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Artist: Daniel O'Neill (1920-1974) Title: Still Life - Flowers and Lamp Signature: signed 'D O'Neill' top right Medium: oil on board Size: 51 x 61cm (20.1 x 24in) Framed Size: 70.5 x 81cm (27.8 x 31.9in) Provenance: John Magee Gallery, Belfast (label verso); deVere's, Dublin, 13th June 2006 lot 53; Private Collection a#morebtn { color: #de1d01; } a#morebtn:hover { cursor: pointer;} On a table top, within a small room, a vase of red and white roses is illuminated in the light of an oil lamp. A circular shade on the lamp's glass chimney is set at an angle, so as to cast light in the direction of the vase. Behind the table is a window, in front of which is draped a striped curtai... Read more Daniel O'Neill Lot 23 - 'Still Life - Flowers and Lamp' Estimate: €5,000 - €7,000 On a table top, within a small room, a vase of red and white roses is illuminated in the light of an oil lamp. A circular shade on the lamp's glass chimney is set at an angle, so as to cast light in the direction of the vase. Behind the table is a window, in front of which is draped a striped curtain. The blue glass of the oil lamp contrasts with the mainly browns, russets and umbers used by O'Neill to depict the table and its surroundings. The painting evokes a quiet evening in a snug room, without the distractions of twentieth century technology. Using the simplest of props, and a technique of dragged and ragged paint layers, using a palette knife rather than a brush, that he had perfected after a visit to Paris in 1948, O'Neill created a work of art that expresses deep feeling, and a mood of reflection. The painting also reflects O'Neill's regard for Vlaminck, Utrillo and Modigliani, artists whose work he was familiar with from reproductions in art journals, and would have seen on his visit to Paris. Born in 1920 in Belfast, O'Neill initially followed his father's occupation, training as an electrician in the shipyards. Dissatisfied with this career, he cast around for other occupations, and worked for a time as a housepainter. He also attended evening classes at the Belfast College of Art, becoming friendly with the painter Gerard Dillon and worked for a time in the studio of fellow-Belfast artist Sidney Smith After the 1941 air raids on Belfast, O'Neill salvaged wood from the destroyed buildings, and experimented with wood-carving. The first exhibition of his paintings was held that same year, at the Mol Gallery in Belfast, and shortly afterwards he was taken on by the Victor Waddington Gallery in Dublin. This provided him with an income, allowing him to paint full time, and to travel to France. He exhibited at the Waddington Galleries between 1946 and 1955, and, after leaving Ireland in 1958 to move to London, exhibited with the Waddington Gallery in Montreal, Canada, an enterprise set up around that time by Victor's younger brother George. O'Neill also showed in New York, in 1947, and the following year in Beverly Hills, California. After some years in London, he returned to Ireland in the early 1950s, where, along with Gerard Dillon and George Campbell he became a member of the Ulster Contemporary Group. In the early 1950s he moved with his wife and child to the village of Conlig, Co Down, where Campbell and Dillon were also living. Always a restless spirit, in 1958 O'Neill moved back to London. However a successful exhibition of his work, held at the McClelland Galleries in Belfast in 1970, prompted him to return to Northern Ireland, but not long afterwards the gallery was forced to close as a result of 'The Troubles'. O'Neill died in 1974, aged just 54. Peter Murray, September 2022