ADAM'S IMPORTANT IRISH ART 27 MAY 2026

46 18 FREDERICK E MCWILLIAM RA (1909 - 1992) Peace Women (c.1975) Bronze, 35cm (13¾”) (h) Signed and numbered 3/5 Provenance: Collection of Reeta and Frank Hughes, Warrenpoint, thence by descent. € 10,000 - 15,000 When the Troubles erupted in Northern Ireland, FE McWil- liam had long been gone from Banbridge, the Co Down town where he was born and grew up. Based in London and well established there as both sculptor and teacher, he nonetheless maintained links with the North, and had com- pleted commissions there. In the late 1960s his work took a particularly figurative direction, culminating in a series of stylised female nudes in bronze. Events in Northern Ireland prompted a significant shift in the mood and form of his sculpture. In the aftermath of Bloody Sunday, a Provisional IRA bomb explosion in Belfast’s Abercorn Restaurant killed two young women and caused horrific injuries for dozens more. The events triggered memories of the political violence hap- pening during McWilliam’s early years and he was moved to create a series of sculptures, Women of Belfast , of figures as though thrown and contorted by a blast. He went on to create a series of Banner pieces, of women holding aloft banners, and then a series of clashing protestors, includ- ing several of peace protestors, using their banners as weapons in vigorous clashes. By this stage he seemed to be commenting on the ultimate futility of conflict. Although the subject is highly charged, there is a lightness to the sculptor’s treatment, a choreography to the emphatic movement of the figures. And in fact they anticipate a sub- sequent, 1980 series of judo players in action. Like many a sculptor, McWilliam originally had it in mind to be a painter, but when he went to the Slade in London to pursue his art studies, he found himself drawn into the orbit of Henry Moore and others who could see his sculptural potential. He spent most of WWII in the RAF in aerial reconnaissance. After teaching in India he returned to London, teaching at Chelsea and the Slade, all the while working industriously and completing major commissions. He exhibited with Waddington Gallery London and Taylor Galleries Dublin among others. There were retrospectives at the Ulster Museum (touring to Dublin and elsewhere) and the Tate Gallery London. He bequeathed his studio and works to Banbridge, where they are part of the FE McWil- liam Gallery and Studio. Aidan Dunne, April 2026