- 95
Daniel O'Neill 1920-1974
Estimate
50,000 - 80,000 GBP
bidding is closed
Description
- Daniel O'Neill
- florence
- signed l.l.: D O'NEILL
- oil on board
- 61 by 45.5cm.; 24 by 18in.
Provenance
A birthday gift from the artist to the present owner
Catalogue Note
Like his friend Gerard Dillon, O'Neill was largely self-taught and had attended several life classes at the Belfast School of Art circa 1940. More importantly for his development was his trip to Paris in the late 1940s probably sponsored by his then dealer, Victor Waddington. Here he was particularly inspired by the Expressionist works of Maurice Vlaminck whose influence is clear in the intense colour combinations of the present work where the deep blue hues of the sitter's dress contrast sharply with the swirling lighter tones in the background.
Alongside the romantic landscapes he became well known for, he was particularly fond of depicting a single sitter as the central focus of the composition (see also lots 103 and 104). The majority of these works depict various characters that he simply chanced upon but did not know well and the present work is especially significance in light of the fact that it is a portrait of one of O'Neill's close friends in London and the work was gifted to her as a birthday present.
Alongside the romantic landscapes he became well known for, he was particularly fond of depicting a single sitter as the central focus of the composition (see also lots 103 and 104). The majority of these works depict various characters that he simply chanced upon but did not know well and the present work is especially significance in light of the fact that it is a portrait of one of O'Neill's close friends in London and the work was gifted to her as a birthday present.