ADAM'S IMPORTANT IRISH ART 24th September 2025

34 16 DANIEL O’NEILL (1920-1974) Landscape, Co. Down Oil on board, 50 x 68cm (19½ x 26½’’) Signed € 10,000 - 15,000 In this work O’Neill has presented us with a vivid and expansive landscape depiction of the fields and mountains of Co. Down. Born and raised in Belfast, O’Neill was very familiar with this part of the country and in the early 1950s he moved to an artist’s colony in Conlig working closely with artists George Campbell and Gerard Dillon. He was not a topographical painter, and his landscapes scenes are often more focused on the at- mosphere and emotive qualities than the geographical accuracy. The sections of water that appear in the mid and background of the painting presumably reference Strangford Lough, an area of immense natural beauty in the county. While it is not typical of the artist to use such an array of bright colours, the palette cho- sen is made up of a striking variety of tones. O’Neill uses thick impastoed brushstrokes to capture the luscious vegetation, rendered in vivid yellows and green tones. The appli- cation of quick upright strokes creates a sense of movement in the image. O’Neill uses colour as line in the work, separating off the different sections of the com- position. The background is dominated by varying tones of blue, moving seamlessly from lakes to mountains to sky. A small cottage is visible in the middle distance remind- ing us of the human presence within this beautiful and remote landscape. Niamh Corcoran, August 2025