IMPORTANT IRISH ART Monday 4 December 2023 at 6pm, Lots 1-133

76 50 George Campbell RHA (1917-1979) TOLEDO oil on board signed lower left 35.75 by 29.50in. (90.8 by 74.9cm) Frame Size: 47.5 by 41.25in. (120.7 by 104.8cm) Provenance: Adam’s & Bonhams, 8 December 2004, lot 93; Private collection Located 42 miles from Madrid, Toledo was once the Spanish capital and is known as ‘The City of Three Cultures’ owing to the influence of Christian, Muslim and Jewish culture imprinted on it. Domenikos Theotokópoulos (1541- 1614), better known as El Greco, lived and worked in this melting pot for most of his life and many of his most important works - considered a precursor to Expressionism - can be found in the city. In light of the cultural importance of Toledo and its breadth of history and art it is unsurprising that an Irish artist, who made Spain his second home, would have visited the city and found inspiration there. In fact, Campbell painted the city numerous times with at least 8 views having appeared at auction in the last 20 years. Landscape paintings however were rare in the Spanish Renaissance and Baroque period and one of El Greco’s works, View of Toledo, ca. 1599-1600 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York ) is considered the first Spanish landscape painting of its time. Like El Greco’s oil, Campbell’s painting is also a landscape portrait which introduces its subject in the foreground with a wide view of the River Tagus which surrounds the city on three sides. Campbell’s version is a more faithful documentary description of the landscape. The energy of the sky and the river create movement in the composition, and colour, although restrained, is used to dramatic effect with particular accents of blue and green paying homage perhaps to the Greek master. George Campbell in the company of his wife Madge and fellow artist Gerard Dillon first visited Spain towards the end of 1951. Following this initial trip he and Madge travelled annually to Andalucía, for the winter months particularly, and his first solo exhibition was held in Torremolinos in the mid 1950s. Campbell’s interest in Spain extended beyond art to Spanish culture generally; the towns and cities and their characters, bullfights, religious processions, gypsies and Flamenco are among the many aspects of Iberian culture he embraced both in life and in paint. In 1978 his relationship with the country was formally acknowledged by the Spanish Government with the award of Commander with the Insignia and Privileges of the Order of the Merito Civile. 28 years later, in 2006, Malaga City Council celebrated his life and work by naming a roundabout after him, Glorieta Jorge Campbell. Adelle Hughes, November 2023 €15,000-€20,000 (£13,040-£17,390 approx.) Click here for more images and to bid on this lot50