Preparatory study towards 'January God'

T.P. Flanagan , Irish, 1929-2011

Title

Date1972

MediumMixed media on paper

Signedlower right (in graphite): T.P. Flanagan

Credit LinePurchased, 2020

Object numberNGI.2020.93.4

DescriptionT.P. Flanagan and Seamus Heaney were creative presences in each other's lives throughout their long-standing friendship. In 1972, this took on a very practical form when the Arts Council of Northern Ireland commissioned Flanagan to make a poster to accompany Heaney's poem January God. The complex, ambiguous form that Flanagan created seems to relate to natural forms, recalling the work of Graham Sutherland (1903–1980), however the crown of thorns has also been read as a response towards the violence of the Troubles, which at that time was at its most intense. Heaney wrote the poem ‘January God’ having been inspired by the 2ft tall bilateral figure on Boa Island in Co. Fermanagh, regarded as one of the most enigmatic and remarkable stone figures in Ireland. It is called a Janus-figure because it has two faces, reminding some of the Roman two-headed deity Janus. However, it is not a representation of Janus but rather a representation of a Celtic deity. One of the artist’s striking studies towards illustrating the poem powerfully depicts this Celtic idol wearing a crown of thorns.
The purchase includes a printed copy of Seamus Heaney's 'January God', illustrated by T.P. Flanagan. This work brings together, through word and image, two creative forces from Northern Ireland. It both highlights their bond of friendship, along with their shared history.

ProvenancePrivate collection, Adam’s, Dublin, Important Irish Art, 2 September 2020, lot 73; Purchased, 2020Exhibition HistoryT.P. Flanagan Retrospective, Ulster Museum, Belfast; Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery, Dublin; Fermanagh County Museum, 1996, catalogue no.35