Daniel ONeill (1920-1974) REHEARSAL oil on board signed upper left; titled on reverse 12 x 16in. (

Daniel O'Neill (1920-1974) REHEARSAL oil on board signed upper left; titled on reverse 12 x 16in. (30.48 x 40.64cm) Dan O'Neill was born in Belfast in 1920. He was one of a small group of talented Ulster painters which included Colin Middleton, George Campbell and Gerard Dillon who were largely self-taught and who absorbed in differing ways and to varying degrees aspects of European mainstream modernism. His first exhibition was a joint show with Gerard Dillon in 1946 and his first one man exhibition was at the Waddington Galleries, Dublin in 1946. Around that time he gave up his job as an electrician to devote his time to painting. He visited Paris in 1949 and one can detect influences from Vlaminck and other French artists in his work, including the present painting Rehearsal.Weddings seemed to attract O'Neill as a subject for his paintings in the 1950s, a theme that he dropped after the break-up of his own marriage. These early works depict a joyful event and perhaps are reminiscent of his own wedding.