‘Superstar’ artist Graham dies at 69
Painter Knuttel defined the Celtic Tiger era
GRAHAM Knuttel, one of Ireland’s first superstar artists, has died aged 69, his family confirmed yesterday.
Regarded as the “wildchild” of the painting world, Knuttel passed away on Saturday surrounded by his loved ones.
His death was almost a year to the day since his wife Ruth donated a kidney to save his life.
The former hellraiser – who was the defining artist of the Celtic Tiger era – was known for his instantly recognisable signature bold, bright paintings.
His work became internationally famous, with celebrity buyers including Bono and Frank Sinatra.
The paintings featured somewhat sinister characters that chronicled Ireland’s boom era.
Dublin-born Knuttel said he tried “to portray his fears, doubts and hopes on to the faces of his subjects”.
His distinctive paintings hang in galleries and private collections around the world and in the homes of stars like Robert de Niro, Sylvester Stallone, and REM’S Michael Stipe.
Artist Kevin Sharkey paid tribute to Knuttel yesterday as a “phenomenon”.
He said: “I knew a Dublin city street-sweeper who collected Knuttels, as well as important collectors and very wealthy people who collect him – and that’s rare.
“That someone would capture everyone, from the working class to the elite.
“But Graham could – and he changed the whole notion of what it meant being an artist in Ireland.
“He’s left some legacy. He was a phenomenon.”
Knuttel, who was born in 1954, attended the Dun Laoghaire School of Art.
The Picasso and Cezanne fan also started sculpting “out of necessity in order to pass his final year of art school”.
He won the Royal Canada Trust Award for Young Sculptors in 1976. Five years later he co-founded Wicklow Fine Art .
But it was his return to figurative painting that made him an art star and won him huge commercial success.
In 2008, An Post released two Knuttel-designed stamps to mark that year’s Summer Olympics.
His The Taoisigh collection featured 11 portraits of leaders.
It included a send-up of Bertie Ahern outside Fagan’s pub with a newspaper under his arm – sold in 2007 for €250,000.
Artist Niall O’loughlin said yesterday: “Very sad news about the passing of Graham Knuttel. A fantastic artist whose work I have the walls of my home.
“I also had the pleasure to meet a good few times, a true gent who shared a similar very dry wit as myself.”
Mrs Brown’s Boys star Rory Cowan said: “He was a fabulous painter.
“I’m lucky enough to have one of his paintings, The Way She Might Look at You.”
Knuttel’s family wrote on Facebook: “You will know that he engaged in life as he engaged in his art – that is to say, boldly and without reserve.
“He greatly valued the cut and thrust of debate and the vivid colours that satire and dark humour deliver.”