Gerard Dillon (1916-1971)
Man and Dog
Oil on canvas, 30 x 39cm (11.8 x 15.3'')

Provenance: With Jorgensen Gallery label verso; Mercury Gallery, Cork Street, London, label verso

 

Man and Dog forms...

Gerard Dillon (1916-1971)
Man and Dog
Oil on canvas, 30 x 39cm (11.8 x 15.3'')

Provenance: With Jorgensen Gallery label verso; Mercury Gallery, Cork Street, London, label verso

 

Man and Dog forms part of a series of works that Dillon made in memory of his brother Joe, following his premature death in 1962. This same series of paintings includes Joe’s Bog; Moon Pool (sold in these rooms in 2014); Reflections and The Long Road.    

Joe was, of all his family members, the person to which Dillon was most attached. They were two of kind, Joe the musician, Gerard the painter. They shared a creative sensibility, and lives led in the pursuit of art. It is touching to see another image of the musician, Tom Davidson, a close friend of both Joe and Gerard, also represented in the sale in lot 82.  

 

The Pierrot character appeared in Dillon’s work in 1965 and remained a constant presence up to his last series of prints made in 1970. Different in character to the clown figure he had also used at the time, the masked Pierrot was an alter ego that allowed him to explore darker themes. During this period, Joe was also represented through the Pierrot figure and most often he is accompanied by a dog, as seen in a series of sketches Dillon made in an artist’s catalogue. Joe’s own pet was a dachshund named Heine, a constant and steadfast companion, particularly as a single man living alone in London.  

 

In this work Pierrot walks alongside the dog, his hands clasped behind his back, dressed in the traditional white smock and trousers. They walk on a landscape of striped fields, the floating brightly patterned ground reminiscent of a Van Gogh painting, the midnight sky filled with swirling green clouds. There is a great sense movement in the painting, as the two figures travel through this surreal and dreamlike environment. Despite the darker subject matter there is a lightness and vibrancy to the work.

 

And so, the brothers might both be represented here in the image, in this moonlit place they are reunited, strolling together. They mimic each other in pace, each stepping forward, walking towards the edge of the picture plane. Their journey continues beyond the painting, and Dillon has brilliantly captured the facial expression of the dog as he looks up inquisitively at his companion, as if asking, “Where to?”

 

Niamh Corcoran, August 2024

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