Gerald Dillon

Who was Gerald Dillon?

Gerard Dillon was an Irish artist.

Born in Belfast, he left school at the age of fourteen and for seven years worked as a painter and decorator, mostly in London. From an early age he was interested in art, cinema, and theatre. About 1936 he started out as an artist, almost entirely self-taught but attended art classes in Belfast for a short period. He and Dan O'Neill were painting acquaintances.

Dillon's Connemara landscapes provided the viewer with context, portraits of the characters who worked the land, atmosphere and idiosyncratic colour interpretations.

At the age of eighteen, Dillon went to London, initially working as a decorator. With the outbreak of the second World War, Dillon returned to Belfast. The outbreak of war in 1939 prevented his return to London, and over the next five years he developed as a painter in Dublin and Belfast. His works during this period were more than simple depictions of the life and people around him, they were reactions and interactions in paint.

In 1942, Gerard's first solo exhibition was opened by his friend and fellow artist, Mainie Jellett at The Country Shop, St. Stephen's Green, Dublin.