Adam's IMPORTANT IRISH ART 30TH MARCH 2022

38 26 DANIEL O’NEILL (1920-1974) Girl with a Flower Oil on board, 50 x 40cm (19.6 x 15.7”) Signed Provenance: Purchased from the Victor Waddington Galleries, Dublin, by the mother of the current owner, c.1950s. € 20,000 - 30,000 Female portraiture is a common theme in Daniel O’Neill’s work, often depicting these figures with sim- ilar attributes, large brown eyes, sallow skin and dark hair, features which are thought to have derived from his first wife Eileen. In the present work, the figure dominates 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 hands drawn together holding a pink rose against her chest. O’Neill does not offer us much in the way of narrative content, who the figure is or where she is located. This work marries with other portrait scenes by O’Neill, often described as ‘Spanish Women’, with character- istically continental features. His travels in Europe certainly sparked interest in Spanish culture and he depicted a quintessential figure of Spain The Matador in a work from 1949. However, in these portrait works of female figures there is also a sense that the women personify the general rather than the spe- cific, as Arthur Armstrong remarked of O’Neill that he ‘loved the society of beautiful women’. (Arthur Armstrong, ‘Martello, RHA Special Issue’ 1991, as quoted in Daniel O’Neill Romanticism & Friends , Ka- ren Reihill, p.74). Girl with a Flower is presented against a darkening evening sky, with her blue dress mirroring the tones behind her. His deft use of colour, varying from dark green to lighter blue tones especially around the head of the figure, allows him to subtly separate her from the background, as if she is emerging from it. His handling of the paint, the quick impastoed brushstrokes of her dress are in direct contrast to the smooth and almost flawless character of her skin. By positioning her in profile he accentuates her sharp jaw line and elongated neck, a style which is reminiscent of portraiture from the Romantic period. Niamh Corcoran, February 2022