Edward Delaney RHA (1920-2009) Three Islanders Carrying a Cu...

Hammer

€3,300

Edward Delaney RHA (1920-2009) Three Islanders Carrying a Curragh Original Bronze Sculpture 5 Inches Wide x 6 Inches High. Often described as 'the angry man of Irish sculpture' Delaney lambasted collectors who did not buy his work, and was scathing in his criticism of some public art. He maintained that the Irish public of his time had little understanding of sculpture: "They think youre codding them, so if I get the chance to throw sculpture at them I do it with style."
Raised on a farm in Farmhill, Crossboyne, Co Mayo, by his account his forefathers, the De Laniers, were French stonemasons who came to Mayo in the mid-19th century. He recalled growing up "surrounded by stone fireplaces made by my grandfather. Delaney left school at 14 to work as an assistant in a hardware shop. Naturally creative, and of artistic temperament, he was drawn to sculpture after reading an article about the German sculptor Josef Wackerle. Wishing to fulfil his ambitions he headed for Dublin. There he "infiltrated" the National College of Art, attending classes without ever actually enrolling.
Admired for his talents and work-ethic, there he obtained prized travel bursaries from both the West German and Italian governments to travel. His aim, to learn the art of lost-wax bronze casting, an exceptionally faithful method of casting that allows for fine detail. His quest led him to Rome and Munich, after which he worked in seven different foundries in Germany and northern France.
He worked with sculptors such as Toni Stadler and Giacomo Manz, whom he considered "the greatest sculptor in Christendom", and came to identify with the postwar tradition of European figurative sculpture. Other artists who influenced him were Marino Marini and Emilio Greco. His return home in the early 1960s coincided with an expanding art market, a consequence of economic growth and cultural change. Reflecting the optimism of the times, he established his studio in Dun Laoghaire along with a foundry capable of casting monumental sculpture. Until then, such work had been cast in London, Paris or Milan.
Regularly exhibiting in Dublin, he also represented Ireland at the Paris Biennale in 1959 & 1961. His work was also exhibited internationally, Tokyo, Buenos Aires and Budapest, amongst others. He also designed album covers for the Chieftains and illustrated Wolf Mankowitz's play, The Samson Riddle.
In the mid-1970s he built a studio in Carraroe, Co Galway, moving there permanently in 1980 to live and work on a 21-acre farm. He grew vegetables, but devoted most of his efforts to developing an outdoor sculpture park. The bronze figures of humans and animals that first dotted the landscape were later joined by pieces in pressed steel.
While represented in many private and corporate collections ,and the creator of many important large-set pieces, his reputation may ultimately rest on his small-scale work - animal and human figures, as well as more abstract creations. These are superlative examples of the form. Of this work the critic Anthony Butler wrote: "Place these small sculptures on some Atlantic headland, letting the wind whistle through their complex spaces and cupping the rain on their raw texture, and they would be as natural as the limestone cliffs of Aran."
Provenance: Collection Hon. Garech Browne, Luggala (acquired directly from the artist) Purchased 2006 by the Vendor.