Celebrities’ masterworks on auction for charity

ALL art is quite useless according to Oscar Wilde but these three paintings could prove very useful to People in Need.

The works of art by world champion athlete, Eamonn Coughlan; model, Glenda Gilson and TV life coach, Shalini Sinha, have been for sale on eBay for the past few weeks and tonight they will be auctioned for charity on RTÉ’s telethon programme.

Under the organisation of The Afternoon Show, the three celebrities completed their masterpieces following coaching by artists Jim Fitzpatrick, Shane Sutton and Philip French.

During their training the amateur Picassos were sent off on an art retreat to a castle in Kildare to get to the root of their artistic essence.

The resulting pieces have been given varied criticisms by Rene Zechlin, curator of exhibitions and projects at the Lewis Glucksman Gallery in Cork.

By 2pm yesterday, Glenda Gilson’s depiction of what would appear to be an old doorway had received 16 bids and was up to €3,850. Eamonn Coughlan’s painting of a tree-lined path had reached €326 after 10 bids and Shalini Sinha’s picture of a stream running through a bridge had received 16 bids and had a price of €305.

Glenda said of her painting: “My landscape was chosen by me as I thought it to be a bit of a challenge as there was a lot of detail and depth to it which I hope I’ve achieved. Our theme was autumn so I wanted to make my autumn, though small, the focal part of the painting — where immediately your eye is drawn to that point. I wanted to capture what I saw which was a huge, mysterious, haunted castle. A castle that gave you the shivers at first but automatically you were drawn to the gates by rays of the autumn colours bursting through it.”

Yes indeed, and some critics might say that Glenda should stick to daubing with rouge and eye-shadow.

Eamonn Coughlan said of his piece: “I used acrylics on canvas as I felt it would be an easier way to start but, I didn’t realise how time-consuming it would be to produce. The piece I chose to paint is the avenue which leads from the entrance gates up to the magnificent Kilkea Castle in Co Kildare. And, because of the autumn season, the colours which radiated on the trees produced a most amazing natural beauty to the eye.”

Finally, Shalini Sinha said: “I chose this scene because it made me think of a journey: mostly the river somehow finding its way towards the bridge, but perhaps also the bridge crossing over towards somewhere else altogether. For me in life, bringing ourselves through journeys of growth — into unknown and unexpected experience — is what I relate to most. This painting is created with oils on a linen canvas.

“My mentor, Philip French has been consistently committed to ensuring the image be created using the highest quality materials, and so provided a linen canvas rather than cotton.”

The three artists are also auctioning earlier pieces they painted of their mentor Jim Fitzpatrick.

* The RTÉ People In Need Telethon kicks off on RTÉ2 at 3pm and continues on RTÉ1 this evening.