Hughie O'Donoghue

Oliver Sears Gallery, Dublin;
Private collection, Ireland

Original canvas, a small chip of paint loss along the right side of the lower edge, otherwise work appears in good original condition, ready to hang. Under ultraviolet light there appear to be no signs of retouching. Unframed.
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Hughie O’Donoghue's paintings encapsulate themes of mythology, human experience and the echoes of history. They are often executed on a large and imposing scale in order to engulf the viewer and therefore heightening the intensity of emotion. 

Medusa III comes from a series in which he engages with the past using personal records of his father’s experience of World War II to create intense and emotionally powerful images. O’Donoghue uses as his foundation of inspiration the personal letters of his father, Daniel, in which he documented to his wife his experiences in the War. However this magnificent, eerie painting does not display the victory, patriotism, or violent horrors of war. Instead, O’Donoghue tends to displays the everyday experience of an individual, creating a universal expression of war. He presents, rather than persuades.

O'Donoghue finds the source of his imagery from his father’s belongings, the Imperial War Museum or from his own photographs taken when revisiting places where his father spent time in the war. In this particular image he portrays an abandoned ship where the hull and keel are visible, and painting over it he embeds a glimpse of history into the composition. Tonally, the painting appears as rust on rust. The rust of the tired ship echoed in the pallet O’Donoghue uses - burnt umber, sienna and ochre.

We witness this depleted vessel in the dying light, presenting O’Donoghue’s poetic skills as an artist. Looking up at the vast wreck that dominates the viewer, this grand image demands attention, not just because of its proportions, but also for the emotions of emptiness and yet magnificence that it exudes.