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John Shinnors
MACKEREL ON A PLATE
Lot 25
Price Realised:
€19,000
Estimate:
€15,000 - €20,000
John Shinnors, b.1950
MACKEREL ON A PLATE
Oil on board, 32" x 36" (81.3 x 91.4cm), signed.
Provenace: Purchased from Riverrun Gallery in Limerick in 1985 by the present owner.
Never one to feign modesty about his talents, Shinnors has claime... Read more
Lot 25
John Shinnors
MACKEREL ON A PLATE
MACKEREL ON A PLATE
Oil on board, 32" x 36" (81.3 x 91.4cm), signed.
Provenace: Purchased from Riverrun Gallery in Limerick in 1985 by the present owner.
Never one to feign modesty about his talents, Shinnors has claime... Read more
Lot 25
John Shinnors
MACKEREL ON A PLATE
Estimate:
€15,000 - €20,000
John Shinnors, b.1950
MACKEREL ON A PLATE
Oil on board, 32" x 36" (81.3 x 91.4cm), signed.
Provenace: Purchased from Riverrun Gallery in Limerick in 1985 by the present owner.
Never one to feign modesty about his talents, Shinnors has claimed (in a 2012 interview) that he could effortlessly forge a Vermeer and that nobody would know the difference. His dark, semi-abstract work bears no similarity to Vermeer but he does start off in the same place by observing everyday life around him.
The Limerick area provides the same inspiration for him that Delft did for the Dutch man. For Shinnors this could be the magpies flying around St. John's Cathedral, a kite spotted on a visit to Kilkee, the street lights hitting a bus stop on the Roxboro Road, or his momentous encounter with a mackerel in downtown Limerick. It is perhaps typical of John Shinnors' relentlessly unromantic attitude towards art that he should describe an encounter with a mackerel in a Limerick fishmongers as a seminal moment in his development as an artist. While still a fledging artist, in thrall to the influence of his friend and mentor Jack Donovan, he was passing a Limerick fish mongers one afternoon when he spotted a fresh mackerel in the window. "It was the contrast of colour between the light and the dark areas, and the particular glistening effects that caught my eye" he later said. "It was visually stimulating and I was mesmerized". It caused a sea-change in his approach to art - and Influenced all his subsequent work. He moved away from illustration to his mature style, where the illustrative elements coalesce into ostensible abstraction - improvising a new melody from old standards. "Instead of painting the mackerel just as they are, fish, I was picking up the patterns and concentrating on those" he maintained.
This seminal encounter led the artist onto his magpies, swallows, Friesians, and other subjects where he could explore pure colour and form. Mackerel On A Plate was painted in 1982 and it's just one of a number of paintings in which Shinnors revisited the subject of his epiphany. Usually his work involves the harmonious juxtaposition of a number of different elements, but Mackerel just focuses on the eponymous fish. We catch the sun's reflection on its body and the metallic flecks of colour, the head and tail are subdued in the background. And we can make out the shadowy circular platter holding the fish. It is one of his most striking and technically accomplished earlier works - a chiaroscuro masterpiece.
John P. O'Sullivan, May 2021
MACKEREL ON A PLATE
Oil on board, 32" x 36" (81.3 x 91.4cm), signed.
Provenace: Purchased from Riverrun Gallery in Limerick in 1985 by the present owner.
Never one to feign modesty about his talents, Shinnors has claimed (in a 2012 interview) that he could effortlessly forge a Vermeer and that nobody would know the difference. His dark, semi-abstract work bears no similarity to Vermeer but he does start off in the same place by observing everyday life around him.
The Limerick area provides the same inspiration for him that Delft did for the Dutch man. For Shinnors this could be the magpies flying around St. John's Cathedral, a kite spotted on a visit to Kilkee, the street lights hitting a bus stop on the Roxboro Road, or his momentous encounter with a mackerel in downtown Limerick. It is perhaps typical of John Shinnors' relentlessly unromantic attitude towards art that he should describe an encounter with a mackerel in a Limerick fishmongers as a seminal moment in his development as an artist. While still a fledging artist, in thrall to the influence of his friend and mentor Jack Donovan, he was passing a Limerick fish mongers one afternoon when he spotted a fresh mackerel in the window. "It was the contrast of colour between the light and the dark areas, and the particular glistening effects that caught my eye" he later said. "It was visually stimulating and I was mesmerized". It caused a sea-change in his approach to art - and Influenced all his subsequent work. He moved away from illustration to his mature style, where the illustrative elements coalesce into ostensible abstraction - improvising a new melody from old standards. "Instead of painting the mackerel just as they are, fish, I was picking up the patterns and concentrating on those" he maintained.
This seminal encounter led the artist onto his magpies, swallows, Friesians, and other subjects where he could explore pure colour and form. Mackerel On A Plate was painted in 1982 and it's just one of a number of paintings in which Shinnors revisited the subject of his epiphany. Usually his work involves the harmonious juxtaposition of a number of different elements, but Mackerel just focuses on the eponymous fish. We catch the sun's reflection on its body and the metallic flecks of colour, the head and tail are subdued in the background. And we can make out the shadowy circular platter holding the fish. It is one of his most striking and technically accomplished earlier works - a chiaroscuro masterpiece.
John P. O'Sullivan, May 2021
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All maximum bids are confidential and not disclosed. The system will endeavor to purchase the lot for you for the least price. Bids are subject to buyer’s premium of 25% (incl vat), with no additional charges.
In the event of a tied bid, the preference will be given to the bid submitted first. The second bidder will receive immediate notification of being outbid.
PLEASE BID EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT.
In order to allow rival bidders the opportunity to respond to a late bid the following extensions will apply:
IF A BID IS RECEIVED WITHIN THE FINAL 45 SECONDS OF THE COUNTDOWN THE CLOCK WILL RESET TO 60 SECONDS.
At any point you can leave a maximum bid, representing the highest price you are prepared to pay for a particular lot. Bidding only advances when there is competition from a rival bidder. In that case the system bids on your behalf, only up to the maximum if required. All bids are relayed to you be email, along with notification if you have been outbid.
All maximum bids are confidential and not disclosed. The system will endeavor to purchase the lot for you for the least price. Bids are subject to buyer’s premium of 25% (incl vat), with no additional charges.
In the event of a tied bid, the preference will be given to the bid submitted first. The second bidder will receive immediate notification of being outbid.
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