ARTS Linenhall hosts Owen Walsh retrospective

'Clare Island', by Owen Walsh

Colourful canvas, spirited soul


Ciara Moynihan

‘Colour and Light’, an exhibition currently running in the Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar, celebrates the work of Westport artist Owen Walsh ten years after his death. Curated by Dr Niamh nic Ghabhann with the help of Walsh’s family, it aims to reposition Walsh’s work within the history of 20th-century Irish painting and design, and to introduce his work to those who have yet to discover it.
Walsh, a contemporary of the artists SeΡn O’Sullivan, Camille Souter, Brian Bourke, John Behan and Patrick Swift, has been hailed as one of the most important colourists and figurative Irish painters of the mid 20th Century. He operated outside the mainstream art world, and as a result his work never gained the same level of recognition as that of his fellow artists – he was not associated with a particular gallery and mainly sold his work privately, holding exhibitions in his home/studio in Baggot Street, Dublin.
Owen Brendan Walsh was born into a prominent business family in Westport in 1933. He grew up on Altamont Street, in a striking three-story terraced house, where his brother, Stephen, now lives. He had three more brothers, Liam (who predeceased him in October 2000), Cathal and Seamus, and one sister, Mary.
In 1946, Walsh was sent to boarding school at Dublin’s Blackrock College. Like most of the boys at that school, he took a healthy interest in rugby. However, it was during his time at Blackrock, and on the sports field, that his debilitating epilepsy first emerged. Perhaps it was this that turned the young Walsh away from the rugby ball and towards the paint brush.
He went on to study at Dublin’s National College of Art (now NCAD) – but only after  winning over his mother, who was initially dubious about her son taking such an unconventional career path. She worried desperately about his epilepsy and thought he should take a ‘safer option’. Her worries were soon replaced by pride, however, as he excelled as a student and, later, as an artist in his own right.
Walsh went on to study in Spain, Italy and France, countries that inspired him and deepened his love of vibrant, rich colours.   Much of his work is marked out by its use of strong colour, and it has been noted that his work, particularly his figurative work, is reminiscent of Post Impressionism – especially Henri Matisse, who was a huge influence on him.
Baggot Street, where he lived, was at the heart of the lively artistic, literary and theatrical scene. With James McKenna, Elizabeth Rivers, Noel Sheridan, Patrick Pye and Charles Brady, he founded the Independent Artists in 1959, an avant garde movement of younger artists dedicated to creating an intellectual and imaginative space outside of the Irish Exhibition of Living Art and the Royal Hibernian Academy.
Just as his outlook was independent and spirited, Walsh’s paintings reveal a singular approach to landscape, urban scenes and the nude figure. From the early scenes of Westport to the strong, almost abstract colour harmonies of his later work, Walsh’s career was one of intense attention to the visual world, to questions of representation, to the relationship between the different elements of a work and to the act of painting itself.
A key aspect of this exhibition is a consideration of his work as a graphic designer in the 1950s, which opens a window into a lesser-known aspect of the creative careers of artists in mid-20th-century Ireland. During the ’50s and ’60s, Walsh was commissioned to design for fashion magazines such as ‘Creation’ and advertisements by McConnells Advertising. These designs reveal his strikingly accomplished, innovative vision and style as both a designer and illustrator.
‘Colour and Light’ is accompanied by a fascinating full-colour catalogue, with an introduction by the art writer and critic Brian Fallon, essays by Dr Niamh NicGhabhann and art historian Kathryn Milligan, and reflections on and recollections of the artist by his family and friends, and by artists Camille Souter, Michael O Nuallain, Brian Bourke and John Behan. It also includes a beautiful poem about Walsh by Paul Durcan, ‘Portrait of the Artist’.
This is the first curated retrospective exhibition of Owen Walsh’s work, and there is a certain symmetry in the fact that its debut is in Mayo, where the artist grew up, and where he returned before his death in 2002.
‘Colour and Light’ will run at the Linenhall Arts Centre, Catlebar, until June 30. It then moves to Dublin, where it will be shown at NCAD Gallery, National College of Art and Design, Dublin, from July 5 to September 8.

Westport home-place
– from ‘A Family Reflection’, compiled by Willie Walsh, the artist’s nephew, for the ‘Colour and Light’ catalogue

His younger sister so looked forward to him coming home to Westport. Christmas started the weekend Owen arrived. He would decorate the living room with handmade paper decorations. At any time of day, the piano would fill the house with music. Playing music was a pleasure he leaned to share. He liked to please.
There are memories of Owen careering down Bridge Street on roller skates with a gang of hardy buck ‘towneys’ avoiding the few pedestrians and the horse dung. In the summer there would be swimming at Thornhill or the Point. Owen was often seen with a pencil and paper, doodling. Over time the doodles became more recognisable as the everyday places, things, people in the family’s life. […]
Even as a young man he had a kind of vital energy. When his mind was made up about something, he had great difficulty changing it. There was a resilience about him, a quiet self- regard and some considerable grace.