72
43
Gerard Dillon (1916 - 1971)
Reading the Paper - Cottage Interior
Oil on board, 37 x 48cm (14½ x 19”)
Signed
Provenance: Important Irish Art sale, these rooms, 8th September 1977, Cat. No. 142, where
purchased by the current owners
Exhibited: The Dawson Gallery,
label verso giving title “Interior”
€15,000 - 20,000
In the mid 1950’s, keenly aware of the appealing nature of narrative in his paintings, Dillon moved away from his West of Ireland landscapes
and focused on a series of interior and domestic scenes, which often depicted his friends. The interiors in London were mostly located at
his home in Abbey Road,
In the London Flat
depicts his Belfast friend James Maguire on his bed and in Roundstone
Connolly’s Bar
shows
Carmel Faherty and her dog in her bar.
Although the identity of the figure reading a newspaper in the foreground is hidden, Dillon supplies the viewer with clues to help identify
the sitter. The narrative theme of these Connemara works was an interest in his friends often with underlying humour, or his own world with
ordinary objects of his creation. Empty rooms, a table set for one; shoes by a fireplace sometimes obscured another more complex message,
which was personal to the artist.
Arousing curiosity to the identity of the male sitter by depicting the newspaper at an angle, the viewer catches a glimpse of the sitter’s hair.
The cooking utensils at the end of a narrow hallway give the viewer the final clue to the identity of the individual as being the artist himself .
Dillon often depicted his basic kitchen vessels in these series of Connemara interiors. A brush and pan leaning against a wall reflect Dillon’s
preference for domestic order. A red chair and staircase direct our eyes to a youthful, longhaired female wearing black boots, a popular fash-
ionable accessory in the late 1950’s and 60’s. Both figures are at ease in each other’s company indicating they are friends. It’s highly probable
the sitter is the artist, Noreen Rice .
Noreen Rice recalled meeting Gerard Dillon in a recent exhibition, “
A Celebration
of Gerard Dillon
” at the Gerard Dillon Gallery, Culturlann,
2011 “…I was introduced to Gerard by my music teacher and mentor, Tom Davidson, and he showed me a series of linocut prints Gerard
had just completed, and gave me advice on pursuing my own artistic efforts. Five years later, my brother Hal and I took the top flat in
Gerard’s sister Molly’s house. Gerard lived in the garden flat. These years in Abbey Road in London was a period of intense activity with
George Campbell, Arthur Armstrong, Aidan Higgins and others deriving inspiration from each other’s work”
In the 1950’s, twenty years younger than Dillon, Rice worked in the BBC at night, which freed up time during the day to paint. When Dillon
travelled to Connemara Noreen Rice was among many of those living in the Abbey Road house that would visit him (See photo of them
together in Roundstone). The newspapers indicate shops are in the vicinity, which suggests the house may be the McGlynn sister’s corner
house that was located on the main street in Roundstone.
Karen Reihill
Currently researching Gerard Dillon & Friends
