Title
Women of Belfast VIDate1973
MediumFelt-tip pen and wash on paper
Dimensions
22.6 x 28 cm
Signedlower right: '73
Credit LinePurchased, 2016
Object numberNGI.2016.4.6
DescriptionAt the height of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, on 4th March 1972, a bomb exploded at the Abercorn Tea Rooms in Belfast. Two women were killed and 130 people were injured. Until that point McWilliam had not engaged directly with the escalating violence but that particular atrocity affected him deeply and caused to create a series of small bronzes known collectively as Women of Belfast. These powerful drawings, studies for the scultptures, depict twisted bodies and clothes torn away by the blast. The sharp black felt tip pen lines are in places blurred into browns, purples and blues reminiscent of bruised flesh. This drawing, one of a series of eight created at speed, gives a sense of the shocking power of the explosion.