Description
Signed, Signed and inscribed with title and dated '79 verso, oil on canvas
Dimensions
36cm x 47.5cm (14in x 18.5in)
Footnote
Note:
One of Ultster's best known artists, for over 70 years Charles McAuley captured the lights, the colours and the people of his beloved Glens of Antrim, in Northern Ireland. Born in a rural village where farming was the main source of income, he nurtured a deep love for painting ever since he was a child. In 1919 at a local Feis he met the painter James Humbert Craig who recognised his talent and encouraged his artistic career. Despite a brief period of study at Belfast Art College and Glasgow College of Art, he was largely self-taught, his interests spanning from art to poetry, writing, classical and opera music. An exeptionally prolific artist, McAuley never sought public recognition. His life was conducted in the rather secluted pastoral environment of the Glens, where he painted the nature around him. Rivers, glens, mountains and seascapes feature his oils and watercolours in a richness of tones and movements that became McAuley's trademark. In these idyllic scenes people are depicted in their daily rural lives with humor and tenderness in an attempt at expressing the slow-paced life of the countryside. His work became known thorugh word of mouth rather than self-promotion. The fact that several of his paintings are now both in private and public collections is significative of how extraordinary and admired his art has become.