Adam's IMPORTANT IRISH ART 25th September 2024

100 83 GERARD DILLON (1916 - 1971) The Music Teacher (Portrait of Thomas Davidson) Oil on board, 51 x 37cm (20 x 141”) Signed Provenance: Sale, Gormley’s Fine Art, RDS, Dublin, 2006 where purchased by the present owner; By repute, the sitter’s family € 20,000 - 30,000 Dillon was introduced to Tom Davidson, renowned BBC Radio Ulster Pianist, initially through his brother Joe, who was also a musician. Tom was an important point of contact with other Ulster artists and writers who would become close friends of Dillon in the 1950s and 60s. During this period of time in Dillon’s life and career, there is a sense that he was part of a vibrant and tightknit community, made up of literary and ar- tistic individuals who formed enriching friendships. Gerard’s sister Molly owned a house on Abbey Road in London and it would be become space, both phys- ically and symbolically, for development of a com- munity of artists and creative figures within the expat Belfast circle. Dillon lived on and off for the next 20 years in the house, a great entertainer, hosting gath- erings with other Belfast artists, including George and Madge Campbell, Hugh Heanon and Arthur Armstrong. Tom came to stay in the house in the ear- ly 1950s, Molly rented him an upstairs room, and it is possible that this portrait was made during his stay. There is great photograph taken of Gerard and Tom sitting side by side on a couch, possibly in the house at Abbey Road. Gerard is looking to the camera, while Davidson dressed impeccably in shirt and tie looks side long at him. One immediately gets a sense of their close friendship, and it is as if they were inter- rupted mid-sentence while chatting away to each oth- er on the sofa. Another work by Dillon entitled Man with Keyboard (Crawford Art Gallery, Cork) shows Davidson as the professional pianist with his slender, graceful fingers poised over the keys, ready to play. In The Music Teacher , Dillon offers a more personal depiction of his friend, and it represents Tom quite faithfully. He was an incredibly striking figure, with his shock of black hair styled in a deep parting, his prominent brow over beautiful almond shaped brown eyes, and long, ele- gant nose. There is a wonderful depth of expression captured in the eyes, suggesting a thoughtful pres- ence. The striking red background is softened by the im- pastoed brushstrokes, adding texture and movement to the paint surface. These colours are picked up in Tom’s red and yellow turtleneck, framed by the open- ing of the bright blue cardigan, again painted with quick and swirling brushstrokes. A single red button is visible just at the edge of the picture plane. The house at Abbey Road was depicted many times by Dillon in works such as In the London Flat , Self Con- tained Flat and The Red Attic , often using that same colour palette of blue and burnt red. Portraits of male figures are quite common in Dillon’s work, depicted in a variety of forms, as strong west of Ireland farmers and labourers, as brothers including his own three siblings, as friends together in his small flat, in numerous self-portraits, and occasionally as lovers. They form an important part of his oeuvre in which he was able to celebrate their diverse and en- during role in his personal and artistic life, which in the case of Dillon, were one and the same. Niamh Corcoran, August 2024