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
-
'MAEVE, 1944'
- Price Realised: 7,200
- Sale: 21 February 2006
- watercolour over pencil
- 28 by 19cm., 11 by 7.5in.
-
'PIERROT AND SLEEPING FEMALE, c.1960s'
- Price Realised: 6,800
- Sale: 24 February 2014
- watercolour with collage on paper
- 22.5 by 17in., 56.25 by 42.5cm.
-
'TWO SIDES'
- Price Realised: 6,500
- Sale: 28 April 2008
- oil on panel
- 35 by 44cm., 13.7 5 by 17.5in.
-
'YOUNG BIRD'
- Price Realised: 6,400
- Sale: 19 February 2007
- monotype with crayon
- 30 by 51cm., 11.7 5 by 20in.
-
'ABSTRACT'
- Price Realised: 6,200
- Sale: 04 March 2019
- oil on board
- 14½ x 19in. (36.83 x 48.26cm)
-
'COTTAGE INTERIOR WITH PAINTING OF A COUPLE TAKING TEA'
- Price Realised: 6,200
- Sale: 19 February 2007
- crayon, pen and ink
- 41 by 51cm., 16 by 20in.
-
'LIPS'
- Price Realised: 6,200
- Sale: 18 November 2003
- oil and collage on board
- 53 by 36cm., 21 by 14in.
-
'DECORATED CANOE'
- Price Realised: 6,000
- Sale: 25 May 2015
- gouache, pastel and collage
- 17 x 25½in. (43.18 x 64.77cm)
-
'ABSTRACT'
- Price Realised: 6,000
- Sale: 29 November 2005
- mixed media on board
- 36 by 53cm., 14 by 21in.
-
'WASHING'
- Price Realised: 5,713
- Sale: 09 October 2001
- watercolour and ink with paper collage and scratching out
- 36 by 58cm., 14 by 23in.
-
'NOT MAN NOR BEAST'
- Price Realised: 5,700
- Sale: 26 November 2007
- crayon and collage
- 25 by 41cm., 10 by 16in.
-
'BATHERS'
- Price Realised: 5,400
- Sale: 04 March 2024
- watercolour
- 9½ x 12½in. (24.13 x 31Ύcm)
-
'MARINE MOVEMENT'
- Price Realised: 5,400
- Sale: 01 October 2018
- oil and sand on canvas
- 15 x 20in. (38.10 x 50.80cm)
-
'MAN AND WOMAN, c.1968'
- Price Realised: 5,200
- Sale: 27 February 2017
- oil on canvas
- 16 x 30in. (40.64 x 76.20cm)
-
'SWEET HEARTS'
- Price Realised: 5,200
- Sale: 28 November 2016
- ink and watercolour with collage on paper
- 13Ύ x 10Ύin. (34.93 x 27.31cm)
-
'HANDS ACROSS THE BORDER'
- Price Realised: 5,200
- Sale: 28 November 2016
- woolen tapestry mounted on raw linen
- 62 x 44in. (157.48 x 111.76cm)
-
'SHAMROCK MOON'
- Price Realised: 5,000
- Sale: 26 November 2018
- watercolour, gouache and collage on paper laid on board
- 18 x 21½in. (45.72 x 54.61cm)
-
'ANGELS WITH SPLIT PERSONALITIES, circa 1943'
- Price Realised: 5,000
- Sale: 17 September 2007
- watercolour with pen and ink
- 30 by 20cm., 11.7 5 by 7.75in.
-
'FARMYARD WITH HAYRICK'
- Price Realised: 5,000
- Sale: 29 November 2005
- watercolour
- 25 by 36cm., 10 by 14in.
-
'ABSTRACT'
- Price Realised: 4,600
- Sale: 26 November 2018
- oil on canvas
- 29Ύ x 39Ύin. (75.57 x 100.97cm)
-
'GIRL ON STILTS'
- Price Realised: 4,600
- Sale: 24 November 2008
- crayon on paper
- 55 by 25cm., 21.5 by 9.75in.
-
'PORTRAIT OF DAN O'NEILL'
- Price Realised: 4,570
- Sale: 09 October 2001
- watercolour, pen & ink on card
- 13 by 17cm., 5 by 6.5in.
-
'DUST TO DUST, 1946'
- Price Realised: 4,400
- Sale: 29 November 2010
- oil on board
- 37 by 24cm., 14.7 5 by 9.5in.
-
'PIERROT WITH PAINTING OF A CLASSICAL BUST'
- Price Realised: 4,400
- Sale: 21 September 2004
- crayon, watercolour, pen and ink on board
- 28 by 37cm., 11 by 14.5in.
-
'CURFEW'
- Price Realised: 4,200
- Sale: 25 March 2024
- oil and pencil on paper
- 4Ύ x 7½in. (12.07 x 19.05cm)
-
'THE HARBOUR'
- Price Realised: 4,200
- Sale: 06 June 2022
- watercolour
- 9½ x 13½in. (24.13 x 34.29cm)
-
'TWO HEADS'
- Price Realised: 4,190
- Sale: 09 October 2001
- watercolour, brush and ink over a printed base
- 17 by 22cm., 6.5 by 8.5in.
-
'GROUP PORTRAIT - TWO WORKING MEN AND A YOUNG GIRL'
- Price Realised: 4,063
- Sale: 13 June 2001
- indian ink and conte crayon
- 23 by 18cm., 9 by 7in.