172
Kenneth Donfield (b. 1962)
Estimate:
€2,000 - €3,000
Passed
Live Auction
Irish & International Art
ARTIST
Kenneth Donfield (b. 1962)
Size
28 by 36in. (71.1 by 91.4cm)
Description
Title: HOMAGE TO 1916, 2016
Note: The artist writes: "In early 2016 I painted this large oil painting to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the G.P.O. 1916 Easter Rising. The painting is a homage to all who lost their lives in the Easter Rising of 1916, including the leaders of the Rising who were shot by firing squad at Kilmainham Gaol as well as the Volunteers, Citizens Army members and the innocent bystanders who died. The painting is inspired by the strong and very important genre of great Irish and European History painting.I have tried to depict the morning after the surrender to crown forces by the leader of the rising Padraig Pearse.The bright sunlight shines clear that morning on O'Connell Street and throughout the burnt out but still standing classical building of the GPO. The sunlight of that morning represents the bright and free future of the new Ireland to come.The man on the bicycle in the foreground of the painting represents General Michael Collins. He was in the GPO during the Rising aged 26 at the time . I have taken artistic licence to honour him on a bicycle outside the GPO, as later in the War of Independence Michael Collins evaded the crown forces on the streets of Dublin by cycling around the city. The painting is oils on canvas with areas of palette knife impasto paint to render the destruction and broken rubble of O' Connell Street and the city after the shelling from the Helga."Kenneth Donfield.Artist and Permanent Lecturer in Drawing and Painting, NCAD.
Note: The artist writes: "In early 2016 I painted this large oil painting to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the G.P.O. 1916 Easter Rising. The painting is a homage to all who lost their lives in the Easter Rising of 1916, including the leaders of the Rising who were shot by firing squad at Kilmainham Gaol as well as the Volunteers, Citizens Army members and the innocent bystanders who died. The painting is inspired by the strong and very important genre of great Irish and European History painting.I have tried to depict the morning after the surrender to crown forces by the leader of the rising Padraig Pearse.The bright sunlight shines clear that morning on O'Connell Street and throughout the burnt out but still standing classical building of the GPO. The sunlight of that morning represents the bright and free future of the new Ireland to come.The man on the bicycle in the foreground of the painting represents General Michael Collins. He was in the GPO during the Rising aged 26 at the time . I have taken artistic licence to honour him on a bicycle outside the GPO, as later in the War of Independence Michael Collins evaded the crown forces on the streets of Dublin by cycling around the city. The painting is oils on canvas with areas of palette knife impasto paint to render the destruction and broken rubble of O' Connell Street and the city after the shelling from the Helga."Kenneth Donfield.Artist and Permanent Lecturer in Drawing and Painting, NCAD.
Medium
oil on canvas
Signature
signed and dated lower right; signed on reverse
