I
rish
& I
nternational
A
rt
A
uction
M
onday
5
th
D
ecember
2016
at
6.00
pm
17
12 John Skelton Snr (1923-2009) Twlight in Connemarasigned lower left
oil on board
51 x 61cm (20 x 24in)
Provenance:
Private Collection
€4,000-6,000 (£3,478-5,217)
Many of John Skelton’s figures can be read as elegiac, all caught in a kind of monumental loneliness. Even in his scenes of rural
social life there is at times a somber note. It is caught in a child’s sad face; a farmer’s stooped back, a woman’s wistful stare. The new
Ireland of John Skelton’s latter life, if anything, reinforced and re-energized these themes of sadness and loss. In the atmosphere of
noise and youth, it became a point of honour for Skelton to mourn the passing of another world.