WHYTE'S IMPORTANT IRISH ART MONDAY 30 SEPTEMBER 2024 AT 6PM

60 36 Daniel O’Neill (1920-1974) PORTRAIT OF THE WRITER LAURENCE JAMES LUDOVICI, 1948 oil on board signed upper left; dated lower left 23 by 20in. (58.4 by 50.8cm) Frame Size: 27.75 by 24.5in. (70.5 by 62.2cm) Provenance: Adam’s, 11 December 1996, lot 63; Private collection; with Eastwood Gallery, Antrim, 1999; Private collection Whyte’s, 23 Feb 2015, lot 29; Private collection; Adam’s, 23 March 2016, lot 84; Private collection Laurence James Ludovici (1910-1996) was a writer best known for his accounts of scientific and medical achievements including The History of Anaesthesia and Fleming, Discovery of Penicillin. Daniel O’Neill began exhibiting in Dublin from the early 1940s. He held a joint exhibition with fellow Belfast artist Gerard Dillon in 1943 at the Contemporary Painter Gallery and later with Victor Waddington in 1946. The positive response and sales of his work garnered him a contract with Waddington and allowed him to paint full time. Collaborative shows with George Campbell, Neville Johnson and Gerard Dillon followed. The present example dates to this early phase in the artist’s career. The year after this work was painted O’Neill travelled to Paris and his subject and style developed further. It is thought that this portrait was painted at Bryansford, Co. Down. €8,000-€12,000 (£6,720-£10,080 approx.) Click here for more images and to bid on this lot 36