Adam's IMPORTANT IRISH ART Auction Wednesday 24th March 2021

118 104 WILLIAM CROZIER HRHA (1930-2011) Kelly’s Mound (1964) Oil on canvas, 76 x 75cm (30 x 29½’’) Exhibited: London, Arthur Tooth & Sons, ‘Recent Paintings’, September 1964, no.23, illustrated in colour on front cover of catalogue. William Crozier was born in Glasgow in 1930, son to a Co Antrim father and a Scottish moth- er. He was brought up in Troon, Ayrshire but returned to Glasgow to study at the school of art there from 1949 to 1953. He had his first exhibition in 1951 at the Carnegie Library and on graduating travelled to Paris for a time before moving to London. During the mid 1950s Crozier, not a stranger to Ireland, spent time living in Dublin and formed friendships with many of the literary set of the time. Back in London his reputation grew and by 1957 he had exhibited at the Parton and Drian galleries and at the Institute of Contempo- rary Art. He recalled his early London days: “I was on easy speaking terms with William Scott …. Eduardo Paolozzi and William Turnbull, simply because I was exhibiting, and took part in the social art world of the time. The social life of artists and writers in the London of the 1950s centred on the clubs and pubs of Hampstead, Chelsea and Soho. In a long day it was possible to meet almost everyone in the art world, and easy friendships were established and abandoned. My relations with Francis Bacon were typical. We inhabited the same small world, spoke frequently, were never close friends and moved in different circles.” During this period he also held exhibitions in Milan, Paris, London and Washington. William Laffan writing in 2010 noted that ‘By 1961 Crozier was widely seen as one of the most exciting artists in London. This position was acknowledged in that year by the French critic Michel Ragon who described him as “one of the best young painters beyond the channel”. Laffan noted that ‘For Crozier, whether in Essex, Crystal Palace, Wiltshire – or indeed West Cork – landscape has only ever been a springboard. Nature observed provides the catalyst, or even excuse, for an increasingly wide vocabulary of abstract gestures and marks.’ The artist himself articulated “Landscape was a vehicle through which I could say anything. I could do it in any amount of colour, turn it upside down, make it have moods, make it carry different meaning. Landscape is not the subject; it is the vehicle through which I can express intangible things. Things which have no narrative. Loss, memory – all can be done through the language of landscape. The landscape almost takes no part, as if an actor.” By 1963 Crozier had moved to Spain where he shared a house with Anthony Cronin near Mala- ga. He found the experience of living and working in Picasso’s birthplace profound and during his stay he delighted in the Andalusian culture, the light and atmosphere. Kelly’s Mound was painted the following year and exhibited at Tooth’s in 1964, illustrating the cover of the exhibition catalogue. Crozier’s work from this Spanish period and beyond was described thus by William Laffan - ‘The group of paintings produced in, and inspired by, Spain is perhaps the most glorious and radiant in the artist’s entire oeuvre – though not without a certain menace lurking in the background.’ We acknowledge William Laffan whose writings formed the basis of this note. € 5,000 - 8,000 CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOGRAPHS AND BIDDING