Morgan O'Driscoll Irish & International Art Auction 12th November 2018

80 67 Nevill Johnson RHA RUA (1911-1999) No Vile Men (1956) signed lower centre left oil on board 37 x 71.75cm (14.5 x 28.25in) Provenance: Combridge Fine Art, Dublin (framing label verso); Collection of Professor Eoin O’Brien Exhibited: Irish Exhibition of Living Art 1956 (label verso); Literature: Nevill Johnson ‘Paint the Smell of Grass’ by Dickon Hall & Eoin O’Brien, Ava Gallery 2008; illustrated page 55 €6,000-€9,000 (£5,357-£8,035) In this quasi-abstract painting-one of Johnson’s best-the composition, based on a landscape, is dominated by an horizon of black hills, above which hover grey clouds. The landscape itself, a bleak monochrome expanse, appears to contain fragmentary remains of buildings but is otherwise uninhabited: this might well be a vision of the world after a nuclear war. In 1956, the year this paint- ing was exhibited at the Irish Exhibition of Living Art, the Cold War was at its height; in October the Hungarian revolt against So- viet rule was crushed while in the Middle East, the Suez Crisis dominated the headlines. Nuclear annihilation was an ever-present threat, and Johnson captures the spirit of the times in this painting, with its expressive title No Vile Men. The origins of the title are not clear; but the phrase reflects Johnson’s humanist philosophy, and his bleak view of the world’s political leaders. Born in Buxton, Derbyshire in 1911, Nevill Johnson was a significant figure in Ireland’s art world in the mid-twentieth century. Best known for quasi-abstract still-lives, interiors and landscapes, he was also a talented photographer. After attending Sedbergh School, Johnson went to work for the Ferodo motor parts company, and was soon afterwards transferred to their Belfast office, where he took up painting part-time, and became friends with the writers John Hewitt and Louis MacNeice. Influenced by the painter John Luke, Johnson initially produced tempera works that reflected his increasingly Existential world view. In 1936, he and Luke travelled to Paris, where they saw works by Picasso, Yves Tanguy and Salvador Dali, the latter becoming a significant influence on Johnson, who, after his return to Belfast, produced a series of Surrealist paintings. Johnson travelled regularly to the Republic of Ireland, and in 1947 had his first exhibition at the Waddington Gallery in Dublin, followed by a second success- ful show three years later. In 1951, his Crucifixion was included in a touring exhibition presented at the Rhode Island School of Design. By then Johnson was living full-time in Dublin, and he remained there for much of that decade, exhibiting at the Irish Exhibition of Living Art, and taking black and white photographs of street scenes that were later published in the book Dublin: A People’s City. Along with George Campbell, Daniel O’Neill and Gerard Dillon, he was included in a Waddington exhibition Four Ulster Painters, that toured to London. He also had a solo show in Washington DC in 1957 and around that time decided to move to London, where he shared a flat in Notting Hill with artists Robert Colquhoun and Robert MacBryde. A restless and self-critical spirit, Johnson was dissatisfied with his own art and although he destroyed many of his paintings during this time, he continued to show with the IELA. In 1970, during which time he was exploring print-making and collage, he had his first solo show in many years, at the Collectors Gallery in Notting Hill. Eight years later, an exhibition of his work was held in Dublin, at the Tom Caldwell Gallery. His autobiography The Other Side of Six, was published in 1983 and documents his experi- menting with different art styles and media; his earlier Surrealist paintings giving way to more Cubist-inspired work. No Vile Men reveals the influence of artists such as Paul Nash and Ben Nicholson, but is also a highly-personal work, inspired by Johnson’s own thoughts on life and his worries about the future of the world. Johnson is represented in the major galleries and museums in Ireland, as well as the OPW and Arts Council collections. A label on the back of this work confirms it was painted in 1956, while Johnson was living in Convent Place, Hatch Street, Dublin, and that it was exhibited at the IELA that year. The use of hardboard, or Masonite, was popular amongst artists at the time, not least due to the expense of linen canvas. Thurloe Conolly and Brian Boydell, exhibitors at the IELA, also generally used hardboard for their paintings. Peter Murray, October 2018