Skip to main content
Advanced Search
© Estate of Daniel O'Neill, DACS London / IVARO Dublin, 2024
Title
Scarecrows, Newtownards, County Down
Dateearly 1950s
MediumOil on board
Dimensions
51 x 76 cm
Signedlower right: D. O'Neill
Credit LinePurchased, 2000
Object numberNGI.4678
ProvenanceDawson Gallery; private collection; purchased, London, Christies, 19 May 2000, lot 77 Label TextThis unusual representation of Newtownards, Co. Down contrasts strikingly with the naturalistic depictions of the Irish landscape by many of O’Neill’s contemporaries and their immediate predecessors, among them Paul Henry, J.H. Craig and Frank McKelvey. O’Neill attended a few life classes at the Belfast College of Art but was otherwise largely self-taught. Much of his work is emotionally charged and characterised by a sombre, almost brooding quality. More heightened colour, balanced composition and a greater linear clarity gradually replaced the darkness and detail of his earlier work.