Donald Teskey
Donald Teskey was born in Co. Limerick and graduated from Limerick College of Art and Design with a Diploma in Fine Art in 1978. He came to prominence as an artist through his skill as a draughtsman during the 1980s with several significant solo exhibitions and for nearly thirty years has produced an important and extensive body of works chiefly inspired by the Irish landscape. He is a member of the RHA and an elected member of its Council. He is also a member of Aosdαna. The Arts Council established Aosdαna in 1981 to honour artists whose work has made an outstanding contribution to the arts in Ireland, and to encourage and assist members in devoting their energies fully to their art. Membership, which is by invitation from current members, is limited to 250 individuals. Teskey has been the recipient of numerous awards, fellowships and residencies both nationally and internationally and his work has been exhibited in the UK, USA, Canada, China, Germany, France, Finland and South Africa. Collections include the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Arts Council of Ireland, corporate and private collections worldwide. He is represented by Oliver Sears Gallery, Dublin, Dolan/Maxwell Gallery, Pennsylvania, USA and Art First Contemporary Art, London.
Donald Teskey is one of Irelands leading contemporary painters, even though he began painting belatedly, having been long established as a graphic artist. His earliest works are virtuoso drawings of desolate city streets, and the fabric of the city, mostly Dublin, remained his central subject matter when he began to apply himself to painting. He is a hard-working perfectionist and the technical flair characteristic of his drawings is also fully evident in his handling of oil paint, which is exceptional and innovative. Never content to settle into a predictable pattern, he has consistently embraced fresh artistic challenges.
Just when it seemed that he could safely be classified as an urban artist he ventured out into the wide open spaces, visiting Cape Clear Island off the coast of West Cork and Ballycastle in North Mayo, where he stayed during a fellowship at the Ballinglen Arts Foundation. His urban landscapes had relished the drama of architectonic spaces, the intricate sculptural patterns created by jumbles of buildings, roads, bridges, canals and railways, all defined by the play of light and shadow. As it happened, he found that this pictorial language worked exceptionally well in a completely different, natural environment.
(excerpt from catalogue essay)
Aidan Dunne
April 2008
Donald Teskey is one of Irelands leading contemporary painters, even though he began painting belatedly, having been long established as a graphic artist. His earliest works are virtuoso drawings of desolate city streets, and the fabric of the city, mostly Dublin, remained his central subject matter when he began to apply himself to painting. He is a hard-working perfectionist and the technical flair characteristic of his drawings is also fully evident in his handling of oil paint, which is exceptional and innovative. Never content to settle into a predictable pattern, he has consistently embraced fresh artistic challenges.
Just when it seemed that he could safely be classified as an urban artist he ventured out into the wide open spaces, visiting Cape Clear Island off the coast of West Cork and Ballycastle in North Mayo, where he stayed during a fellowship at the Ballinglen Arts Foundation. His urban landscapes had relished the drama of architectonic spaces, the intricate sculptural patterns created by jumbles of buildings, roads, bridges, canals and railways, all defined by the play of light and shadow. As it happened, he found that this pictorial language worked exceptionally well in a completely different, natural environment.
(excerpt from catalogue essay)
Aidan Dunne
April 2008
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'LIGHTHOUSE ON ERRIS HEAD, BELMULLET, COUNTY MAYO'
- Price Realised: 3,200
- Sale: 26 May 2014
- acrylic on paper
- 10 by 14in., 25 by 35cm.
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'JUNE 2002 (PURPLE)'
- Price Realised: 3,200
- Sale: 29 September 2008
- acrylic on paper
- 25 by 21cm., 10 by 8.25in.
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'TRAPEZE I, 1991'
- Price Realised: 3,200
- Sale: 15 December 2007
- charcoal
- 86 by 71cm., 34 by 28in.
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'UNTITLED, 2008'
- Price Realised: 2,900
- Sale: 28 November 2022
- charcoal on Fabriano paper
- 22½ x 30in. (57.15 x 76.20cm)
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'LANDFALL VARIATION X, 2005'
- Price Realised: 2,500
- Sale: 02 October 2023
- charcoal on paper
- 27Ύ x 39in. (70.49 x 99.06cm)
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'UNTITLED, 2008'
- Price Realised: 2,100
- Sale: 26 May 2014
- charcoal on Fabriano paper
- 22.25 by 30in., 55.625 by 75cm.
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'AN ISLAND'
- Price Realised: 2,000
- Sale: 04 March 2024
- oil on board
- 8 x 8in. (20.32 x 20.32cm)
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'LANDFALL VARIATION XI, 2005'
- Price Realised: 1,900
- Sale: 25 May 2015
- charcoal on paper
- 28 x 39½in. (71.12 x 100.33cm)
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'SHORELINE VARIATIONS, II, 2006'
- Price Realised: 750
- Sale: 29 November 2010
- carborundum print (no. 29 from an edition of 30)
- 65 by 76cm., 25.7 5 by 29.7 5in.
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'COASTAL SCENE'
- Price Realised: 560
- Sale: 18 October 2021
- lithograph; (no. 43 from an edition of 220); (unframed)
- 6½ x 6½in. (16.51 x 16.51cm)
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'JO-MAR BUILDING, 2009'
- Price Realised: 540
- Sale: 17 October 2022
- etching; (no. 1 from an edition of 30)
- 15½ x 17½in. (39.37 x 44.45cm)
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'TIDAL NARRATIVES, 2005'
- Price Realised: 540
- Sale: 18 October 2021
- limited edition book; (no. 13 from an edition of 30)
- 9Ύ x 9½in. (24.77 x 24.13cm)
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'BALLYGLAS, NORTH MAYO, 2000'
- Price Realised: 450
- Sale: 28 September 2009
- monoprint
- 17 by 19cm., 6.75 by 7.5in.
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'IVERAGH II'
- Price Realised: 300
- Sale: 30 September 2013
- carborundum print; (no. 42 from an edition of 220); (unframed)
- 7 by 6.75in., 17.5 by 16.875cm.
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'TIDAL NARRATIVES, 2005'
- Price Realised: 280
- Sale: 13 December 2010
- limited edition book (23 of 30)
- 25 by 24cm., 9.75 by 9.5in.