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Artist: Daniel O'Neill (1920-1974) Title: Landscape, Kerry Signature: signed lower right Medium: oil on canvas Size: 51.20 x 76.30cm (20.2 x 30in) Framed Size: 69.1 x 94.6cm (27.2 x 37.2in) Provenance: The Waddington Galleries Inc., Montreal (label verso); Private Collection a#morebtn { color: #de1d01; } a#morebtn:hover { cursor: pointer;} A shaft of sunlight illuminates a beach in Kerry during a thunderstorm. In the background, dark clouds hover, with rain sheeting down onto a blue mountain range in the distance. The expanse of sea between beach and mountains is grey-green, with alternate bands of light and dark. A thin line, trimmed... Read more Daniel O'Neill Lot 21 - 'Landscape, Kerry' Estimate: €15,000 - €25,000 A shaft of sunlight illuminates a beach in Kerry during a thunderstorm. In the background, dark clouds hover, with rain sheeting down onto a blue mountain range in the distance. The expanse of sea between beach and mountains is grey-green, with alternate bands of light and dark. A thin line, trimmed with white, indicates a wave lapping on the seashore. As with many works by Daniel O'Neill detail has been pared down to a minimum and the painting hovers between representation and abstraction. The light yellow band of paint provides a focal point, while alternating bands of light and dark enhance the work's Romantic qualities. The skilful use of colour conveys an emotional feeling, while also representing a weather pattern typical in the West of Ireland. The location is probably near Ballyferriter, on the Dingle peninsula. The son of an electrician, Daniel O'Neill was born Belfast, in 1920. Leaving school early, although he too trained as an electrician, an early interest in art led him to take life drawing classes at the Belfast College of Art, where he became friends with fellow-artist Gerard Dillon He also worked for a time with Sidney Smith After being laid off in 1939, O'Neill found work as a housepainter in London. The following year he first exhibited at the Mol Gallery in Belfast, and in 1941 documented devastation in Belfast caused by a German air raid. Two years later, after his marriage to Eileen Lyle, O'Neill and Dillon had a two-person exhibition in Dublin, and he was taken on by the Victor Waddington Galleries, which provided him with a regular income. O'Neill and his family followed Dillon and George Campbell settling in the village of Conlig, Co. Down. However, a restless spirit prevented him from staying long in any one place, and he spent much of his time in Dublin. In 1948, visiting Paris, O'Neill saw at first-hand the work of Vlaminck and Utrillo, painters he had admired via reproductions in art books. After the breakup of his marriage to Eileen, O'Neill was with Sheilagh Deacon for around a decade, and after that, lived in London with Maureen Boyce, who, although they never married, changed her name by deed poll to O'Neill. These women, and other family and friends, appear often in his paintings. In the 1960's he made several trips to Kerry, and in 1968 designed sets for Sean O'Casey's play Juno and the Paycock at the Abbey Theatre. Two years later, his one-person exhibition at the McClelland Gallery in Belfast was a success, but the forced closure of the gallery the following year because of the 'Troubles' affected him badly. In 1974 O'Neill died, aged just fifty-four. His life and work are documented in a recent monograph by Karen Reihill, Daniel O'Neill Romanticism & Friendships, published by the Frederick Gallery, Dublin. Peter Murray, March 2022