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The sculptor Conor Fallon and his painter-wife Nancy Wynne-Jones were not only re-
spected artists in their own right, they were also active art collectors for most of their
life together.). They did not set out deliberately to build up a collection; it would be
truer to say that it more or less happened quite naturally and over several decades.
Both were genuine connoisseurs, with exacting standards and ultra-sharp eyes, but their
choice of artworks largely reflects (a) their admiration of various living artists who, in
many cases, were also their friends or fellow-travellers; (b) propinquity and personal
relationships, since much of their married life was connected with the busy art centre
of St Ives, even after they had left Cornwall ; and (c) a certain amount of patronage
and support for artists who were then relatively little known.
For these reasons, this sale includes a large proportion of painters and some sculptors
who belonged to the Cornish scene rather than the Irish art world. Eminent names
appear among them, notably those of Peter Lanyon (of whom Nancy had been a pupil)
, Patrick Hayman ( a genuine Little Master who is still under-appreciated ), Terry Frost,
John Tunnard, Denis Mitchell, Breon O’Casey, Alan Lowndes. All of these notable art-
ists, except Tunnard who was an older figure and a virtual recluse, were among their
personal friends. Other choices such as Bert Irvin and Peter Kinley probably reflect
Nancy’s early years as a freelance painter in London, when she formed some lasting
friendships and absorbed the currents of the time.
The painter Tony O’Malley straddles both the Cornish and Irish contexts, since he and
Conor had been friends since the latter’s childhood. O’Malley emigrated to Cornwall
in 1960 and it was to him that Conor owed many of his initial contacts there; Nancy,
in turn, had known and appreciated O’Malley almost from his arrival. The Stockport
painter Alan Lowndes was a long-standing friend before he left Cornwall for ever. Sean
McSweeney was both a friend and a respected colleague, while Doreen Vanston’s work
they admired and bought in the face of her personal obscurity and neglect. Melanie
le Brocquy was one of Conor’s particular admirations, from his very first acquaintance
with her sculptures, and they became warm friends as well as virtual colleagues; Nano
Reid, by contrast, they scarcely even met, but both of them ranked her high among
Irish painters.
Both Conor and Nancy were, in their ways, quite private people and they did not
publicise their collection in any way or regard it as having iconic status. Yet in a sense
it amounts virtually to a chart of their own very distinguished careers and wealth of
artistic contacts, both individually and jointly.
BRIAN FALLON May 2015
Nancy Wynne-Jones & Conor Fallon Collection