What lies beneath Fountain by Niall Wright

Oil on canvas courtesy of the artist and The Open Window

IN May 2011, Queen Elizabeth honoured the 49,000 Irish soldiers who died in the Great War when she visited the Irish National War Memorial Gardens at Islandbridge. Designed by Edwin Lutyens, gardens include a sunken rose garden, terraces, pergolas, lawns, avenues and granite book-rooms containing the names of all who died.

When artist Niall Wright visited the gardens last December, he and his son were the first visitors and he captured the silence, solemnity and beauty of the place in a series of 15 paintings.

For this one, Fountain,

Wright chose that particular scene and angle “because it appeared, to me, to be quite busy. I was interested in the dynamic between the cold of the snow and frost and the warmth of the sunlight. The wind was very crisp and the sunshine and its low shadows worked off the architecture. Light and shadow in an architectural context can be more difficult to paint than a landscape and had never been included in my work before.”

The painting captures a starkness and stillness, and the curved and sharp and angled man-made structures contrast with the gold-tinged winter trees.

The sweep of light across the snow-dusted ground becomes almost reverential.

Up until now, Wright found his inspiration in empty Wicklow landscapes.

Born in Limerick,

Wright moved at the age of two to Templeogue, where he lived “always within view of the Dublin/ Wicklow mountains” and on Sunday drives “the desolation and wilderness of these mountains and the isolated vulnerability of the individual within this vast landscape always intrigued me. A large impetus behind my work is to share the wholly unique landscape of Sally Gap with others who are unaware of its proximity to Dublin. When I’m asked where my paintings are set, I usually say ‘only 40 minutes from where you live’.”

To Wright, who studied at NCAD, location is paramount, “the seasonal palette comes second”. Constable and Turner, Isaac Levitan, Graham Crowley, Hockney’s Spring Series matter to him.

That Wright’s work is included in the Arts Council, Government Buildings, and the BP Headquarters in Belgium means “often neglected landscape can be viewed by larger audiences”. Niall Wright is represented by The Mill Cove Gallery and The Open Window Gallery.