ADAM'S IMPORTANT IRISH ART 24th September 2025

24 9 GERARD DILLON (1916-1971) Turf Cutters Oil on board, 40 x 60cm (15¾ x 23½”) Signed € 15,000 - 20,000 Encouraged by positive responses to his 1950 solo exhibition with Victor Waddington, Dillon rented a cottage in Inishlacken in 1951 and became fascinated by the landscape of the region. Paintings from this period act as a compendium of the world of the island, the rocks, cottages, currachs and animals. He also often depicted the local people cutting turf, a practice that during this period was done by hand using a two side sleán/slane spade before mechanisation took over. The men and women were highly skilled in the ancient tradition of cutting turf and in ‘ footing’ the turf whereby they stacked the sods upright into mounds in order to dry it out before transporting it from the field. This work was generally carried out in the summer months, building up a vital store of fuel for the winter time. These small triangular stacks can be seen dotted throughout the composition, rendered in quick upright brushstrokes by Dillon. Other works from the period depicting similar scenes are represented in Footing the Turf (sold these rooms in 2014) while a more lyrical and romantic image of the bog can be seen in the work The Moon over the Bog (sold Bonham’s, 2012). In this work the composition is arranged to show the full process of the cutting, from the man in the foreground digging into the bog with his slane, while a man and woman in mid-ground stack the turf for drying and in the distance on a winding track, a donkey and cart stands waiting for the harden sods to be loaded. In the distance, he includes a thin sliver of the mountains and sea, and this slightly com- pressed composition is characteristic of Dillon’s work of this time. He employs a small hori- zon line, to give a sense of a contained landscape, an island cut off from the mainland rather than an open expansive environment. This also helps to focus our attention on the working ritual taking place. Dillon keenly observes the scene depicting the methodical and physically intensive laborious work involved. The younger man handles the cutting while an older cou- ple foot the turf, an equally back breaking exercise as evidenced in their bent stances and one can imagine the stiffness of their bodies after a day’s work. Niamh Corcoran, August 2025