Daniel O'Neill, 
Irish 1920-1974 - 
Flotsam, Landscape Donegal; 
oil on board, titled on the...

Daniel O'Neill, 
Irish 1920-1974 - 

Flotsam, Landscape Donegal; 

oil on board, titled on the reverse 'Landscape Donegal', 40.3 x 60.7 cm (ARR) 

Provenance:
Sotheby’s, London, 20th Century British and Irish Art, 14th September 2005, lot 185; 
private collection, purchased from the above 

Note: 
Campbell was from a circle of Post-War Irish artists that worked in Conlig in the 1950s that included Gerald Dillon and George F. Campbell. The present work reflects the neo-romantic style that was prevalent in Britain and Ireland in the period, seen here in the heavy atmosphere of the landscape, reminiscent of the early work of John Minton and John Craxton. The colour palette of muddied browns, greens and blues suggest an eerie calm that settles on the landscape. Horizontal brush strokes emphasise the still water and sky, in a direct opposition to the scattered flotsam littered across the foreground which alludes to an unseen danger. The mounds of debris recall scenes from the trenches and ravaged fields of World War Two, deeply ingrained in the collective consciousness of the post-war era.

O’Neill became a full-time painter in 1945, having previously worked as an electrician on Belfast shipyard, and visited Paris in 1949. Here he was influenced by Maurice Vlaminck, Georges Roualt and Maurice Utrillo. In the following decade he moved to Conlig, Country Down, where a small group of artists had formed. These included George Campbell and Gerard Dillon. Some of his works were exhibited at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in 2005 as part of an exhibit on Northern Irish Artists. His work is held in Irish public collections including Ulster Museum and Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane, as well as the Laing Gallery and Herbert Art Gallery & Museum in the UK. His work was shown at the influential Victor Waddington Gallery in Dublin in 1946 and Arthur Tooth & Sons, London in 1952.