March Art Auction Lot 11 - Donegal Beach by T. P. Flanagan
Terence P. Flanagan was born in Enniskillen in 1929. He attended night classes at Enniskillen Technical College, first learning watercolour painting from Kathleen Bridle, with another of her students being William Scott. Flanagan attended Belfast College of Art from 1949 to 1953, where he would later teach until his retirement in 1984. He was president of the Royal Ulster Academy between 1977 to 1983, along with being a member of the Royal Hibernian Academy.
By the 1960s, Flanagan had established his career as a successful artist. During this period, when Donegal Beach (Lot 11) was painted in 1968, Flanagan had become increasingly close to the Heaney family. He painted Bogland for Seamus Heaney in 1967, Heaney reciprocated in writing ‘Bogland’ dedicated to T. P. Flanagan in his poetry collection, Door into the Dark in 1969. Flanagan’s treatment of the landscape paralleled Heaney’s literary tone, as the pair shared a common imagery in their representations of Donegal. From 1966, Flanagan developed his theme of Gortahork, preoccupied with its coastline and landscape for the following three years. Coming into the late 1960s, Flanagan developed his ‘Dune Theme’ paintings, taking inspiration from the patterns of water in sand across Donegal beaches, with his compositions breaching on abstraction, adopting a lighter palette, and focusing on linear definitions. Speaking on this transformation compared to his earlier Fermanagh studies, Flanagan said ‘now when I commenced to paint there, I instinctively simplified my style, and deliberately used a restricted palette.’
Included in our March art auction are three further Flanagan paintings dating from 1982 onwards. By this point, Flanagan’s artistic style was firmly consolidated with a career spanning over 25 years, with his aesthetic development traceable across these paintings. He continued to represent atmosphere above producing a visual description of the landscape. In doing so, bringing together linear and aerial perspective layered together to produce a juxtaposition of form. While using oil paints in Lot 35, he achieves a similar effect of layering, as seen in Lots 62 and 174, to the composition producing the heavy mood of the landscape. By 1983, he had retired from teaching to devote time his time painting, often working at home in Belfast. His subjects would also reflect his latest travels to Fermanagh, Sligo, and Donegal during this time.
Terence P. Flanagan was born in Enniskillen in 1929. He attended night classes at Enniskillen Technical College, first learning watercolour painting from Kathleen Bridle, with another of her students being William Scott. Flanagan attended Belfast College of Art from 1949 to 1953, where he would later teach until his retirement in 1984. He was president of the Royal Ulster Academy between 1977 to 1983, along with being a member of the Royal Hibernian Academy.
By the 1960s, Flanagan had established his career as a successful artist. During this period, when Donegal Beach (Lot 11) was painted in 1968, Flanagan had become increasingly close to the Heaney family. He painted Bogland for Seamus Heaney in 1967, Heaney reciprocated in writing ‘Bogland’ dedicated to T. P. Flanagan in his poetry collection, Door into the Dark in 1969. Flanagan’s treatment of the landscape paralleled Heaney’s literary tone, as the pair shared a common imagery in their representations of Donegal. From 1966, Flanagan developed his theme of Gortahork, preoccupied with its coastline and landscape for the following three years. Coming into the late 1960s, Flanagan developed his ‘Dune Theme’ paintings, taking inspiration from the patterns of water in sand across Donegal beaches, with his compositions breaching on abstraction, adopting a lighter palette, and focusing on linear definitions. Speaking on this transformation compared to his earlier Fermanagh studies, Flanagan said ‘now when I commenced to paint there, I instinctively simplified my style, and deliberately used a restricted palette.’
Included in our March art auction are three further Flanagan paintings dating from 1982 onwards. By this point, Flanagan’s artistic style was firmly consolidated with a career spanning over 25 years, with his aesthetic development traceable across these paintings. He continued to represent atmosphere above producing a visual description of the landscape. In doing so, bringing together linear and aerial perspective layered together to produce a juxtaposition of form. While using oil paints in Lot 35, he achieves a similar effect of layering, as seen in Lots 62 and 174, to the composition producing the heavy mood of the landscape. By 1983, he had retired from teaching to devote time his time painting, often working at home in Belfast. His subjects would also reflect his latest travels to Fermanagh, Sligo, and Donegal during this time.
