76
45
George Campbell RHA RUA (1917 - 1979)
Clifden, Connemara
Oil on board, 76 x 91cm (30 x 36”)
Signed, also signed and inscribed verso
Provenence: Previoulsy in the collection of Film Director John Huston
George Campbell embarked on a series of themes in the 1960’s and one of these was based on the town
of Clifden. In the 1960’s Campbell was fascinated with techniques and contrasting textures and liked
to experiment with glazes and impasto on his chosen theme subject. Situated fifty miles from Galway,
Clifden, or “
An Clochán
”meaning ‘stepping stones’ is the capital of Connemara, and is dominated by the
neo gothic style Catholic Church, St Joseph’s heading out the Galway road.
In 1967, in his one-man exhibition at the Ritchie Hendriks Gallery, two works from Campbell’s Clif-
den series were shown,
Clifden, No. I
and
Clifden, Connemara No.II.
This work,
Clifden, Connemara
and
another view of the town with the same title belong to this series and were in the collection of the film
Director, John Huston. Filming, “
Moby Dick
“in Cork with Gregory Peck in the 1950’s, Huston pur-
chased a large Georgian house, St Cleran’s near Loughrea, which became his home for eighteen years
and where he housed his collection of Irish, Columbian, African art and sculpture.
Executed circa 1967, this work shows the artist developing towards his final phase of painting, where
form is depicted in interrelated abstract planes of colour. Painting with spontaneity, nervous brushwork
is applied and shapes appear over houses in a pale green wash. The viewer’s eyes move over the roof of
the Anglican Christchurch and behind it, the larger Roman Catholic St. Joseph’s Parish church. Soft
mountains line the background with the twelve Bens shrouded in pale mist. The tall houses are square
shapes that spread out over cool watery greens and greys with the harbour on the right. Campbell’s
work during this period had a characteristic underlying pattern of shapes and colour displaying a bal-
anced rhythm, which may be related to his interest in music.
The view might have been sketched from Errislannan Hill or from the John D’Arcy monument on the
Sky Road. Making ‘scratches’ in his notebooks of his visits to Connemara, Campbell preferred to rely
on his memory for these large works. In an interview in the 1960’s, Campbell was asked did his paint
on location. The artist replied, “No. I never paint on the spot. If I go to Connemara I don’t paint…the
things I remember are the important things, a distillation of things.”
Karen Reihill
Currently researching Gerard Dillon & Friends
€8,000 - 12,000
John Huston
