Gerard Dillon
Self-trained as an artist, Belfast-man Gerard Dillon worked as a house-painter and decorator in his early years, though an interest in the arts was apparent even as a teenager. In 1939 he and a friend went on a cycling holiday in the Connemara, an event which his biographer James White has since labelled the most important development of his life (Gerard Dillon: An Illustrated Biography, Wolfhound Press, Dublin, 1994). www.whytes.ie The imagery of the land, criss-crossed as it was by stone walls and dotted with cottages, and of the people in their brightly coloured home-spun clothes, remained with him for life and reappeared in many of his works. Dillons first solo exhibition was held in 1942 in the Country Shop on St Stephens Green, Dublin, and was opened by the champion of modern art in Ireland, Mainie Jellet. In 1943 Dillon showed his first work at the RHA. During the 1940s and 50s he became the rising star of the Irish avant-garde, his works widely exhibited and written about. His career has commonly been characterised as a succession of different phases, from his early naοve landscapes, to his final dream-scapes, populated by harlequins. Dillon died of a stroke in 1971. A retrospective was held the following year at the Ulster Museum and later at the Hugh Lane Gallery of Art, Dublin. www.whytes.ie
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'LITTLE BOY PLAYING AT GOD, 1945-46'
- Price Realised: 24,000
- Sale: 24 November 2014
- oil on canvas
- 20 x 30in. (50.80 x 76.20cm)
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'ENTERTAINING COUNTRY GIRLS'
- Price Realised: 23,000
- Sale: 19 September 2006
- mixed media collage
- 38 by 56cm., 15 by 22in.
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'PORTRAIT OF DAN O'NEILL, 1952'
- Price Realised: 21,000
- Sale: 30 November 2015
- oil on canvas
- 22 x 18in. (55.88 x 45.72cm)
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'HAMPSTEAD HEATH'
- Price Realised: 21,000
- Sale: 30 November 2004
- oil on canvas
- 25 by 46cm., 10 by 18in.
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'BLUE HOOP'
- Price Realised: 21,000
- Sale: 17 September 2002
- oil on board
- 44 by 58cm., 17.5 by 23in.
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'NATIVITY'
- Price Realised: 19,000
- Sale: 26 September 2016
- hand-painted stone carving; (unique)
- 17Ύ x 18 x 3in. (45.09 x 45.72 x 7.62cm)
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'SNOW IN CONNEMARA'
- Price Realised: 18,000
- Sale: 02 December 2019
- oil on board
- 12 x 16in. (30.48 x 40.64cm)
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'BLUE HOOP'
- Price Realised: 17,500
- Sale: 28 September 2020
- oil on board
- 17½ x 23in. (44.45 x 58.42cm)
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'ANY OLD TOWN'
- Price Realised: 14,500
- Sale: 26 November 2007
- watercolour, crayon and coloured chalks
- 38 by 56cm., 15 by 22in.
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'LIP SERVICE, 1950'
- Price Realised: 13,000
- Sale: 25 April 2006
- 51 by 61cm., 20 by 24in.
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'PIERROT'
- Price Realised: 12,500
- Sale: 28 November 2016
- watercolour, gouache and gold paint with collage element
- 16Ύ x 10½in. (42.55 x 26.67cm)
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'SHAPES IN LANDSCAPE'
- Price Realised: 11,500
- Sale: 26 November 2007
- crayon and collage
- 38 by 56cm., 15 by 22in.
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'CLOWN AND HARLEQUIN'
- Price Realised: 11,427
- Sale: 13 March 2001
- mixed media (watercolour, pen, brush and collage) on paper
- 37 by 56cm., 14.5 by 22in.
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'SHAWL'
- Price Realised: 10,500
- Sale: 30 May 2016
- oil on board
- 9½ x 14in. (24.13 x 35.56cm)
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'TINKERS IN FIRELIGHT'
- Price Realised: 10,500
- Sale: 19 September 2006
- watercolour with pen and ink
- 28 by 38cm., 11 by 15in.
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'MASQUERADE, 1960'
- Price Realised: 10,500
- Sale: 29 November 2005
- oil and sand on board
- 91 by 122cm., 36 by 48in.
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'WANDERING IN A STRANGE PLACE'
- Price Realised: 10,000
- Sale: 26 November 2007
- crayon, chalk and watercolour
- 38 by 55cm., 15 by 21.5in.
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'MOONLIGHT SCENE, WEST OF IRELAND'
- Price Realised: 9,500
- Sale: 27 November 2017
- oil on canvas
- 12 x 16in. (30.48 x 40.64cm)
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'THE BOG HOLE'
- Price Realised: 9,500
- Sale: 29 November 2010
- oil on board
- 40 by 40cm., 15.7 5 by 15.7 5in.
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'NUDE STUDY'
- Price Realised: 9,000
- Sale: 26 November 2007
- watercolour, crayon and collage
- 52 by 74cm., 20.5 by 29in.
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'DROGHEDA, COUNTY LOUTH'
- Price Realised: 8,600
- Sale: 04 March 2024
- watercolour
- 10½ x 13Ύin. (26.67 x 34.93cm)
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'MADGE CAMPBELL AND HER CAT, c.1945-50'
- Price Realised: 8,000
- Sale: 27 February 2017
- oil on board
- 19½ x 18Όin. (49.53 x 46.36cm)
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'BOY WITH PAINTING OF SWAN'
- Price Realised: 8,000
- Sale: 26 September 2016
- oil on board
- 20½ x 11½in. (52.07 x 29.21cm)
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'DRESSED UP'
- Price Realised: 8,000
- Sale: 04 October 2010
- gouache with collage on paper laid on board
- 35 by 65cm., 13.75 by 25.5in.
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'MASQUERADE, 1960'
- Price Realised: 7,500
- Sale: 04 December 2023
- oil and sand on board
- 36 x 48in. (91.44 x 121.92cm)
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'DREAMING'
- Price Realised: 7,500
- Sale: 26 November 2018
- gouache and collage elements on paper
- 13Ό x 25Όin. (33.66 x 64.14cm)
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'I SAW NOTHING'
- Price Realised: 7,500
- Sale: 30 May 2016
- watercolour and pastel with collage on paper
- 21 x 17½in. (53.34 x 44.45cm)
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'BACK VIEW, ROUNDSTONE'
- Price Realised: 7,500
- Sale: 17 September 2002
- oil on board
- 0 by 0cm., by in.