Tony O'Malley HRHA (1913-2003)
Life at the Green Lake - Paradise Island, Bahamas
Acrylic on canvas, 122 x 92cm (48 x 36¼")
Signed with initials and dated 1/87; also signed, inscribed and dated...

Tony O'Malley HRHA (1913-2003)
Life at the Green Lake - Paradise Island, Bahamas
Acrylic on canvas, 122 x 92cm (48 x 36¼")
Signed with initials and dated 1/87; also signed, inscribed and dated verso
Unframed

Literature: Brian Lynch (ed.), 'Tony OMalley', Scholar Press in association with the Butler Gallery, 1996, p.232.

 

When Tony OMalley and Jane Harris married in 1973, they settled into their home at Seal Cottage, St Ives, Cornwall and their communal studio, where they worked side by side. While they were happy and productive, Jane was always conscious that living permanently in a cool, damp climate was less than ideal for Tony, because he has survived TB and was prone to angina. At the same time, he drew inspiration from his environment and was especially attuned to the historical texture of place.

 

At a family gathering following the death of her mother in 1974, Janes sister Clarice, who was living on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, suggested that they should all visit her there. It was beyond Tony and Janes financial means but here father generously paid for their flights (and for the following twelve winters, until her sister moved to Florida). The balmy environment was hugely beneficial to Tonys health. Less predictably, it proved to be profoundly inspiring for his work.

 

With scant traces of the legacy of ancient history (just the remains of one monastery), and working in an outdoor studio set up in the idyllic garden, he became intensely alert to the living fabric of the place. Birds in flight, birdcalls, birdsong, fish darting in the water, breezes, currents, luminous flushes of colour, a pervasive brightness: all these things and more fed into a series of lively, lyrical evocations of a magical place. The Bahamas provided him with a whole new high-keyed palette. Even the warmth and light of the Scilly Isles had not provided a comparable sense of warmth and well-being. The paintings were a revelation when they were exhibited back in Ireland.

 

This painting marks the culmination of this period in OMalleys artistic life. It was painted during their final sojourn on Paradise Island. Subsequently, they visited Lanzarote during the winter, and it provided a different kind of warmth and more tonal contrast.

 

 

Aidan Dunne, September 2019

 

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