its creation of archetypes,
both male and female. The archaic simplicity of his landscapes, which are rarely
specific in terms of place or period, add to the broader meaning of these works. Even
in his self-portraits, O’Neill usually presents himself in a somewhat generalised role,
often as a highly romanticised artist or, as here, in a more specifically Irish context.
Carrying a pair of oars across his shoulders as he moves across a barren shoreline
landscape, beneath a darkly threatening cloud, the artist dominates the composition,
a strong vertical set against repeating horizontal elements, with the oars mirroring
the angles of the gently diverging lines of sea and shore beneath them. In these
formal terms and also tonally, the artist is set apart from the landscape, yet the mood
and title ally him closely to the place, as an heroic figure struggling against powerful
natural forces.
The title also recalls specifically Irish themes based around a primarily historical
relationship to the sea and while the painting remains ambiguous, the brooding at-
mosphere is perhaps intended to suggest ideas such as emigration or the dangerous
life of islanders off the west coast.
Dickon Hall September 2013
€30,000 - 50,000
