CHATSWORTH SUMMER FINE ART SALE May 28th & 29th 2024

101 Fonsie Mealy’s Est. 1934 873. Douglas Alexander, RHA (1871-1945) “On Killary Bay, Connemara,”watercolour, extensive coastal scene with Twelve Pins in distance, Signed lower right, approx. 36cms x 51cms (14” x 20”), ebonised moulded frame, labels on reverse. (1) €400 - €500 874. James Butler Brennan, Irish (1825-1889) “Alexander Russell, (1778-1849)” head and shoulder Portrait, O.O.C., approx. 76cms x 61cms (30” x 24”) Signed lower right, contemporary ornate gilt frame. (1) Provenance: The Russell Family, Seafield, Co. Waterford. €500 - €700 “Crucifixion Scene,” c 1955, O.O.B., Signed l.r. ‘D O Neill’, approx. 25cms x 20cms (10” x 8”). (1) Depicting the moment when Christ is stripped of his clothing before being crucified, O’Neill takes a scene from the Stations of the Cross, an image familiar to church-goers, and gives it new life, within the context of twentieth-century art. Using a technique of dragging and layering paint, using brush and palette knife, O’Neill creates a work in which subject matter and treatment resonate strongly. It is an image of dread and darkness, with the bowed head of Jesus silhouetted against a sickly pale yellow horizon. On either side of Christ stand Roman soldiers, with more in the background, their lances piercing the dark turbulent skies. The soldiers in the background are faceless, anonymous, while the two in the foreground are depicted with dark expressions, in a crude and simplified manner. On the ground behind them lies the cross. Employing painting techniques learned during his visit to Paris in 1948, O’Neill creates a work that expresses deep feeling and a sombre mood. The painting reflects O’Neill’s regard for Vlaminck, Utrillo and Modigliani, artists whose work he was familiar with from art journals, but would have seen in actuality during his time in Paris. Born in 1920 in Belfast, O’Neill initially followed his father’s occupation, training as an electrician in the shipyards. Dissatisfied with this career, he cast around for other occupations, and worked for a time as a housepainter. He also attended evening classes at the Belfast College of Art, becoming friendly with the painter Gerard Dillon, and worked for a time in the studio of fellow-Belfast artist Sidney Smith. After the 1941 air raids on Belfast, O’Neill salvaged wood from the destroyed buildings, and experimented with wood-carving. The first exhibition of his paintings was held that same year, at the Mol Gallery in Belfast, and shortly afterwards he was taken on by the Victor Waddington Gallery in Dublin. This provided him with an income, allowing him to paint full time, and to travel to France. He exhibited at the Waddington Galleries between 1946 and 1955, and, after leaving Ireland in 1958 to move to London, exhibited with the Waddington Gallery in Montreal, Canada, an enterprise set up around that time by Victor’s younger brother George. O’Neill also showed in New York, in 1947, and the following year in Beverly Hills, California. After some years in London, he returned to Ireland in the early 1950s, where, along with Gerard Dillon and George Campbell, he became a member of the Ulster Contemporary Group. In the early 1950s he moved with his wife and child to the village of Conlig, Co Down, where Campbell and Dillon were also living. Always a restless spirit, in 1958 O’Neill moved back to London. However a successful exhibition of his work, held at the McClelland Galleries in Belfast in 1970, prompted him to return to Northern Ireland, but not long afterwards the gallery was forced to close as a result of ‘The Troubles’. O’Neill died in 1974, aged just 54. Peter Murray 2024 Provenance: Collection of Thomas Teevan, Dublin. A distinguished lawyer and judge, Thomas Teevan served as Attorney General of Ireland in 1953-54. €3000 - €4000 875. Daniel O’Neill (1920-1974)