Adams Important Irish Art 30th September 2015 : You can Download a PDF Version from the Bottom Menu Down Arrow Icon

33. DANIEL O’NEILL (1920-1974)

Barmaid

Oil on canvas, 51 x 61cm (20 x 24”)

Signed

Romantic in tone, ‘Barmaid’ is not unlike other figurative works, ‘Early Morning’ and ‘Matador’ from the late 1940’s. The model’s dress, hairstyle, Jewelry, painted nails and cherry

red lipstick suggest a date after the war. From 1947, hair was worn shoulder length, soft, curled and swept away from the face. The Barmaid’s dress also suggests the romantic

age; trim waist, full skirt and rounded shoulders.

In 1948, O’Neill traveled to Paris for six months and viewing works by Utrillo and Vlaminck his works in his solo exhibition in 1949 at Waddington’s gallery contain a Parisian influ-

ence. The palette in ‘Barmaid’ is reminiscent of Utrillo’s Parisian urban scenes and the interior of the bar captures the mood and atmosphere of nightlife in bohemian Montmartre.

O’Neill has framed the central figure with the bar’s open window leading to two figures in the background. The sitter’s attractive appearance, pose and two empty wine glasses

suggests an expectant romantic encounter or the barmaid may already be in conversation with the person whose wine glass is cut off at the picture plane.

Women feature throughout O’Neill’s oeuvre and they can appear forlorn, stranded, abandoned or beautiful and serene. A sensitive man, O’Neill’s subjects related to his own

personal experience and O’Neill’s life was not without personal difficulties during this period. The inclusion of a vase of flowers and a solitary rose held in the Barmaid’s hand could

symbolize love and beauty while the figures in dim light may represent foreboding or unhappiness.

In 1945 Victor Waddington offered Daniel O’Neill a gallery contract and O’Neill held his first solo exhibition in the South Anne Street gallery in 1946. Waddington was friendly with

Alfred Goodwin, who opened his gallery in Limerick in 1944 and Waddington arranged for George Campbell, Gerard Dillon and Daniel O’Neill to exhibit their paintings in his gallery

from 1946.

Karen Reihill September 2015

€20,000 - 30,000