Adams Summer Loan Exhibition - George Campbell And The Belfat Boys 7th July - 3rd September 2015

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Since the 1950s, Campbell made Irish people aware of the history and culture of Spain
through his paintings, sketches, gouaches and photographs. In 1962, he appeared on the Late
Late Show, talking about Spain and its cultural traditions. He participated in five exhibitions
at the British Council, Gibraltar, and took part in four broadcasts on RTÉ on Flamenco
music. He had written about Spain in many newspapers and magazines, and appeared in
Arland Urssher’s ‘Spanish Mercy’, 1959, and Peter de Polany’s, ‘Queen Of Spain, Isabel ll’,
published by Hollis &Carter, 1962. The Spanish government formally recognized Campbell’s
contribution to Spain in 1978 when he was made Knight Commander of Spain with the
Insignia and Privileges of the Order of the Merito Civile, the equivalent of a knighthood.
Intelligent and individualistic, Campbell was proficient in managing his career but never
acknowledged the impact of traumatic events in his life. Friends remarked he never spoke
about the death of his father or the death of his son, Michael. Aware of Campbell’s underlying
sadness, one friend remarked recently, ‘he never recovered from the loss of his child’.218
Throughout his adult life Campbell had hidden his vulnerability behind his gregarious
personality, but the void from the loss of close friends219 in the 1970s caused fatigue and
made his desire to retreat to the tranquillity of Wicklow more immediate.
218Interview with Martin Whelan, Donegal, 9 April 2015.
219Gerard Dillon, 1971, Daniel O’Neill, 1974, Donal Whelan 1975, Harry Barnardo, 1978 and Seamus Kelly,
1979.
fig.244: George Campbell accepting award from
Ambassador, Emilio Pan de Soraluce, Dublin, 1977
fig.255: Knight Commander of Spain -
George Campbell’s medal