WHYTE'S IRISH & INTERNATIONAL ART MONDAY 2 DECEMBER 2024 FROM 6PM

99 IRISH & INTERNATIONAL ART · 2 DECEMBER 2024 AT 6PM 67 Tony O’Malley HRHA (1913-2003) PINK NASSAU, 1977 oil on canvas signed lower right; signed, titled and dated on reverse 14.25 by 18.25in. (36.2 by 46.4cm) Frame Size: 19.5 by 23.5in. (49.5 by 59.7cm) Provenance: Collection of George and Maura McClelland; Whyte’s, 26 September 2016, lot 56; Private collection Pink Nassau, 1977 was one of nineteen works by Tony O’Malley from the renowned art collection of George and Maura McClelland auctioned by Whyte’s in 2016. In her essay for that sale curator and art historian Vera Ryan wrote: “Tony O’Malley’s work came to the attention of art lovers in Ireland comparatively late in the artist’s life. He spent the 1960s painting in Cornwall, absorbing the prevailing aesthetic of abstraction to his own ends. He did exhibit, but much work remained unsold. His creative harvest from the 1970s was magnificent. Marriage to Jane Harris in 1973 led to winters in the Bahamas, where he began painting outdoors on canvas. Sales however remained sporadic. O’Malley’s life changed when Northern artists, F. E. Mc William andWilliam Scott, introduced him to Belfast dealer, gallerist and collector, George McClelland in 1979 or 80. In the few but effective years during which he promoted O’Malley’s work, George himself acquired a number of fine works. Some were loaned to the Irish Museum of Modern Art and later donated, others [including the present example Pink Nassau, 1977] stayed in the family... Intimate and reflective, many of these works by O’Malley from the McClelland collection are of museum quality.” In 1999 the McClellands offered 400 paintings, sculptures and drawings to the Irish Museum of Modern Art for a loan period of five years. Subsequently, almost half of this collection was donated permanently to IMMA. There are over 70 artworks by O’Malley now in their permanent collection. €7,000-€10,000 (£5,880-£8,400 approx.) Click here for more images and to bid on this lot67