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George Campbell and the Belfast Boys 2015
Noreen Rice (1934-2015)
Belfast born, Noreen Rice attended the Methodist College, 1947-50 and
won two first prizes in art. Her piano teacher Tom Davidson, introduced
her to Gerard Dillon and George Campbell who taught her in the early
1950’s and became closely associated with the two artists till their deaths
in 1971 and 1979.
She visited Gerard Dillon before traveling to Hong Kong in 1954 where
she remained till 1957 and had a solo show in 1956 with the British
Council. From 1958 to 1967, she lived in London and rented a flat in
Gerard Dillon’s sister Mollie’s house for some years in Abbey Road
with her brother Hal. She worked nights at the BBC as P.A in News and
Current Affairs which allowed her day -time hours to paint. While she
lived at Abbey Road, she also met many artists who visited or stayed in the house. This included
writers, Gerard Keenan, Aidan Higgins and Arthur Armstrong. The 1950’s prompted experiment with
materials and continued encouragement and advice from Gerard Dillon.
From 1958, Rice became a prolific exhibitor, showing at the Irish Exhibition of Living Art and in 1961
with the New Vision Centre, London. From 1962 she exhibited with an tOireachtas and from 1965
with the RHA in Dublin. She exhibited solo and group exhibitions with the David Hendriks Gallery
from 1959 and the Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast in 1971. Other solo exhibitions included several with
The Otter and The Cavehill Galleries from 1988 in Belfast.
From 1967 to 1971, Rice lived in Paris and married French artist Achille Kern. She took up
Lithography and studied etching in Geneva under a bursary from the Swiss Arts Council. She lived in
London from 1971 to 1973, Ireland from 1973 to 1990 returning to London again till 1999 before she
finally settled in Co. Monaghan.
Rice’s work is in the National Self-Portrait Collection, Limerick; Northern Ireland Arts Council; Arts
Council of the Republic of Ireland; Ulster Musuem, Belfast; and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, County
Monaghan, where she held residencies from 1985. Regrettably Noreen died
earlier this year.
Leslie Zukor (1921-2004)
Born in Belfast of East European parentage - his father was Polish and his
mother Lithuanian, Leslie Zukor was educated at Belfast High School and
at the Christian Brothers secondary School in the city. He first exhibited
with the Ulster group of artists in the 1950’s including George and Arthur
Campbell, Dan O’Neill, Gerard Dillon and James MacIntyre.
Largely self-taught, Zukor admired the work of Yeats, Chagall, Gauguin,
Picasso and the Expressionists. Working mainly in oils but also using
watercolour, ceramics and even wooden sculpture, he developed his own
distinctive style, characterized by vibrant colour, textured paint and fluid form.
His Jewish origins are often reflected in recurring Old Testament themes, some synagogue interiors and
scenes from Jewish folklore. Zukor returned to this subject throughout his life and also concentrated
on everyday experiences, domestic still life, tramps around Belfast, and music events etc. Zukor had a
particular interest in Jazz performers.
In addition to the RUA Annual Exhibitions, his Belfast group shows included County Tea House, 1953;
Belfast Synagogue, Wolfson Centre, 1990 and Collett Gallery, 1998. Among his Belfast solo exhibitions
were Piccolo Gallery, 1960, and Queen’s University, 1979. Gormley’s Gallery, Belfast, and Davidson
Gallery, Holywood also showed Zukor’s work.