Page 25 - Whyte'sIrishart

The Jim O’Driscoll Collection WHYTESS I N C E 1 7 8 3
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John Shinnors ( b.1950)
MAYO MOON, BLACK SCARECROW AND BADGER, 1996
oil on canvas
with inscribed RHA exhibition label on reverse
36 by 38in. (91.44 by 96.52cm)
Provenance:
RHA , Dublin, 1996
Exhibited:
RHA Annual Exhibition, Dublin, 1996, catalogue no. 436
John Shinnors was among the artists Jim O’Driscoll knew personally and his works hold
a prominent place within his collection. This outstanding example by the Limerick artist
displays all the characteristics one would associate with his work. As with many of his
paintings the title guides the viewer into the narrative. Mayo Moon, Black Scarecrow and
Badger, all familiar motifs in Shinnors’ oeuvre, are shown here from an askew aerial
perspective. The moon in the extreme left-hand corner casts a theatrical light on the
scene hitting the fgure of the scarecrow frst, picking up accents of colour in the feld,
before resting on the striped back of the nocturnal creature lower right. The soft light
of the Mayo moon lightens the mood of the canvas providing relief to the unsettling
tone sometimes associated with the artist’s work. Mayo Moon, Black Scarecrow and
Badger was accepted to the RHA in 1996 from where it was sold to the present owner.
€12,000-€15,000 (£9,836-£12,295 approx).
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