ITALIAN WITH FOWL, 1948 Gerard Dillon (1916-1971)
Signature: signed lower left; titled on reverse; with Irish Exhibition of Living Art label on reverse Medium: oil on board Dimensions: 24 x 20in. (60.96 x 50.80cm) Provenance: Purchased directly from the artist; Private collection; Adam's, 1 June 2011, lot 80; Private collection Exhibited: Literature: The inspiration for Italian with Fowl is Gerard Dillon's visit to Italy in the summer of 1947. Travelling with his friend Pino Saglietti, who had family in Borgotaro in Northern Italy, Dillon visited ... Florence, Lucca and Parma where he saw some of the highlights of Italian art and architecture. Much to Pino's chagrin, Dillon was not impressed by the wonders of Italian art history and reputedly told his friend, 'I can't be bothered with all those old things. I am only interested in the world around me and the people in it. Anyhow I can't paint in Italy, everything is too bright and gleaming'. 1. Despite this statement, Dillon found that he could work once they returned to the country. He found the rustic way of life there much more interesting and inspiring than the grandeur of Italian history and joked to Pino that Borgotaro was not Italy but 'Ireland up the hills'. 2. Dillon exhibited three paintings inspired by his time in Italy in the Exhibition of Living Art in 1949. Italian Washerwoman, Memory Pool and Italian with Fowl, all depict ordinary villagers going about their daily work. In Memory Pool a woman imagines a young, handsome man whose image appears in the pool. The boy's reflection is reminiscent of the figure in Italian with Fowl and both share the dark good looks that Dillon admired in his friends Dan O'Neill and Tom Davidson. If we compare Italian with Fowl with contemporary images that Dillon painted in the west of Ireland it is only the characteristic shape of Cypress trees and the architecture of the church that suggest the Italian setting. It is tempting to read some cultural significance into the black and white hens, though whether they are being prepared for sport or for slaughter is unclear. Arguably, if it were not for the title, it would be possible to situate this image in the west of Ireland where Dillon found so much of his inspiration. Dr Riann Coulter October 2017 1. Gerard Dillon quoted in Gerard Dillon An Illustrated Biography, James White Wolfhound Press, Dublin, 1994, p. 58. 2. Ibid. more
ITALIAN WITH FOWL, 1948 Gerard Dillon (1916-1971)
Signature: signed lower left; titled on reverse; with Irish Exhibition of Living Art label on reverse Medium: oil on board Dimensions: 24 x 20in. (60.96 x 50.80cm) Provenance: Purchased directly from the artist; Private collection; Adam's, 1 June 2011, lot 80; Private collection Exhibited: Literature: The inspiration for Italian with Fowl is Gerard Dillon's visit to Italy in the summer of 1947. Travelling with his friend Pino Saglietti, who had family in Borgotaro in Northern Italy, Dillon visited ... Florence, Lucca and Parma where he saw some of the highlights of Italian art and architecture. Much to Pino's chagrin, Dillon was not impressed by the wonders of Italian art history and reputedly told his friend, 'I can't be bothered with all those old things. I am only interested in the world around me and the people in it. Anyhow I can't paint in Italy, everything is too bright and gleaming'. 1. Despite this statement, Dillon found that he could work once they returned to the country. He found the rustic way of life there much more interesting and inspiring than the grandeur of Italian history and joked to Pino that Borgotaro was not Italy but 'Ireland up the hills'. 2. Dillon exhibited three paintings inspired by his time in Italy in the Exhibition of Living Art in 1949. Italian Washerwoman, Memory Pool and Italian with Fowl, all depict ordinary villagers going about their daily work. In Memory Pool a woman imagines a young, handsome man whose image appears in the pool. The boy's reflection is reminiscent of the figure in Italian with Fowl and both share the dark good looks that Dillon admired in his friends Dan O'Neill and Tom Davidson. If we compare Italian with Fowl with contemporary images that Dillon painted in the west of Ireland it is only the characteristic shape of Cypress trees and the architecture of the church that suggest the Italian setting. It is tempting to read some cultural significance into the black and white hens, though whether they are being prepared for sport or for slaughter is unclear. Arguably, if it were not for the title, it would be possible to situate this image in the west of Ireland where Dillon found so much of his inspiration. Dr Riann Coulter October 2017 1. Gerard Dillon quoted in Gerard Dillon An Illustrated Biography, James White Wolfhound Press, Dublin, 1994, p. 58. 2. Ibid. more
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