ADAM'S IMPORTANT IRISH ART 28th May 2025

18 8 GERARD DILLON (1916-1971) Sailors Oil on board, 27 x 22cm (10½ x 8½’’) Signed Provenance: Gifted by a Greek student in Dublin, 1953; with The Bell Gallery, Belfast; Private collection, Northern Ireland, thence by descent. Exhibited: Possibly, Gerard Dillon & Daniel O’Neill , Dublin, Con- temporary Picture Galleries, December 3-18th, 1943, (Sailors, No. 34) € 5,000 - 8,000 Sailors shows a group of men in their uniforms in jubilant mood, smoking, conversing and drinking stout around tables in the well-known gay bar, Du-Barry’s in the Belfast docklands. The proximity of the sailors and cramped seating suggests the men were at ease in Dillon’s company. The sailors and serviceman with a kit bag in the background suggests the venue was a popular rendezvous point. A recently discovered document indicates this painting was previously with the Belfast art dealer, Nelson Bell of the Bell Gallery. The undated typed document gives catalogue details of Sailors with a hand written note in ink together with a colour printout of the painting. Nelson Bell states, “Gerard Dillon, Soldiers and French Sailors in Du-Bar- ry’s. Du-Barry’s was a dock area bar in Prince’s Street. Framed by Webb’s, Dublin, 1942-1944. Given to the present owner in 1953 by Greek student in Dublin. Inscribed in Greek on reverse, when student was leaving the country.” The onset of the Second World War coincided with a changing cultural climate in Ireland after refugee painters arrived in Dub- lin during the Emergency. War conditions in Northern Ireland also offered an unusual liberal atmosphere after the authorities turned a blind eye to activities in the area around Belfast docks after hundreds of thousands of servicemen disembarked in Belfast in 1942. Although travel restrictions in the south irritat- ed the general public, the restrictions stimulated an interest in the visual arts which had a beneficial spin off for Gerard Dillon’s painting career. He was able to hold his first solo exhibition in Dublin in 1942 and in possession of an identity card commuted easily by train between Dublin and Belfast. In 1943 Dillon was living in Belfast preparing for two exhibitions; a joint show with Daniel O’Neill at Dublin’s progressive Contemporary Picture Galleries in December, 1943 and a joint exhibition with George Campbell in John Lamb’s gallery, Portadown, Northern Ireland in June, 1944. From January, 1942, steam ships carrying American troops arrived into Belfast docklands area creating a noisy, bustling atmosphere in the war-torn city. By 1943 there were more than 120,000 servicemen who had access to cigarettes, fresh fruit, chocolate, meat and white bread. These luxuries however, were out of reach to the native civilian population, who were subjected to controls and restrictions in relation to the consumption of coal, petrol, food, security, and living daily with unlighted streets, darkened windows and the rising cost of living. After long periods at sea, sailors with tanned skin and toned bodies in snug fitted uniforms contrasted visual- ly with the native population. Their disposable income and interest in seeking entertainment likely created a smoke-filled exotic ambience in Du-Barry’s bar. Their willingness to pay artists for on-the-spot portrait commissions attracted Dillon and his friends. Some of his subjects at his joint exhibition with Daniel O’Neill in 1943 reflect his contact with American servicemen, American military engineers and sailors during this period. Oral history interviews conducted by Northern Ire- land’s War Memorial Museum indicate the outbreak of war encouraged physical intimacy and close personnel relationships with one’s fellow men or women. By the end of the war, around 300,000 American service per- sonnel passed through Ulster. Du-Barry’s bar on Princ- es Street, located within a minute walk from Albert clock with access to the tram was a renowned venue for prostitutes, gay men, sailors and servicemen. Hav- ing lived discreetly as a gay man in London in the late 1930s, the cosmopolitan environment in Dublin and the unanticipated consequences of thousands of men disembarking in industrial Belfast were opportunities the painter likely embraced. Although the general public were living under strict controls and restrictions in Ireland, war-time conditions offered Dillon relative freedom and a unique opportunity to launch and pro- mote his painting career in Dublin as well as exhibiting with friends in his native city of Belfast. Karen Reihill, April 2025