Adam's IMPORTANT IRISH ART Auction Wednesday 29th September 2021

20 11 DANIEL O’NEILL (1920-1974) Spanish Girl Oil on canvas laid on board, 60 x 50cm (23½ x 19¾’’) Signed € 20,000 - 30,000 Female portraiture is a common theme in Daniel O’Neill’s work, often depicting these figures with similar attributes, large brown eyes, sallow skin and dark hair, features which are thought to have derived from his first wife Eileen. In this present work, the figure dom- inates the picture frame, with all of the emphasis placed on her strikingly beautiful face and long jet-black hair. There is the sense that the landscape behind her, is a backdrop rather than a scene in which she is set. She poses for the artist, with her hand on hip and shawl falling off both shoulders. O’Neill does not offer us much in the way of narrative content, who the figure is or where she is located. His travels in Europe certainly sparked interest in Spanish cul- ture and he depicted a quintessential figure of Spain, ‘The Matador’, in a work from 1949. While the title and her characteristically continental features, suggest a European setting, there is also a sense that she personifies the general rather than the specific, as Arthur Armstrong remarked of O’Neill that he ‘loved the society of beautiful women’. (Arthur Armstrong, ‘Martello, RHA Special Issue’ 1991, Daniel O’Neill Romanticism & Friends, Ka- ren Reihill, p.74). She is presented against the early light of evening, a full moon rising from the horizon line behind her. His deft use of colour, varying from green-brown to deep blue tones, al- lows him to subtly separate land from sky. His handling of the paint, the quick impastoed brushstrokes of her shawl and dress are in direct contrast to the smooth and almost flaw- less character of her skin. The flesh tones accentuate the smooth and highly elongated neckline of the figure, a style which is reminiscent of portraiture from the Romantic period. Niamh Corcoran, August 2021