WHYTES
SINCE 1783
,
101
151
Neil Condron (
b.
1956)
UPON SMALL SHOULDERS, 2011
oil on canvas
signed lower left; signed, inscribed, titled [“Upon
Small Shoulders (Portrait of Tia)”] and dated on
reverse
36
by 84in. (91.44 by 213.36cm)
Provenance:
Purchased by Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad
O’Connor directly from the artist
The present work appears
on the sleeve for Sinéad
O’Connor‘s ninth full-
length album
How About I
Be Me (And You Be You)?
released in March 2012.
Neil Condron is a Dublin
born,Wicklow based artist
working in both oil and
pastel with portraiture
considered his principal forte. Condron spent over 30
years as a graphic designer and has received numerous
industry awards throughout his career. He retired from
the design industry in 2007 to focus solely on his
lifelong ambition “to paint”.
Upon Small Shoulders
is
the artist’s first painting in a series of large works (in
progress) exploring the theme of vulnerability and Irish
children. It was acquired by Sinéad O’Connor in 2011
and this provocative image was used for the sleeve of
her album,
How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?
An extract from the artist’s statement on this work
outlines his intentions for the image:
”
This large painting depicts a little girl who is sitting
precariously on rusted scaffolding with the Irish
Tricolour draped behind her.The rusted scaffolding of
an unfinished property development represents the
remnants of Ireland’s’ Celtic Tiger’ boom.Tia, my young
model, represents the children of Ireland left vulnerable
and destitute with a huge burden to carry forward as a
result of greed and neglect.The flag ‘our brightest
colours’, is Ireland, her legacy. Her expression however
isn’t one of fear and her posture is confident and
defiant. She is captivated by something that has
distracted her from her plight and her outstretched arm
is gesturing to the viewer.What she is looking at and
what is the meaning of her gesture is for the viewer to
interpret.”
€
10,000-
€
15,000 (
£8,000-£12,500 approx)