GERARD DILLON | TORY ISLAND

Victor Waddington Galleries, Dublin;

Gifted to the present owner's parents in 1953 and thence by descent

The location of the present painting is most likely Falcarragh, a small coastal Gaeltacht town in north west Donegal. It was probably painted when Dillon was on a sketching holiday with fellow friend and artist, Daniel O'Neill, in 1947. O'Neill himself painted works in the area, often bearing 'Cloughaneely' in the title, which was the old parish of Falcarragh. Beyond the thatched cottages and stone walls in the present work can be seen Tory Island. The painting evokes Dillon's child-like wonder at the landscape and way of life of the inhabitants through its deliberately naive execution, typical of Dillon's much-loved scenes of the West of Ireland.

We are grateful to Karen Reihill for her assistance with the cataloguing of the present work.