132
87
Terence P. Flanagan PRUA RHA (b.1929)
The Last of Snow
Oil on canvas, 28 x 32cm (12 x 13”)
Signed
Exhibited: T.P. Flanagan Exhibtion, David Hendrik’s
Gallery, Sept/Oct 1981, Cat. No. 14, where purchased
by Mr & Mrs W. Milne
€1,200 - 1,600
88
Terence P. Flanagan PRUA RHA (b.1929)
Bangor, Co. Down
Oil on canvas, 47.5 x 58cm (18¾ x 22¾”)
Signed and dated 1960
Exhibited:Possibly exhibited in
Paintings and Designs by Ulster Artists
, Municipal Gymnasium, Bangor, 27 July - 13 August, 1960
Bangor lies on the southern shore of Belfast Lough. It developed from an early 17th century Scottish plantation into a 19th century
seaside resort, but is now partially a dormitory town for Belfast. Earlier, in the 6th century, St. Comgall founded his famous abbey which
had such a wide reputation that up to 3,000 students are known to have been in residence and from Bangor they set forth to establish
monasteries in several European countries.
The setting depicted in this painting is the old harbour at Bangor, looking in the direction of High Street and Victoria Road, with the
14th century Tower of the Old Custom House clearly visible on the left hand side. Just below the Tower the old slipway into the waters
of the harbour is clearly visible. The tower on the extreme right hand side is the Abbey Church. The composition highlights the early
cubist phase of Flanagan’s art and may be compared to other works by him such as
Men in a Muddy Field
, 1960-1 (private collection). It
is a manner which preoccupied him from time to time-as his
View from St Mary’s
, 1968 (private collection), ably demonstrates-and which
ultimately influenced such seminal works as
An Ulster Elegy
, 1971 (Fermanagh County Museum) and the minimalism of
A Frozen Lake
,
also of 1971 (private collection). Flanagan painted a good deal around Bangor during 1958-60, possibly working for the exhibition by
Ulster Artists
that was held at the Municipal Gymnasium in the summer of 1960, and this work dates from that time. His use of bright
colours, however, is unusual for the period.
Dr. S.B. Kennedy, May 2014
€2,000 - 4,000
